 .TM - Turkmenistan
Registration · Transfer · Renewal
|
|
Payable by
|
|
|
Special Requirements:
|
.TM anyone can register. 10 Years and pre-configuration required
|
|
1 Year at 114.95
|
|
|
|
| Introduction |
Turkmenistan |
|
Background: |
Annexed by Russia between 1865
and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its
independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV
retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated.
Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this
underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be
expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop
alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's
pipeline monopoly. |
|
Location: |
Central Asia, bordering the
Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
40 00 N, 60 00 E |
|
Map references: |
Asia |
|
Area: |
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km
water: negl. |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than California
|
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan
379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
|
Coastline: |
0 km; note - Turkmenistan
borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
|
Maritime claims: |
none (landlocked) |
|
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 |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Vpadina
Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan
with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of
Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)
highest
point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m |
|
Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, sulfur,
salt |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 3.72%
permanent crops: 0.14%
other: 96.14% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land: |
17,500 sq km (2003 est.) |
|
Natural hazards: |
NA |
|
Environment - current issues: |
contamination of soil and
groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination,
water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea
pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into
irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral
Sea; desertification |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none
of the selected agreements |
|
Geography - note: |
landlocked; the western and
central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great
Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern
part is plateau |
|
Population: |
4,952,081 (July 2005 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 35.7% (male
909,113/female 860,128)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male
1,462,198/female 1,516,836)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male
78,119/female 125,687) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 21.56 years
male: 20.68 years
female: 22.44 years (2005 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
1.81% (2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
27.68 births/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
8.78 deaths/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
-0.81 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64
years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62
male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005
est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 73.08
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 69.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 61.39
years
male: 58.02 years
female: 64.93 years (2005
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
3.41 children born/woman (2005
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
less than 0.1% (2004 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
less than 200 (2003 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 100 (2004 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian
4%, other 6% (2003) |
|
Religions: |
Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox
9%, unknown 2% |
|
Languages: |
Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek
9%, other 7% |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 98%
male:
99%
female: 97% (1989 est.) |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan
local long
form: none
local short form: Turkmenistan
former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
|
Government type: |
republic; authoritarian
presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch |
|
Capital: |
Ashgabat |
|
Administrative divisions: |
5 provinces (welayatlar,
singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty
(Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary
Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as
their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center
name following in parentheses) |
|
Independence: |
27 October 1991 (from the
Soviet Union) |
|
National holiday: |
Independence Day, 27 October
(1991) |
|
Constitution: |
adopted 18 May 1992 |
|
Legal system: |
based on civil law system
|
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV
(since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election
occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President and Chairman of the
Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the
first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both
the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet of
Ministers appointed by the president
note: NIYAZOV's term in
office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 during a session of
the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty)
elections: president
elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June
1992 (next to be held in 2008 when NIYAZOV turns 70 and is
constitutionally ineligible to run); note - President NIYAZOV was
unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council on 28
December 1999; deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed
by the president
election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected
president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%
|
|
Legislative branch: |
under the 1992 constitution,
there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk
Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom
are elected by popular vote and some of whom are appointed; meets at least
yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are
elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections:
People's Council - last held in April 2003; Mejlis - last held 19 December
2004 (next to be held December 2009)
election results: Mejlis -
DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are
members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by
President NIYAZOV
note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted,
reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the
supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the
Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its
supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution,
or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the
"Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the
Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of
both the executive and legislative branches of government |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (judges are
appointed by the president) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Democratic Party of
Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
note: formal
opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements
exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent
opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led
by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and
imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on
President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and
is based out of Moscow; the Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of
opposition-in-exile groups, is based in Europe |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
|
International organization participation: |
AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO,
FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
chancery: 2207
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1]
(202) 588-1500
FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
embassy: 9 Pushkin (1984) Street,
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000
mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat
Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-7070
telephone: [9] (9312)
35-00-45
FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14 |
|
Flag description: |
green field with a vertical red
stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in
producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the
olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars
appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red
stripe |
|
Economy - overview: |
Turkmenistan is largely desert
country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and
oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton;
formerly it was the world's tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in
recent years have led to a nearly 46% decline in cotton exports. With an
authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social
structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform,
hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy.
Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2004, Turkmenistan suffered
from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from
obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time,
however, total exports rose by perhaps 30% in 2003 and 19% in 2004,
largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall
prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread
internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, the government's irrational
use of oil and gas revenues, and its unwillingness to adopt
market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state
secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error.
