Flora of Turkmenistan. Nature of Turkmenistan. Flora and fauna
Environmental protection and efficient use of land and water resources are priority areas of the state environmental policy of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan's strategy for the near future in the field of environmental protection is aimed at environmentally safe and sustainable development based on an integrated solution of economic, social and environmental problems with careful treatment of natural resources.
Turkmenistan is located in the western part of Central Asia. In the north it borders with Kazakhstan, in the east with Uzbekistan, in the south with the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the southeast with the state of Afghanistan, in the west it is washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea.
The nature of Turkmenistan is rich and unique. Turkmenistan is rightly called the land of the sun. Almost 250 days a year it does not leave the blue sky. Turkmenistan has unique ecosystems and tens of thousands of species of flora and fauna, many of which are found only on Turkmen soil.
Currently, there are nine state nature reserves in the country that carry out work to protect and restore biodiversity, especially rare species of plants and animals included in the Red Book of Turkmenistan. The total area of protected areas is over two million hectares.
The flora of Turkmenistan includes more than 3,000 species of plants, 13% of which are found only on the territory of Turkmenistan and almost 4,000 species of lower plants and fungi. Wild fruits, berries, aromatic, flavoring and melliferous plants growing in the country can be a good help in supplying the population with valuable food products and raw materials for the food and medical industries.
Wild fruit and nut forests, some of the most valuable juniper forests on Earth on the mountain slopes, pistachio savanna woodlands, rare saxaul forests, rivers and floodplain tugai - it is difficult to even list all the unique diversity of nature that can be found in Turkmenistan.
The fauna of Turkmenistan is equally diverse. The fauna of Turkmenistan is represented by more than 700 species of vertebrates and over 12,000 species of invertebrate animals. The Kopetdag Mountains are home to the largest population of the Central Asian leopard in the region; herds of argali and bezoar goats graze here. Badkhyz is inhabited by a well-preserved kulan population, which was not only preserved but also significantly increased. Here you can also find numerous herds of gazelle and argali, predators such as hyena and wolf, as well as numerous representatives of birds - golden eagle, black vulture, griffon vulture, vulture, saker falcon, red-headed falcon, etc. Natural territories of Badkhyz, along with Koytendag state natural reserve reserve, which includes a complex of natural attractions of steppe and mountain ecosystems, are nominated to the list of World Heritage Sites natural heritage UNESCO.
In the desert, which occupies almost 80% of the country's territory, many representatives of the animal world feel great thanks to a clear biological balance. In the conditions of a hot, arid climate, unique forms of plants have developed that are capable of obtaining life-giving moisture from great depths, fading in their development during the harsh, scorching summer heat, and blooming wildly and uncontrollably during the short, fertile spring.
And yet, the nature of Turkmenistan most vividly and fully reveals its colorful diversity in those climatic zones where there is an abundance of water - the basis of life. In the cool foothills, in river valleys, at the junctions of various natural zones, a real riot of life reigns during the spring seasons.
Mountains and foothill plains in Turkmenistan occupy about 20% of the total area. In the south, east and west of Turkmenistan there are mountain ranges: Kopetdag, Koytendag, Balkhany. If you're moving along a winding road mountain road, then literally every new turn, every new step gives you the unique beauty of the gorges, mountain slopes, alpine meadows, clear rivers and waterfalls.
The entirety of the natural landscapes of Turkmenistan cannot be known without visiting the Caspian coast. The Caspian Sea is the largest endorheic salt sea (lake) on earth, not connected with the world ocean; the Caspian seal, endemic to the Caspian Sea, lives here. On the banks you can find flamingos, pelicans, ducks, seagulls and many other birds.
All this amazing beauty can be observed in the Khazar State nature reserve, formed back in 1932. More than 300 bird species are found in the reserve. Caspian coast It is a wintering site for numerous migratory birds. The Central Asian and East African bird migration routes, one of the most important in the world, converge off the coast of the Turkmen sector of the sea. The total number of birds during wintering exceeds 200 thousand individuals. In this regard, in 2009, the Turkmenbashi Bay, which is part of the reserve, was included in the international list of wetlands of the Ramsar Convention.
The world fame of the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea was brought not only by the richest mineral resources, but also the exceptional ecological purity of sea water and excellent conditions for recreation. A large-scale project to create the Avaza National Tourist Zone on the shores of the Caspian Sea is aimed at creating favorable conditions for people’s recreation and preserving the unique marine ecosystem.
Mountains with relict forests and shady gorges, subtropics with a set of endemic rare plants and animals, picturesque corners with natural centuries-old flora give a unique appearance.
Geological natural monuments
alt="Nature of Turkmenistan" border="1" hspace="5" src="http://www..jpg" vspace="5" />Формируясь под воздействием различных !} natural processes for a long time, they have a variety of shapes and types. Each geological natural monument is a unique witness to an ancient era, and some - to ancient life on Earth. Unique, well preserved fossilized traces of Upper Jurassic dinosaurs on the western slope of the Kugitan ridge near the village of Khojapilata, Charshangin etrap. Here, on the surface of limestones with an absolute age of about 140 million years (Jurassic period), about 500 dinosaur tracks have been preserved. Such a number and diversity of traces in Upper Jurassic deposits has been recorded for the first time in the world.
Vertebrate tracks Neogene period (about 20 million years ago) - camels, goitered gazelles, predators, various birds, were found within the Western Kopetdag. Several locations are known here, the largest of which are: Gyaurli on the Western slope of the Ezzet-Kargez ridge and Akoba, located approximately 45 km. south of the first. Until now, such traces of camels were not known within Eurasia.
In Turkmenistan big number caves. Unique natural monuments are the famous Karlyuk caves on Kugitangtau. The total length of the passages and galleries of the Khashimoyik cave is 5300 m. There are about 30 of them in the Karlyuk cave system. Many caves have not yet been explored. In terms of richness of decoration, the Karlyuk Caves have no equal in Eurasia, and they are rightfully included in the List world heritage UNESCO.
In the Kushkinsky etrap of the Mary velayat, near the territory of the Badkhyz Nature Reserve, in the drainless depression of Eroylanduz, beautiful andesite-basalt remnants- volcanic rods prepared by weathering. This area has been attracting the attention of geologists, archaeologists, paleozoologists, and paleobotanists for many years. The monuments of the Quaternary period of the Earth's history located here are unique. In ancient geological eras, the huge Tethys Sea stretched in these places. Finds of the Middle Eocene flora, which allowed scientists to reconstruct the history of the development of the Earth's vegetation, ostrich egg shells, and fragments of the skeletons of ancient animals should be registered and declared natural monuments. Of undoubted interest are active mud volcanoes Geokpatlauk and Boiling Hill in Gasankuli etrap. On the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea there are numerous and extinct volcanoes : Kyurendag - south of Nebitdag; Aligul is in the central part of the Chokhrak plateau on the Cheleken Peninsula.
