Turkmenistan

From MaxTravelz

Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia with a population of about 5 million and an area around half a million square km, a bit larger than California.

It has a coast on the Caspian Sea, but is otherwise landlocked. Neighboring countries are Iran and Afghanistan to the South, and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the North.

It is a relatively poor desert country. The traditional life of Turkomans is as nomadic shepherds, though some have been settled in towns for centuries. The country has oil which is being developed.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 People 4.2 Terrain 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact

Regions

The great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, occupies over 80% of the country in the West and center.

The Eastern part is a less desolate plateau.

Cities

• Ashkhabad, the capital
• Chardzhou
• Tashauz
• Merv
• Turkmenbasy, a Caspian port

Historically, most of these towns were oases along the Silk Road.

Other destinations

Understand

North Korea may get all the press, but even Kim Jong-Il's cult of personality fades when compared to the surreal Stalinist utopia set up by Turkmenistan's all-powerful President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov. He has adopted the title Turkmenbashi ("Father of Turkmen"), named the city of Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk) after himself, and built a 15-meter tall golden statue that rotates to face the sun in the capital Ashgabat. The month of January is now known as Turkmenbashi, while the month of April and the word "bread" are now officially Gurbansoltan Eje, the name of Niyazov's mother. Decrees emanating from Niyazov's palace have banned, among other things, lip syncing, long hair, video games and golden tooth caps. Through it all, Serdar Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great (his official title) has remained modest: "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want", Niyazov said.

People

The people are predominantly Turkmen, also spelt Turkoman, by both ethnicity and language.

• Religions : Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Terrain

Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and huge gas (fifth largest reserves in the world) and oil resources.

One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth largest producer.

Get in

Ever since an assassination attempt on President-for-Life Niyazov in 2002 — promptly blamed on foreigners as no Turkmen could possibly want to kill his dear Leader — Turkmenistan has ratcheted up its visa policy to the point where it's now probably the hardest country in the world to enter. Official visa costs are around US$50 for a transit or tourist visa, but getting the requisite letters of support, local travel agency itineraries etc often push up the actual price to multiples of this — and it's still difficult to get more than a one-week transit visa. Turkmenistan has withdrawn from the Commonwealth of Independent States unified visa regime, so this loophole is also closed now.

By plane

Turkmenistan Airlines has direct flights to Ashgabat from London and Birmingham, used predominantly by the British Sikh community as a transit point for further flight to India and Pakistan. Turkish Airways flys to Ashgabat from Instanbul. Lufthansa also flys from Frankfurt to Ashgabat. Internal flights are possible only with Turkmenistan Airlines which flys daily between Ashgabat, Mary, Turkmenbashi and other destinations.

By train

There is a railway connection to Russia.

By car

By bus

By boat

There is a ferry between Baku (Azerbaijan) and Turkmenbashi about twice a week.

Get around

The Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for Turkmenistan.

Talk

About 72% of people speak Turkmen. The rest speak Russian (12%), Uzbek (9%), or other languages (7%).

See also: Turkmen phrasebook

Buy

Turkoman rugs are famous, tending to rich reds with geometric patterns. Sometimes they are called Bokhara rugs. Turkoman designs are now often copied in India and Pakistan.

A good current reference is Murray Eiland [Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide]

The classic book is "Tappiseries de l'Asie Centrale", in Russian and French by AA Bogolyubov, Tsarist governor of Turkmenistan, in 1905. It was a limited edition with hand-painted illustrations, now rare and extremely expensive.

A translation, "Carpets of Central Asia", was published in Britain in the 60s. Even it is now hard to find and expensive. However, if you intend spending a lot on these carpets, it is definitely worth reading. Look for it in libraries.

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

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