Turkmenistan
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
- Population
- 5,744,151 (2024 est.)
- Area
- 488,100 sq km
- Government
- presidential republic; authoritarian
- Religions
- Muslim 93%, Christian 6.4%, Buddhist <1%, folk religion <1%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unspecified <1% (2020 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003 est.)
- Currency
- Turkmenistani manat (TMM)
- Life Expectancy
- 72.4 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .tm
- Climate
- subtropical desert
- Terrain
- flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
- Natural Resources
- petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
- Major Exports
- natural gas, refined petroleum, fertilizers, crude petroleum, electricity (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Present-day Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. Various Persian empires ruled the area in antiquity, and Alexander the Great, Muslim armies, the Mongols, Turkic warriors, and eventually the Russians conquered it.