Portal:Turkmenistan

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The Turkmenistan Portal

Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population of 6.5 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.

Turkmenistan has long served as a thoroughfare for several empires and cultures. Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia, and was once among the biggest cities in the world. It was also one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The country is widely criticized for its poor human rights, its treatment of minorities, and its lack of press and religious freedoms. Since the independence declared from the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkmenistan has been ruled by repressive totalitarian regimes: that of President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (also known as Türkmenbaşy/Türkmenbaşı or "Head of the Turkmens") until his death in 2006; Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who became president in 2007 after winning a non-democratic election (he had been vice-president and then acting president previously); and his son Serdar, who won a subsequent 2022 presidential election described by international observers as neither free nor fair, and now shares power with his father.

Turkmenistan possesses the world's fifth largest reserves of natural gas. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert. From 1993 to 2019, citizens received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge. Turkmenistan is an observer state in the Organisation of Turkic States, the Türksoy community and a member of the United Nations. (Full article...)

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The Turkmen of Turkmenistan, are predominantly Muslims. According the U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2022,

According to U.S. government estimates, the country is 93 percent Muslim (mostly Sunni), 9 percent Eastern Orthodox, and 2 percent other. There are small communities of Jehovah's Witnesses, Shia Muslims, Baha’is, Roman Catholics, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and evangelical Christians, including Baptists and Pentecostals. Most ethnic Russians and Armenians identify as Orthodox Christian and generally are members of the Russian Orthodox Church or Armenian Apostolic Church. Some ethnic Russians and Armenians are also members of smaller Protestant groups. There are small pockets of Shia Muslims, consisting largely of ethnic Iranians, Azeris, and Kurds, some located in Ashgabat, with others along the border with Iran and in the western city of Turkmenbashy.

The great majority of Turkmen readily identify themselves as Muslims and acknowledge Islam as an integral part of their cultural heritage. (Full article...)

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Turkmenistan
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General images

The following are images from various Turkmenistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Turkmen woman's jewelry, silver, gold and cornelian, 20th century. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France. (from Culture of Turkmenistan)
Image 2Map of the Timurid Empire (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 3Turkmen man and his son hoist the flag of Turkmenistan while on horseback at the opening ceremony for the 2008 World Nomad Games. (from Culture of Turkmenistan)
Image 4Turkmen woman's jewelry, metal and cornelian, 20th century. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France. (from Culture of Turkmenistan)
Image 5The Parthian Empire in 94 BC at its greatest extent, during the reign of Mithridates II (r. 124–91 BC) (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 6Seljuk Empire at its greatest extent in 1092, upon the death of Malik Shah I. (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 7Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type, 2500-1500 BCE, chlorite (dress and hat) and limestone (head, hands and a leg), height: 13.33 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA). (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 8Oghuz Yabgu State, 750–1055 (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 9Tekke Turkmen kapunuk (door surround), early 19th century. A kapunuk is designed to surround a door frame, providing a decorative entry to a circular Turkmen yurt. (from Culture of Turkmenistan)
Image 10Hoisting the Red Banner in Tashkent 1917 (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 11Detail of a Salor Turkmen ceremonial carpet, dating from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s (from History of Turkmenistan)
Image 12Soviet soldiers returning from Afghanistan. 20 October 1986, Kushka, Turkmenia. (from History of Turkmenistan)