Water natural monuments
Rational use of the most valuable natural resource - water - is a major economic problem. There are springs, waterfalls, lakes and other water bodies in various parts of Turkmenistan. Popular salt lakes in Mollakara, near Jebel railway station, with a changing water horizon. 6 km north of Cheleken, there is crater lake Pink Porsygel of mud-volcanic origin. It is known primarily for the fact that it covers the crater of an ancient mud volcano pink water. Next to it, on the western slopes of the Chokrak plateau, is the crater lake Western Porsygel, with salty and hot water of a dirty gray color. The nature of Turkmenistan does not skimp on balneological riches. She gave such outlandish thermal springs , such as Archman (Bakharden etrap), Parhai, Ovezbaba (Karakalina etrap), Khojakainar (Charshangin etrap), subthermal spring Ejeri (Kazanja etrap).
One of the most beautiful waterfalls countries - Big Nokhursky in the Baharden etrap. A stream of water falls here from a height of 30 m. No less beautiful are the Koshtemir waterfalls in the Karakala etrap, the Umbadere and Kyrkgyz waterfalls near the village of Murcha in the Bakharden etrap. There are waterfalls in the north of the country. For example, the Kyrkdeshik threshold with a canyon north of Lake Sarykamysh.
Botanical natural monuments
More than 2.5 thousand species of higher plants grow on the territory of Turkmenistan, including about 700 in the Karakum Desert. Of the most valuable, we should note juniper (or Turkmen juniper), about two thousand years old, growing on the inaccessible peaks of the Kopetdag. There are many centuries-old juniper trees in Kopetdag. Their average age in the Ashgabat forestry is 400-500 years. In the country's only grove, Unabi (Kugitang), the trees are over 200 years old. In the Karakal region, in the Aidere gorge, the famous 500-year-old Shahoz (King Walnut) grows. There is a valuable walnut grove in good condition in the Ipaikala tract of the Baharden etrap. On Kugitang, in the Khojaburjibeland tract, a pistachio grove has been preserved, the age of the trees is very significant.
Of the desert flora, valuable old-timers of black saxaul have been preserved in the Eradzhinsky reserve, north of Repetek, and the town of Imamkyzym in the Turkmen-Kala etrap.
Unique in its beauty and uniqueness pistachio savannah of Badkhyz with centuries-old trees. Mount Boyadag, whose rocks shimmer in the sun, is known as a museum of nature. There are about 40 hot, warm and cold springs with different water compositions. The landscape of the slopes of Mount Syunt is unique, in some places completely covered with vegetation. Similar places exist in Central Kopetdag and Kugitang. The Erburun landscape of subsidence phenomena to the north of Lake Sarykamysh is interesting. An amazing combination of relief, fauna, flora and other landscape components is observed in the lake area. Eroylanduz. A unique landscape natural monument is a section of rocky desert in the area of the Karlyuk Cave in Kugitang. Karst sinkholes, sinkholes with steep banks and underground voids are abundant here.
The nature of Dashoguz velayat is multifaceted and unique. Sands, steppes, lakes, rivers, chinks, gorges, Kaplankyr and Ustyurt plateaus, ancient settlements and minarets, long-lived trees give a special flavor to the northern etraps of the country. Amazing creation nature - the Mergenishan gorge, located along the southeastern coast of Lake Sarykamysh, in the lower part of the largest channel of the Daudan collector system. The gorge was formed at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries. as a result of the discharge of water from Lake Tyunyuklu into Sarykamysh through a flat sandy-loamy alluvial plain. It is a winding canyon with a flat bottom from 15 to 70 m wide and steep walls up to 35 m high.
Based on materials from the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan and the Tourism Committee
The content of the article
TURKMENISTAN, Republic of Turkmenistan, a state in Central Asia. It borders with Kazakhstan in the north, Uzbekistan in the north and east, Iran and Afghanistan in the south. In the west it is washed by the Caspian Sea. From 1924 to 1991, Turkmenistan was part of the USSR as a union republic (Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic). The independence of Turkmenistan was declared in October 1991.
NATURE
Relief.
Turkmenistan is the flattest country in Central Asia. The area is 491.2 thousand square meters. km
Almost a quarter of the territory lies within the Turan Lowland, occupied mainly by the Karakum Desert . Only in the south there is a narrow strip of hills and mid-altitude mountains. The southernmost point (and the CIS) is located near the city of Kushka. In the southern part there are the Kopetdag mountains (height up to 2942 m, Rize); to the northwest of them there are two separate ridges: Small Balkhan (777 m) and Big Balkhan (1881 m). Adjacent to the Kopetdag from the north is a foothill plain, which in the west merges with the Caspian lowland plain. In the southeast, the northern foothills of Paropamiz - the Badkhyz (1267 m) and Karabil (984 m) hills, separated by the Murghab River - enter the borders of Turkmenistan. In the extreme southeast there is a spur of the Gissar ridge Kugitangtau (3139 m, highest point republics).
In the west is the Krasnovodsk plateau (308 m), in the northwest is the southern edge of the Ustyurt plateau. To the south of Ustyurt there is the Zauzboy folded region, which is a system of bushy flat-topped hills (Kaplankyr, Chelyunkry, etc.) and depressions separating them. Within the Caspian lowland plain rise the Nebit-Dag (39 m), Boya-Dag (134 m), Kum-Dag, Monjukly (27 m) and others. In the north and northeast of the Kopetdag foothill plain stretch the Karakum, which are divided into central (or lowland) and Zaunguz. The southeastern Karakum Desert is located between the Amu Darya and Tedzhen rivers. These deserts are characterized by cellular-ridged and hilly semi-overgrown sands; There are areas of sand dunes, and in the depressions there are takyrs and sors.
The coastline of the Caspian Sea in the south is slightly indented, and only in the north has a winding outline, forming bays (Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Krasnovodsky, Turkmensky), peninsulas (Krasnovodsky, Dardzha, Cheleken) and spits (the largest is Krasnovodskaya. There are islands off the coast Ogurchinsky, Kamysh-lyada and others.
Water resources.