In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $27.6
billion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
IMF estimate: 7.5%
note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but
these estimates are notoriously unreliable (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity -
$5,700 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 28.5%
industry: 42.7%
services: 28.8% (2004 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
29% of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
58% (2003 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
40.8 (1998) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
9% (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
2.32 million (2003 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 48.2%, industry
13.8%, services 37% (2003 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
60% (2004 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $3.05 billion
expenditures: $3.05 billion, including capital expenditures of
NA (2004 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
cotton, grain; livestock |
|
Industries: |
natural gas, oil, petroleum
products, textiles, food processing |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
official government estimate:
22% (2003 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
11.41 billion kWh (2004 est.)
|
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 99.9%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption: |
8.908 billion kWh (2002) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
1.136 billion kWh (2004) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2002) |
|
Oil - production: |
162,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
63,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
NA |
|
Oil - imports: |
NA |
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
273 million bbl (1 January
2002) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
58.57 billion cu m (2004 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
9.6 billion cu m (2001 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
43.5 billion cu m (2004 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
1.43 trillion cu m (1 January
2002) |
|
Current account balance: |
$114 million (2004 est.) |
|
Exports: |
$4 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
|
|
Exports - commodities: |
gas, crude oil, petrochemicals,
cotton fiber, textiles |
|
Exports - partners: |
Ukraine 49.8%, Iran 17.2%,
Italy 5.3%, Turkey 4.7% (2004) |
|
Imports: |
$2.85 billion f.o.b. (2004
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment,
chemicals, foodstuffs |
|
Imports - partners: |
Russia 14%, Ukraine 13.8%, US
11.1%, UAE 8.1%, Turkey 8%, Germany 6.8%, France 4.6% (2004) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$3.034 billion (2004 est.)
|
|
Debt - external: |
$2.4 billion to $5 billion
(2001 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$16 million from the US (2001)
|
|
Currency: |
Turkmen manat (TMM) |
|
Currency code: |
TMM |
|
Exchange rates: |
Turkmen manats per US dollar -
10,100 (2004), 10,034 (2003), 10,098 (2002), 5,200 (2001)
note:
in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 21,000 manats to
the dollar |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
| Communications |
Turkmenistan |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
374,000 (2002) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
52,000 (2004) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
poorly developed
domestic: NA
international: country
code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS
republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow
international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran
has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international
traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita
and 1 Intelsat |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
|
|
Radios: |
1.225 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
4 (government owned and
programmed) (2004) |
|
Televisions: |
820,000 (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.tm |
|
Internet hosts: |
524 (2004) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 |
|
Internet users: |
8,000 (2002) |
| Transportation |
Turkmenistan |
|
Railways: |
total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2003) |
|
Highways: |
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km
unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.)
|
|
Waterways: |
1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara
Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003) |
|
Pipelines: |
gas 6,549 km; oil 1,395 km
(2004) |
|
Ports and harbors: |
Turkmenbasy |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 7 ships (1,000
GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
by type: cargo 3, combination
ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2005) |
|
Airports: |
53 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 23
over
3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 10
1,524 to 2,437
m: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2004
est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 30
1,524
to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 26
(2004 est.) |
|
Heliports: |
1 (2004 est.) |
|
Military branches: |
Ministry of Defense (Army, Air
and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard
|
|
Military manpower - military age and obligation: |
18 years of age for compulsory
military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004) |
|
Military manpower - availability: |
males age 18-49:
1,132,833 (2005 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 18-49: 759,978
(2005 est.) |
|
Military manpower - reaching military age
annually: |
males: 56,532 (2005
est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure: |
$90 million (FY99) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
3.4% (FY99) |
| Transnational Issues |
Turkmenistan |
|
Disputes - international: |
cotton monoculture in
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu
Darya river states; bilateral talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing
the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian;
demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan has started but Caspian
seabed delimitation remains stalled |
|
Illicit drugs: |
transit country for Afghan
narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point
for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan |
|
|
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.in ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.dk ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.be ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.nl ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.at ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.de ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.co.uk ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.us ·
Linux Hosting at 1stEuro.net ·
Cheap domain names registration ·
Compare all Linux Web Hosting Plans ·
All Reseller Hosting Plans ·
Network Information, Speed Test, Server Specs ·
Help & FAQ
|
