Turkmenistan

History

Turkmenistan is one of Central Asian Turkic republic that gained its independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkmenistan was granted permanent Neutrality status by the United Nations General Assembly on 12 December 1995. Today’s Turkmenistan flag with one moon and five stars on green ground was adopted in 1992 together with the Constitution of Turkmenistan. The capital city of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat. Turkmenistan, (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and together with Turkey) is one of the seven independent Turkish state is also a member of TURKSOY. The official currency of Turkmenistan is a Manat.Turkmenistan borders with Iran to the south, Caspian Sea to the west, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north, and Afghanistan in the south. The highest mountains of Turkmenistan are the Koytendag (3319 m.) and Kopetdag (2942 m.) which it shares with Iran. Karabogaz Lake, which is rich in salt, is located in the territory of Turkmenistan. Four fifth of the country’s landscape is covered by the Karakum desert.The official language of the country is Turkmen and the literacy rate in the country is about 98%. The Turkmen language is a version of the Western Turkic language that forms the Altay branch of the Ural Altay language group. Turkmen is spoken by more than 6 million Turkmens living in Turkmenistan and about 3 million Turkmen living in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.The Turkmenistan’s economy is largely dependent on natural gas sales and cotton production. Turkmenistan is the fourth largest natural gas producer in the world and therefore, the country gives importance on the economic reforms to greater extent.