Economic and social development of Turkmenistan increased consumption of water resources. Turkmenistan is a water-scarce state. For 1 sq. km there is only 0.94 thousand m 3 of water per year (1999 data), while the average water supply in the CIS territory is 194 thousand m per year per 1 sq. km. km. The availability of own water resources per capita in the CIS averages 16.6 thousand cubic meters. m per year, while in Turkmenistan this figure does not exceed 0.16 thousand cubic meters. m per year (i.e. more than 100 times lower than the average level of the CIS countries). Arid climate low mountains, parallel to the humid air currents, determine the extreme scarcity of water resources in Turkmenistan compared to other Central Asian states.
The hydrographic network is distributed unevenly: in most of the territory (central, northern, western) there are no rivers at all. The largest and most abundant river in Central Asia, the Amu Darya, runs along the eastern border of the republic. Its total length is 2520 km, of which about 1000 km flows through the territory.
The river network of Southern Turkmenistan is represented by the rivers Murgab, Tedzhen, Atrek and small rivers on the northeastern slope of the Kopetdag. There are about 3 thousand watercourses on the territory of Turkmenistan with a total length of 14,300 km. Channels less than 10 km long account for 95% of the total number of rivers. Only 40 watercourses have a constant flow. Lakes are an uncharacteristic element of hydrography. They are located mainly in the Uzboy riverbed, river floodplains and natural depressions. The largest are Sarykamyshskoe (2200 sq. km) and freshwater lakes Western Uzboy (Yaskhan, Kara-Tegelek, Topiatan, etc.).
In the west, Turkmenistan is washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea, which stretches from north to south for almost 1200 km, with an average width of 320 square meters. km, area – approx. 380 thousand sq. km, water volume - 78 thousand cubic meters. km. The length of the coastline is approx. 7 thousand km, average water salinity - 12.8%. The level of the Caspian Sea is 28.3 m below the level of the World Ocean (1980 data), the maximum depth is 1025 m, but it is subject to significant long-term fluctuations. In the 20th century The water level dropped by more than 2 m. To slow down the further drop in sea level (on average by 1.5–2.0 cm per year), a dam was built in 1980 between the Caspian Sea and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay.
The depths of the Caspian Sea are rich in oil and gas. Mirabilite and other salts are mined in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay. The sea is home to valuable species of fish, especially sturgeon (82% of the world catch), as well as herring, bream, pike perch, roach, carp, and sprat.
Climate
sharply continental, arid, with large annual and daily temperature amplitudes, low air humidity, high evaporation and low precipitation.
This climate regime is due to the location of Turkmenistan in the lower latitudes, a significant distance from the World Ocean, the peculiarities of atmospheric circulation, the nature of the surface structure, and the presence of mountain systems in the south and southeast. The absence of orographic barriers in the north and northwest allows cold air masses to freely penetrate the country, which often causes a sharp cooling (especially in the winter-spring period) in almost all areas.
In general, the climate is characterized by extreme instability in the cold half of the year and relatively stable hot and dry summers, as well as mild and little snow, sometimes cold winters, a short wet spring, and dry autumn. average temperature January from –5° C in the northeast to +4° C in the Atrek area; the absolute minimum is –32°C in the Tashauz region, –29°C in the foothill zone of the Kopetdag and –10.3°C in the south of the Caspian Sea coast. The average July temperature is +28° C in the northeast and +32° C in the south; absolute maximum +49.9° C. The average annual precipitation is about 80 mm in the middle reaches of the Amu Darya, 150 mm in the Karakum Desert, 200–300 mm in the foothills and intermountain valleys and over 400 mm in the mountains. Hot, dry winds and dust storms are typical for the plains.
The snow cover is unstable, usually lasting for several days (in the northern regions and mountains). The winds are constant, north-east, north, north-west prevail; In the foothills of Kopetdag a dry hot wind blows in summer garmsil. The growing season is 200–270 days.
Soils.
Within Turkmenistan there are 10 districts, united into 3 groups. Mountain and foothills: 1) Big and Small Balkhan, 2) Kopetdag, 3) Paropamiz - Badkhyz and Karabil, 4) Kugitang, 5) Krasnovodsk and Zauzboy, having a highly dissected erosion-tectonic relief. The mountains (Kopet Dag, Kugitangtau, etc.) are characterized by high seismicity. Structural elevated plains are the Ustyurt plateau and the Zaunguz Karakum. Ustyurt is characterized by desert flat-topped hills - kyrs with gray-brown desert soils; semi-shrub hodgepodges (tethir, biyurgun) and wormwood predominate. The surface of the elevated alluvial plain of Zaunguzya is dissected by ridges (30–60 m); sandy desert soils and rarely takyrs are developed in the interridge depressions. Denudation drainless depressions are common (Akchakaya and others). In Zaunguzie there are psammophytes with ephemeral forbs (mainly sedge-silt) and ephemerals; from bushes - saxaul, kandym, bordzhak, cherkez.
Lowland plains: 1) Caspian or Western Turkmen lowland, 2) Lowland Karakum, 3) valleys and deltas of the Amu Darya, Murgab, Tedzhen rivers, as well as oases - over a large area in a desert climate they are subject to intense wind erosion, which created various forms of aeolian relief (ridge, ridge-cellular and hilly-ridge sands; in the East and the Far West, dune sands occupy a significant place). In the valleys and deltas of rivers, alluvial (floodplain) meadow and meadow-takyr-like soils are common, and oasis sands are widely developed. The landscape of river valleys and deltas as a whole is artificially transformed and represents a typical example cultural landscape. It is here that the main areas of cotton growing, melon growing and horticulture of Turkmenistan are located.
Geological structure and minerals.
The territory of Turkmenistan is part of the Mediterranean geosynclinal belt and occupies part of two large tectonic elements - the EpiPaleozoic Turanian plate and the Alpine folded region.
Between the Kopetdag and the Turan plate there is the Pre-Kopetdag marginal trough. The pre-Alpine basement is composed of pre-Upper Paleozoic metamorphic formations and effusive-sedimentary formations of the Upper Paleozoic - Triassic; the overlying complex is formed by sedimentary geosynclinal, geoanticlinal and subplatform formations of the Mesozoic - Paleogene (up to 8 km thick), passing to the north into platform and orogenic formations of the Upper Oligocene - Anthropogene (several km thick), filling the Western Turkmen depression and the Pre-Kopet Dag trough. East End The territory of Turkmenistan, covering the mountainous block-folded uplift of the southwestern spurs of the Gissar Range, belongs to the epiplatform region. Its structure involves the Paleozoic foundation and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary cover (the lower parts of the latter are formed by platform formations of the Jurassic-Paleogene, and the upper part - by orogenic formations of the Neogene-Anthropogen). The southern regions are characterized by increased seismicity.
Vegetable world.
