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Geography of Turkmenistan

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: 4.51%
permanent crops: 0.14%
other: 95.35% (2005)
Irrigated land:18,000 sq km (2003)
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

Turkmenistan Quickstats

  • Population: 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.)
  • Area: 488,100 sq km
  • Density: 9.9 /km² (208th)
  • GDP (total): $45.11 billion (86th)
  • GDP (per capita): $8,900 (2006 est.) (95ep)
  • Literacy: 98.8%

Languages of Turkmenistan

Useful to know

  • Currency: Turkmen Manat (TMM)
  • Dial code: +993

International Trade

External sites

More Resources

Turkmenistan Internet

  • Usage: 36,000
  • Penetration: 0.5 %
  • Top Domain: .tx

WT eBusiness info:

  • Success Ranking: 100
  • Market testing: Untested
  • Overall risk: High
  • Overall reward: Low

e-maturity:

  • Tourism: 10%
  • eCommerce: 10%
  • Gaming: 10%
  • eLearning: 10%

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