Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan / is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, and Kazakhstan to the north and northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west, and is the only sea that Turkmenistan overlooks

GDP growth rate of 6.1% in Turkmenistan in 2009, to be the 16th largest in the world, but these figures are subject to wide margins of error. Turkmenistan has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. It is rich in natural resources in some areas, and the Karaghum Desert covers most of the country

Turkmen lands consist of a plateau that starts from the southeast to the northwest, where it descends into the Qar Qum desert (i.e. black sand), which is a vast sandy plain covering sand dunes. It stretches in the northern part of the western slopes of the mountains (Koji Dag), where its borders with Iran. Its only mountain ranges and the presence of a number of rivers in the Turkmen region have had an impact on reducing drought

A section of the Gihon River (Amoudaria) runs through it, and some rivers in Afghanistan and Iran, such as the Hari River and the Marghab River - are located on it, and the famous city of Mero in Islamic history - and from Iran, the Hari Road, and there is a spot of Bab Hell, a name given to a hole that rages with fire. Non-stop for 46 years in the village of Derwiz, 250 km from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat

Most of the land is a flat desert. The Kara Kum Desert stretches in the central region, and the Kopetdaj mountain range extends along the southern border with Iran. The highest peak is 3,139 meters, and the Kopetdag Mountains are among the areas affected by earthquakes

The climate of Turkmenistan is extreme desert, cold in winter, the temperature sometimes reaches below zero, hot in summer. However, the high places are cool in summer. Minor rain, but it is better than the desert section in the center and north of the country

The Turkmen economy remains dependent on central planning and state control. The most important industries in the country are the oil, natural gas, iron and textile industries. The gross domestic product (2006 estimate) reached $ 45.11 billion, and its annual growth rate was 13%. As for inflation (2006 estimates), it is 11%. The country's workforce is about 2.32 million estimates (2004), and the policy of reducing government employment that started in 2003 increased unemployment rates to 60% of the total workforce

Agriculture represents 24.4% of the total domestic income, and cotton is one of the most important crops. The area planted with cereals and wheat has almost tripled, after the Soviet era. However, most agricultural land is of poor quality and needs irrigation, and the irrigation infrastructure and land use policies have not met this need

Most of the Turkmen population is Turkmen, with two large minorities - the Uzbek minority and the Russian minority. There are also other minor minorities of the Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukrainians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Baluch. The Russian minority witnessed a decline in its percentage, as the Russians constituted about 18.6% of the population of Turkmenistan in 1939, and their rate became about 9.5% in 1989

The majority of Turkmen residents are Sunni Muslims who belong to the Hanafi school of Islam, as they constitute about 89% of the population of Turkmenistan, according to the World Factbook, and according to the Pew Center for Studies, they constitute about 93%. The Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church also make up about 9% of the country's population, the majority of whom are from the Russian minority

Other minorities include the Baha'is, and the Baha'i presence in Turkmenistan is old. It has entered the Baha'i since it originated in Iran. The Twelver Shi'ites, the majority of whom are from the Azeri minority living in Turkmenistan, and their men Morteza Kararov, who was Minister of the Interior between 1994-1996, and Akbar Sabtiev, who was one of the advisers to the former president Saber Murad Niyazov