Desert vegetation predominates in Turkmenistan. Shrubs grow on the sands: white and black saxaul, kandym, cherkez, sand acacia, astragalus; the grass cover is dominated by swollen sedge. On salt marshes and sors grow comb grass, sarsazan, potashnik, etc. On the Ustyurt plateau there are shrub saltworts: Karadzha-Cherkez, kevreik, biyurgun, tetir, gray wormwood. The river valleys are dominated by island tugai forests (mainly poplar-petta, poplar-turanga and elk). Wormwood, solyanka, saxaul, ephemeral and other communities are widespread. The vegetation is very sparse and has low phytomass, but thanks to good autumn-winter-spring vegetation it is able to provide feed for livestock.
The desert lowlands and foothills of the Kopetdag are characterized by semi-shrub vegetation - southern and gray wormwood and ephemeral forbs. On the foothill plain, in the foothills of the Kopetdag, on Karabil and Badkhyz, herbaceous vegetation of the ephemeral type (bulbous bluegrass, desert sedge, ferula) and ephemerals are common. In the upper and middle mountain zones (from 1000 m and above), on mountain plateaus and gentle slopes you can see feather grass and wheatgrass steppes; at altitudes above 1500 m there are juniper trees. The gorges of the Western Kopetdag are rich in wild fruit trees and shrubs (grapes, apple trees, hawthorns, cherry plums, almonds, pomegranates, walnuts, figs, pistachios). On Badkhyz there is open pistachio forest. For the most part, deserts are used (if grass grows) as year-round pastures.
Above 2000 m, thickets of shrubs (barberry, hawthorn, etc.) appear on the wetter windward slopes, and juniper woodlands appear on brown soils. The herbaceous layer contains a rich set of species, often blooming beautifully (irises, tulips, mandrake, etc.). In the same layer, but on drier slopes, communities of thorny grasses (cousinia) and cushion shrubs (astragalus, acantholimona, etc.), as well as mountain fescue and feather grass steppes, are developed. Since steppe communities occupy the largest areas, this entire variegated belt is often called steppe.
Unirrigated plains are characterized by xerophytic subshrubs and shrubs. Many of them have no leaves or drop them when drought occurs. The roots are branched and penetrate greater depth(for example, camel thorn more than 20 m). The seeds of desert plants are often pubescent or equipped with peculiar wings that facilitate wind transfer. Many plants of sandy deserts are adapted to rapid rooting even in moving soils.
The flora of Turkmenistan contains many endemic species. The richness of the flora can be judged by the fact that in Kopetdag alone there are 2 thousand species of higher plants, and in deserts and low mountains - at least 1 thousand. Genetically, all this flora has close connections with the Mediterranean, the Middle and Near East.
In low mountains, ephemeral communities on gray soils are common, sometimes very peculiar, for example, sparse thickets of tall (up to 2.5–3 m) umbrella grasses (ferula, dorema). The background for them is ephemeral short grass (sedge, bluegrass, poppies, etc.). In summer the view changes dramatically.
In the lower parts of the mountain slopes, on dark gray soils, communities of large-grass ephemeroids (wheatgrass, regneria, bromegrass) are common, which are sometimes called steppe and which burn out by summer. Above 900–1000 m there is a belt of wormwood deserts on light brown soils.
On the Badkhyz hill and in a number of others mountainous regions Successful experiments were carried out to create pistachio forests. There is reason to believe that this tree species existed there before, but was destroyed as a result of centuries-old cattle grazing on the slopes. The collection of pistachios is both an important contribution to the diet of the local population and supplies goods to the market.
A special place is occupied by the so-called. tugai - thickets of poplar, oleaster, white willow, comb grass, giant grasses and other moisture-loving plants along the banks of the Amu Darya and Murghab.
In the oases, cotton, alfalfa, melons and horticultural crops are grown, as well as grapes.
Animal world.
Animals are well adapted to living in deserts. Many of them are nocturnal, some can go without water for a long time and are distinguished by their ability to run quickly over long distances. The country has 91 species of mammals, 372 species of birds, 74 species of reptiles and about 60 species of fish. Of the large mammals, the following animals should be noted: goitered gazelle, argali, jackal, wolf, sand cat, steppe cat, corsac fox; from rodents - gerbils, gophers and jerboas; from reptiles - agamas, monitor lizards, efa, viper, arrow snake, steppe boa, cobra, steppe tortoise; among birds - saxaul jay, larks, desert raven, sparrows; of invertebrates - beetles, scorpions, karakurt spider, phalanges.
In the foothill zone, along with a rich fauna of reptiles and rodents, there is an abundant fauna of birds: crested lark, hoopoe, sandgrouse, little bustard, kite, black vulture, griffon vulture, etc. In the mountains there are wolves, foxes, leopards, argali, bezoar goats, marking goats, wild cat; Birds include pheasant, chukar, Caspian mountain turkey (sular), etc. Badkhyz is home to kulan, argali, goitered gazelle, and hyena. In the Amu Darya valley - wild boar, Bukhara deer (hangul); among birds - pheasant, etc. In the Amu Darya itself there are thorn, barbel, asp, carp, pseudoshovel, etc.; Introduced herbivorous fish - grass carp and silver carp - are common in the Karakum Canal and reservoirs, as well as in the Amu Darya. There are many waterfowl along the banks of reservoirs.
In Turkmenistan there are the Krasnovodsk Reserve, the Badkhyz Reserve, and the Repetek Reserve.
POPULATION
Demography.
The population of Turkmenistan as of the beginning of 2005 reached approximately 6 million people (extrapolation of 1995 census data taking into account the official growth rate of the country's population). According to the 1995 census, the country's population was almost 4.5 million people. (attempts to conduct a sample census in 2004 were unsuccessful). The overall growth of the country's population is reflected in table. 1.
| Table 1. POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY ACCORDING TO CENSUS* | |||||
| Year | Population, thousand people | Including: | As a percentage of the total population | ||
| urban | rural | urban | rural | ||
| 1913 (census) | 1,042 | 117 | 925 | 11 | 89 |
| 1926 (census) | 0,998 | 137 | 861 | 14 | 86 |
| 1939 (census) | 1,252 | 416 | 836 | 33 | 67 |
| 1959 (census) | 1,516 | 700 | 816 | 46 | 54 |
| 1970 (census) | 2,159 | 1034 | 1125 | 48 | 52 |
| 1979 (census) | 2,759 | 1,323 | 1,436 | 48 | 52 |
| 1989 (census) | 3,622 | 1,811 | 1,847 | 47 | 51 |
| 1995 (census) | 4,481 | 2,061 | 2,420 | 46 | 54 |
| 2000 | 5.2 million people | 2,4 | 2,8 | 46 | 54 |
| 2005 | 6.0 million people | 2,8 | 3,2 | 47 | 53 |
| * Source: Census data from Turkmenistan, information from the National Institute of State Statistics and Information of Turkmenistan, extrapolation calculations by the author. | |||||
When considering any statistical data on Turkmenistan (including demographics), it should be taken into account that they are imperfect. Turkmenistan provides limited statistics to the UN and does not provide statistical data to the relevant CIS committee.
