Turkmenistan (in Turkmen: Türkmenistan) is a country in Central Asia, bordered to the northwest with Kazakhstan, to the north and northeast with Uzbekistan, to the southwest with Iran, to the southeast with Afghanistan and to the west with the Caspian Sea ; dominated most of the country by the Karakum desert, it is crossed by the Amu Daria, the Atrak and the Murgab rivers. It was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union as the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic until its dissolution in 1991. Ashgabat is the capital city of Turkmenistan according to itypemba.
History
The territory of Turkmenistan has been populated since ancient times. Turkmen tribes dedicated to raising horses came to the territory in ancient times, possibly from the Altai Mountains, and settled on the outskirts of the Karakum desert, reaching as far as Persia (present-day Iran), Syria and Anatolia (present-day Turkey).
The Russian army entered the territory between the 1860s and 1870s. In 1869, the port of Krasnovodsk was created, and by 1874 the Russian presence had been consolidated with the creation of the Transcaspian military district. Annexed by the Russian Empire between 1865 and 1885, by 1890 Russian control over Turkmenistan was complete.
Winds of revolution would arrive in 1917, and during the civil war (1918-1920) Turkmenistan was also on the front lines. Once the Soviet Union was established, the Transcaspian territory (since 1921 reorganized as Turkestan) is established as an autonomous republic, to become one of the constituent republics of the Union that same year.
During this time, the borders of the Soviet republic were fixed, and ambitious projects were developed to take advantage of its natural resources for the benefit of the Soviet Union. Irrigation systems are also created and, little by little, cotton and oil production become the main economic activities. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan became an independent state. Controversial President Saparmyrat Nyýazow dominated the political life of the country until his death on December 21, 2006.
Government
Turkmenistan is a one-party presidential republic, integrated into the Commonwealth of Independent States and provided with a Constitution since 1993, which formally establishes a democracy.
At present, it is among the countries considered by the United Nations as one of the most repressive and dictatorial in the international system; This same body has shown its concern at the repeated violation of the most basic citizen rights, and the marginalization of the Russian and Uzbek minorities. Also members of a religion other than the official one suffer marginalization and are monitored by the State.
Since gaining independence, its president Saparmyrat Nyýazow monopolized power at all levels as Head of State and Government until his death on December 21, 2006. Turkmenistan has ratified several important United Nations treaties related to human rights, but there is no political party in the country in opposition to the current government of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, nor is there any possibility of any dissident voice without persecution or harassment. by the authorities. The media and broadcasting are strictly controlled by the State, and no group dedicated to the defense of human rights can act openly in the country. It is also not possible to obtain images in the country due to information controls, although numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners are currently being leaked abroad. The medical body is not allowed to give information about the diseases suffered by its patients,
Geography
Turkmenistan covers 488,000 km², twice the size of the United Kingdom or 3% larger than that of Cameroon. It is located for the most part in the Turán depression (located between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea), and almost entirely occupied by the Karakum Desert and the Karabil Plateau. To the SW rises the Kopet Dag mountain range, which separates it from Iran. From the NE and E they penetrate the rocky edges of the Ustyurt plateau, which it shares with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The entire country is located within Turkestan. The main rivers are the Amu Daria, the Atrak and the Murgab. As for the Turkmen coast that it has on the Caspian Sea, it is flat in its northern half and steep in the center and south. In the northern part is the Krasnovodsk Bay, the peninsula of the same name and the Gulf of Kara Bogaz Gol, occupied by a large saltwater marsh. Between this gulf and the Aral Sea is the small Sariqamish Lake, belonging to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The climate is subtropical desert, with little rain. The winds are warm and dry, and the greatest amount of rainfall occurs between January and May. Annual rainfall in Turkmenistan is less than 200 mm. There are small areas of forest in the highlands of the SW and SE.
Demography
Turkmenistan is the least populated of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia. The population is basically concentrated around the rivers and the coast of the Caspian Sea. Ashgabat is the most populous city in Turkmenistan (approximately 750,000 residents). Other important population centers are Türkmenabat (formerly Chärjew or Chardzhov) and Daşoguz. Most of the citizens of Turkmenistan are ethnically Turkmen; other ethnic groups include Russians and Uzbeks. The Russian and Uzbek minorities have been marginalized in the life of the country for years. Turkmen is the official language of Turkmenistan, although Russian is still widely spoken as the “language of inter-ethnic communication”, as defined by the 1992 Constitution.
Education is universal and compulsory until high school. The total duration of secondary education was recently reduced from 11 to 9 years. In recent years, public libraries have been abolished, considering that the majority of the illiterate population does not benefit from their services.
Turkmenistan’s health system, heir to the sophisticated Soviet system, has fallen into a state of paralysis. The President of Turkmenistan has recently launched a campaign to close hospitals, keeping only the one in the capital, and laying off around 15,000 people from their jobs.