According to official data from the 1995 census, the total fertility rate was 28.3 (per 1000 people) and decreased to 18.5 by 2000. The death rate was 7 in 1995 and decreased to 5.4 by 2000. The number of marriages in 1995–2000 decreased from 7. 4 to 5.7 per 1000 people; Accordingly, the number of divorces decreased from 1.3 to 1.1. The average life expectancy is 52 years (according to the Internet site of the RosBusinessConsulting company). However, according to official data from the government of Turkmenistan, it reaches 67 years.
Ethnic composition.
Based on the 1995 census, and also taking into account the growing migration of ethnic Russians from Turkmenistan, the bulk of the population at the beginning of 2005 were Turkmen - 81% of the total population, Uzbeks - 9%, Russians - 3.5%, Kazakhs - 1.9%, Azerbaijanis - 0.8%, Tatars - 0.8%, Balochis - 0.8%, Armenians - 0.7%, Ukrainians - 0.3%, others - 1.2%.
Cities.
The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat (in national transcription - Ashgabat). By 2005, according to official data, 678 thousand people lived in the capital (for comparison, according to the 1989 census - 407 thousand people), in Turkmenabat (formerly Chardzhou, Lebap velayat) there were 178 thousand people, in Dashoguz (formerly Tashauz, Dashoguz velayat) – 121 thousand people, in Mary (Mary velayat) – 100 thousand people, in Balkanabat (formerly Nebit-Dag, Lebap velayat) – 95 thousand people, in Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk, Balkan velayat) – 68 thousand. people
Religion.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian Religious Administration, which previously exercised control over religious life, was transformed into the Islamic Religious Council of Central Asia, and each qazi received almost complete freedom of action. After the declaration of independence of Turkmenistan, the leadership declared the country a secular state, and the qazi received the right to decide all matters relating to religion, on the condition that he “maintain a working relationship with the Ministry of Justice.”
Muslims (mostly Sunni) make up approximately 89% of the country's population, Christians (mostly Orthodox) - 9%, and other faiths - 2%. In everyday life, religious norms and traditions are strictly adhered to by a small part of the population. The degree of prevalence of Islam and the activity of imams and mullahs and, first of all, the heads of Muslims of Turkmenistan are under the personal strict control of the country's president.
Language.
In accordance with the constitution of Turkmenistan, the official official language– Turkmen. Almost the entire population speaks Russian, which is the language of international communication. Since 1999, Turkmenistan has been curtailing the distribution of the Russian language and the Russian-language information space (closing Russian-language schools and universities, transferring office work into the Turkmen language from January 1, 2000, non-recognition of Soviet and Russian diplomas issued over the past 10 years, ban on issuing newspapers from Russia , broadcasting Russian-language radio stations, etc.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Political system.
Turkmenistan has presidential rule. The first secretary of the former Communist Party of the USSR, Saparmurat Niyazov (who has the title “Turkmenbashi” - leader of the Turkmen), following the elections on June 21, 1992, took the post of president of the country. After a referendum on January 15, 1994, his presidential powers were extended until 2002, but in December 1999, at a joint meeting of the main legislative body of the country “Halk Maslakhaty” (People’s Council), the Council of Elders and the national revival movement “Galkynysh”, he received powers for an indefinite presidency. which ended in 2006 with the death of Niyazov.
Saparmurat Niyazov simultaneously served as prime minister and supreme commander of the country.
According to the constitution, the highest representative body of people's power is the Khalk Maslakhaty (People's Council) of Turkmenistan. It consists of: the president; deputies of the Majlis; Khalk vekilleri, elected by the people, one from each etrap (district); Chairman of the Supreme Court, Chairman of the Supreme Economic Court, Prosecutor General, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of administration of velayats (regions), archyns (mayors of municipal councils) of shakhers (cities), as well as villages that are the administrative centers of etraps.
The Mejlis (parliament) is the legislative body of Turkmenistan. It consists of 50 deputies elected in territorial constituencies with approximately equal numbers of voters for a period of five years.
In 2005, S. Niyazov first announced a program of democratic reforms of the country's political system, including a gradual transition to a multi-party system. At the first stage, starting in 2007, elections were held for khyakims (chairmen) of all levels, primarily velayats (regions), etraps (districts) and miners (cities).
Regional and local government.
Executive power is exercised locally: in 5 velayats (regions) - velayats khyakimi (Akhalk, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap, Mary velayats); in shahers (cities) – shaher hyakimi; in etraps (districts) – etrap hyakimi, archyn.
Hyakims are local representatives of the head of state; they are appointed and dismissed by the president and are accountable to him.
Hyakims manage the activities of local government bodies, ensure the implementation of the constitution, laws, acts of the president and cabinet of ministers, as well as other higher bodies.
Judicial system.
Judicial power in Turkmenistan is exercised by the supreme kazyet (court) and other kazyets provided for by the law of the country. The chairman of the Supreme Kazyet reports to the People's Assembly and the President on the activities of the judicial system. Judges at all levels are appointed by the President for a term of five years.
Supervision over compliance with laws, legal acts of the President by government bodies, the Armed Forces, local self-government, participants in production, economic and commercial activities, organizations and institutions, public associations, officials and citizens is entrusted to the Prosecutor General and his subordinate prosecutors.
Both the Chairman of the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General sit on the People's Council of the Khala Maslahaty. The competence of the Halk Maslakhaty includes revising the Constitution and introducing amendments to it. As a consequence, the protection of fundamental rights established by the prohibition on the transfer of legislative functions to parliament in the field of criminal law and judicial proceedings can be circumvented by simply changing the constitution by the power of the people's council. The country lacks a constitutional court and legal mechanisms that establish compliance with the supremacy of international law over the country's domestic legislation and ensure that laws are brought into accordance with the constitution.
Armed forces.
The number of armed forces is approximately 100 thousand people (2005). Defense spending reaches, according to official data, almost $100 million (approximately 3.4% of GDP).
The armed forces are equipped with MiG-29 fighters, Su-25 attack aircraft, Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, S-60 anti-aircraft artillery systems, OSA and Strela-2 anti-aircraft missile systems. , tanks various types, infantry fighting vehicles, some other types of weapons. About 300 were inherited from the USSR.
Ground units of the Turkmen army - 600 T-72 tanks, more than 1000 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers and about 500 pieces of artillery with a caliber of over 100 mm.
Turkmenistan has a Navy of 2 thousand people, which is subordinate to the command of the border troops.
At the first stage after gaining independence, the army functioned according to the Soviet model, using weapons and military equipment inherited from the USSR. Then, the concept of building the armed forces was based first on the neutral status of Turkmenistan, and after 2002 on the need for large-scale involvement of military personnel in work in the national economy. The armed forces began to create specialized units to work in various sectors of the economy and service sector, primarily at construction sites, in villages, and medical institutions. It is believed that during a two-year service, soldiers will be able to master a civilian specialty and work in it after demobilization. In the spring of 2002, the age limit for conscription into the army was lowered to 17 years.
Despite the declared neutral status of Turkmenistan, the army is equipped with modern types of weapons, primarily the Air Force and Navy in the Caspian Sea. Georgia modernized 43 military aircraft and 8 helicopters for Turkmenistan (including 22 Su-25 attack aircraft for more than $22 million); In addition, Turkmenistan purchased two new combat aircraft from Georgia.
The newest ones were purchased from Ukraine radar stations“Kolchuga”, capable of detecting surface, air and ground targets unnoticed by enemy tracking equipment. Turkmenistan is the only CIS country that has not signed an agreement on measures to control the proliferation of Igla and Strela man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems in the Commonwealth countries.
Since 2002, the coast guard forces in the Caspian Sea have received dozens of new patrol boats purchased from Ukraine, mainly Kalkan-M and Grif-T. In 2003, Iran transferred seven coast guard boats and one destroyer to Turkmenistan on long-term lease on very favorable terms.
Foreign policy.
The foreign policy of Turkmenistan is determined by its neutral status (since December 1995), huge reserves of natural gas and the desire to maximize its exports, a significant change in the geopolitical situation in Central Asia after the defeat of the Taliban and the arrival of American troops in the region, and the unresolved issue of the legal status of the Caspian Sea Relations of Turkmenistan with the CIS countries are based on the concept of minimal development of multilateral relations with the maximum expansion of bilateral ties). This applies to participation in any multilateral unions, blocs, organizations, etc., due to neutral status. Within the CIS, bilateral relations are dominated by Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Ashgabat actively uses the opportunities provided by the Commonwealth for regular contacts at the highest and other levels, as well as to monitor trends in interstate relations of the CIS countries. The development of the fuel and energy complex of Turkmenistan and the export of hydrocarbons are at the forefront of bilateral relations. This is what forces Ashgabat to maintain friendly relations with Russia and Ukraine.
The most difficult relations are observed between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Despite the signing of a border delimitation agreement in 2001, tension remains constant there. There were repeated attacks on the Uzbek civilian population going to visit (with all formalities) relatives or visit their graves.
Similarly complex relations exist between Ashgabat and Baku, which are based on a dispute over the ownership of three oil fields in the Caspian Sea. It is the conflict between these two countries that is one of the obstacles to resolving the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
Turkmenistan maintains the most good neighborly relations with Turkey. Both sides regard them as being part of a long-term strategic partnership. On the vast majority of international issues, these countries present a united front, and legal basis bilateral relations is based on more than 60 treaties and agreements, covering almost all aspects of bilateral relations. The main area of cooperation is the economy: the trade turnover of the two countries exceeded $600 million in 2003. Almost 350 Turkish firms and companies operate in the country, and about 20 thousand Turkish entrepreneurs work on a permanent basis. Close cooperation has been established between the military departments and intelligence services of the two states.
Turkmenistan's relations with Iran should be regarded as very promising. Based to a large extent on stable supplies of Turkmen gas to Iran via the Korpeje-Kurt-Kui gas pipeline (since 1997) and foreign trade relations, they contribute to regular contacts at the highest level, as well as the further expansion of foreign economic relations. In Turkmen markets you can find a wide variety of Iranian goods.
Turkmenistan's foreign policy ties with the West are focused mainly on the United States. This is due to Washington’s significant influence on the political situation in the Central Asian region (including the activity of American troops there); the possibility of receiving financial support from the United States regarding gas exports, as well as investing in the Turkmen fuel and energy complex and Ashgabat’s hope to receive moral support in its confrontation with Tashkent and Baku. As for the United States, for them Turkmenistan has become a kind of stronghold of diplomacy, from which the situation in Iran (especially taking into account Tehran’s implementation of the nuclear program), Turkey, the Transcaucasian states, and the country of Central Asia can be clearly seen.
Turkmenistan’s relations with the states of the European Union are built almost entirely on the basis of mutual interest in gas supplies, as well as Ashgabat’s desire to attract investment European countries into its economy, which is generally possible to do, although the process is quite slow. Here Europe shows more conservatism than the United States, and greater dissatisfaction with the violation of human rights in Turkmenistan.
Political parties.
There is only one political party in Turkmenistan - the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, which is the former Communist Party of Turkmenistan. It is headed by the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Republic, Saparmurat Niyazov, who came to his party post in 1985. Attempts to create the Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan in 1992 failed.
The activities of the national revival movement “Galkynysh” are allowed in the country.
Any opposition activity within the country is prosecuted by law and suppressed by security forces.
There are several opposition associations abroad. Among them is the people's democratic movement of Turkmenistan (created by B.O. Shikhmuradov, who is currently in prison on charges of assassination attempt on S. Niyazov). There is also the People's Movement "Vatan", created by the former Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Central Bank who emigrated from Turkmenistan countries by Khudayberdy Orazov.
The opposition notes the underground functioning of the Communist Party in Turkmenistan, but there is no evidence of this.
ECONOMY
Labor resources.
According to official Turkmen statistics, the economically active population as of January 1, 2005 was 3.4 million people. According to the country's leadership, this parameter will reach 4.7 million people by 2010, with an annual increase in labor resources of 5%. Unemployment and underemployment do not exceed, according to official estimates, 5–8%, and the government intends to reduce them to 2% by 2010. However, international independent experts (primarily from the World Bank, IMF, EBRD) believe that unemployment in Turkmenistan is approximately 25%, and in rural areas, where more than half of the total population lives, exceeds 40%.
The distribution of employment in the leading sectors of the country’s economy shows the following picture (official data): in agriculture About 30% of the economically active population is employed, about 40% in industry and about 30% in the service sector.
Organization of production.
According to government sources, the public sector of the economy produces about 55% of gross output; The non-state sector provides approximately 45% of all production. At the same time, within the non-state sector directly on private sector accounts for almost 3/4 of the total product produced (the rest is public, corporate, mixed sectors). The private sector of the economy occupies the strongest positions in the service sector (primarily in trade), agriculture (mainly cattle breeding, gardening, vegetable growing, melon growing), and light industry.
As for high technologies, modern technology (including robots) is widely used in textile production, telecommunications, and its use has begun in gas and oil production (hydrocarbon production at great depths, as well as in depleted fields).
Resources.
The main natural wealth of Turkmenistan is natural ha h. Information about its reserves is extremely contradictory. Thus, according to various estimates, the volume of confirmed reserves ranges from 4.7 trillion. cube m. up to 23 trillion. cube m. In 2004, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Information, 58.6 cubic meters of gas were produced in the country, of which 42 billion were sent for export. The most important gas fields, where production has been carried out for over 40 years, are Shatlyk, Achae, Naip and some others. The richest gas fields as of the beginning of 2005 are Doletabad and Malay.
According to official data, oil reserves in the country amount to 12 billion tons. The coastal shelf of the Caspian Sea, where oil reserves may amount to 4–5 billion tons, has been little explored. In 2004, 11.8 million tons of oil were produced, of which 6.8 million tons were sent for refining and 5 million tons for export.
A number of small deposits of fossil coals have been discovered in Jurassic deposits.
Turkmenistan is rich in mineral salt deposits , among which the main ones are chlorides (there are also potassium ones) - Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay - and sulfates (a group of anhydrite, gypsum, mirabilite and others). In Western Kopetdag there are ore occurrences of barite, witherite, fluorite, and mercury , however, they do not yet have industrial significance. There are also minor reserves of polymetals (in the Kugitang Mountains), containing mainly lead and zinc. Among non-metallic minerals, there are industrial reserves of sulfur, bentonite, ozokerite, granite, limestone, Glauber's salt, ornamental stone, building materials (including cement raw materials and raw materials for glass production - quartz sandstone).
Valuable minerals of Turkmenistan include drinking, industrial, iodine-bromine and mineral medicinal waters. New sources of fresh water have been discovered in the Karakum Desert at depths of 50–240 m.
Gross domestic product.
The sectoral structure of GDP is characterized according to official data by the following figures: about 25% is created in agriculture, about 45% in industry, and 30% in the service sector. There are no statistics at the stage of distribution and use of GDP.
Officially, the economic growth rate of GDP was 16% in 1999, almost 18% in 2000, about 20% in 2001–2002, almost 17% in 2003 and over 21% in 2004. According to our estimates, GDP growth fluctuated by last years at the level of 5–7% on average per year.
According to calculations, data on per capita income based on official statistics indicate that based on the bank rate of manat of 5,200 manat per 1 US dollar, GDP per capita in 2002 was less than 1 thousand dollars. Based on a more realistic market rate - 22000 manat for 1 American. dollars - then GDP per capita does not exceed $250. Some experts believe that real per capita income in 2005 was about $100 (calculated at purchasing power parity).
Industry.
This area of the national economy is the leading sector of the economy of Turkmenistan, it creates about 45% of GDP, and within its main component is the oil and gas complex. The production of oil and gas and the export of the latter ensure the economic growth of the country and are the leading source of foreign currency entering the country (the export of raw cotton and oil plays a secondary role).
The decision to resume gas exports at the end of 1999 allowed Turkmenistan to emerge from the economic crisis and in 2000 reach a production level of about 50 billion cubic meters. m. Mostly Turkmen gas is sent through Russia to Ukraine (34 billion cubic meters in 2002, 36 billion cubic meters in subsequent years until 2007, when Russian purchases will increase noticeably).
Russia purchases Turkmen gas directly for itself in small quantities - about 5 billion cubic meters. m in 2004 and approximately 10 billion cubic meters. m in 2005–2006 at a price of $44 per 1 thousand cubic meters. m. However, in the future, in accordance with the agreement signed in 2003 between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation on the import of Turkmen gas for a period of 25 years, Russia will increase its purchases to 70–80 billion cubic meters. m and will “select” the entire volume of gas supplied to the north. The export of Turkmen gas to Iran via the Korpeje-Kurt-Kui gas pipeline will remain, but it will not exceed 13 billion cubic meters. m annually.
The growth of oil production (about 12 million tons in 2004) has a positive effect on the state of the country's economy and an increase in export potential (at least 1/3 of the oil produced is exported). The bulk of the oil is processed at two oil refineries - in Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk) and Seydi. The capacity of the first refinery is about 6 million tons of oil per year; – approximately 1 million tons. The modernization of these refineries carried out in recent years with the help of companies from Japan, Germany, France, Austria, Israel and others has made it possible to improve the quality of processed hydrocarbons and transfer the country's vehicles to high-octane gasoline AI-95 and AI-98 and high-quality diesel fuel.
The Caspian shelf is very promising from the point of view of hydrocarbon production, despite the fact that their cost here is higher than when developing fields on land; This is evidenced by the activities of the Anglo-Arab company Dragon Oil over the past 10 years. But these works are hampered by two acute problems - the unsettled status of the Caspian Sea and disagreements between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over the ownership of 3 offshore oil fields.
The second most important area of industrial production is light industry, primarily the textile industry, which is due to the growth in the collection of raw cotton and the increase in world market demand for cotton group goods. About 60 thousand tons of cotton yarn are produced, approximately 70 million square meters. m of cotton fabrics, about 25 million pieces. knitwear. The products of the textile industry belong to a small category of Turkmen goods, which are in stable demand within the country and abroad - denim and products made from it sell well in Europe. Foreign capital (especially Turkish) willingly enters this industry, where modern production facilities are created using advanced technologies, including robots.
Other industries play a subordinate role in the country's economy. Only construction and the production of building materials have a certain weight in the national economy and show relatively high growth rates - 6–8% on average per year. Next in descending order are the food industry, petrochemistry, mechanical engineering and metalworking, electrical engineering industry, etc.
Agriculture.
The agricultural sector is in second place (after industry) in the economy of Turkmenistan (about 25% of GDP is created there).
Within this industry, the leading place is occupied by cotton growing; The sale of raw cotton abroad, along with gas, is an important source of foreign currency earnings. The bulk of arable land, the area of which exceeds 800 thousand hectares, is used for growing cotton. According to unofficial data, the cotton harvest in 2004 did not exceed 0.5 million tons, with a plan of 2.2 million tons; Similarly, in general, in 2000–2004 the plan was fulfilled by no more than 30%. High-quality cotton varieties accounted for about 25% of the total harvest volume of this crop. The monoculture of agriculture (orientation mainly to cotton growing) leads to socio-economic problems associated with salinization and waterlogging of the soil due to the need for abundant irrigation of cotton crops, as well as as a result of attracting the country's population (schoolchildren, students, conscripts, etc.) to the cotton harvest.
The main grain crops are wheat, barley, corn, rice, dzhugara (sorghum). According to preliminary data, the wheat harvest in 2004 was 1.4 million tons (1.7 million tons in 2000). The main grain-growing region is Ahal velayat, where about 40% of all grain crops in the republic are concentrated ( total area arable land under grain crops in the country is about 150 thousand hectares). The rice harvest reached approximately 35 thousand tons in 2004 (32 thousand tons in 2000). Almost all the sown areas of this crop are concentrated in the farms of Lebap and Dashoguz velayats.
It should be emphasized that private producers of strategically important types of products - cotton and food grains - receive preferential loans from the state, are exempt from taxes, and the government pays 50% of their expenses for seeds, chemicals, mineral fertilizers, and various technical services.
5 types of forage crops are cultivated: forage grasses - alfalfa, Sudanese grass, vetch, perco, rapeseed; silage – corn (for grain), sorghum (dzhugara); forage melons – forage watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini; root vegetables – sugar and semi-sugar beets; grain feed crops – winter barley and rye.
Melon growing in Turkmenistan is an important and ancient branch of agriculture. Melon crops include watermelons, melons, and pumpkins. The assortment of melons includes more than 200 types, varying in terms of ripening, transportability, shapes and sizes of fruits.
The sown area of melon crops in 2004 amounted to 26 thousand hectares, the gross harvest of melon food crops was 229 thousand tons. Melon growing is developed primarily in Lebap and Dashoguz velayats. They account for more than half of the melons produced. To increase the yield and gross harvest of melons and melons, selection and seed production work is being carried out, and modern technology is being introduced. At least a third of the gross melon harvest is exported.
Horticulture is also one of the important branches of agriculture in Turkmenistan. The main fruit crops include apple, pear, quince, apricot, peach, plum, cherry plum, drupes, walnuts and pistachios (of the nut fruits), figs, olives, mulberries, pomegranate, almonds and lemon. The most common crops are apple (44%), apricot (19%), plum (8%), pear (6%), pomegranate (5.5%), peach (4%), all other types of fruit make up 13.5% . In 2004, the area under fruit crops amounted to 23.5 thousand hectares, the gross harvest was about 60 thousand tons.
Vegetable growing is widespread primarily in the Ahal velayat. The most common vegetable crops are tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, cabbage, peppers, eggplants, radishes, radishes. In 2004, the area under vegetable crops amounted to approximately 25 thousand hectares, the gross harvest reached 350 thousand tons.
Viticulture is an important component of the agro-industrial complex of the republic, providing the population with fresh and dried grapes, which is also a raw material for the wine-making and canning industries. Collections average 200 thousand tons annually.
Livestock farming is the second most important area of agricultural production after agriculture. Astrakhan farming is developed (astrakhan skins are exported to the world market and used in the country's national fur industry), fine-fleece sheep breeding, camel farming, pig farming, poultry farming, horse breeding (raising the world-famous pedigree horses of the Akhal-Teke breed), sericulture, beekeeping, and fisheries.
Meat production in the country at the beginning of this millennium ranges from 280–300 thousand tons, milk – about 980 thousand tons, eggs – 370 million pieces.
Energy.
According to official data, in 2004 the country generated almost 15 billion kWh of electricity, of which about 5 billion kWh was exported (to Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and a number of Central Asian states). The main suppliers of electricity in the country are the Mary State District Power Plant, the Abadan and Balkanabat power plants. Turkmenistan has been actively cooperating with the American General Electric and the Turkish Chalyk Energy for more than 10 years in expanding the capacity of these power plants. The network of power transmission lines is expanding - the construction of the strategic line Mary - Ashgabat - Balkanabat (220 kW) is being completed, which will reduce the number of accidents in the capital's power supply system and reduce power surges.
Transport and communications.
The basis transport system The country's transportation sector consists of road transport, the functioning of which is closely related to the construction of bridges on the Amu Darya. According to official data for 2000, the volume of road freight transport amounted to 408 million tons, by rail transported - 10 million tons, inland water - 1.7 million tons, sea - 161 thousand tons and air - 11 thousand tons. Passenger transportation in the same year amounted to: road transport - 842 million people, railways - 2.629 thousand people, air - 1.293 thousand people and sea - 11 thousand people.
Highways connecting the main cities of the country (Ashgabat - Turkmenbashi, Ashgabat - Mary - Turkmenbat, Ashgabat - Karakum - Dashoguz, Turkmenbashi - Dashoguz and some others) correspond to the international level of highways and belong to the roads of the first technical category: a six-lane road with a dividing strip and width the roadway on each side is 12.25 meters.
Of great importance is the construction on the territory of Turkmenistan of part of the North-South transport corridor, primarily the Eralievo-Turkmenbashi-Kazandzhik-Kyzylatrek-state border railway with further access to the Iranian railway network. This will allow you to form new route between Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran and reduce cargo delivery times by at least half. It is worth noting the important role of existing international lines - the 280-kilometer railway line Tejen - Serakhs - Mashhad (Iran), called the “golden link” of the Trans-Asian Highway and which in essence became the Great Silk Road in its modern version, as well as the 200-kilometer Turkmenabat-Atamurat railway connecting the five eastern regions of Turkmenistan. In the future, this branch will become a link in the future Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India highway.
Maritime transport is focused on the port in Turkmenbashi, which was reconstructed by Turkish specialists. Industrial and agricultural equipment, motor vehicles, metal products, and mineral fertilizers are delivered to Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea. Oil, coke and other petroleum products, chemicals and other products of local producers are shipped through this port. The ferry service between the city of Turkmenbashi and the Russian port of Olya near Astrakhan is playing an increasingly important role in the infrastructure: both ports are becoming strategically important in the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor.
The main directions of development of communications are the reconstruction of existing and construction of new networks, the opening of new international channels, the transfer of existing switching systems from analogue to digital. The leading source of income from public communication systems is the sale of services to the population (according to 2000, out of a total revenue of 237 billion manats, 74 billion manats went to the budget under this item). The capital has completed the first stage of modernization of the telephone network, which made it possible to provide telephone communications to approximately 70% of the population of Ashgabat. The number of subscribers to cellular and paging communications is gradually increasing, although they still remain inaccessible to the general population of the country due to their high cost.
International trade.
From the very beginning of the independent development of Turkmenistan, its policy in the field of foreign economic relations was focused on maximum departure from Russia as the “big brother” while simultaneously expanding independent foreign trade relations. This was determined by the objective need for gas supplies through the Central Asia – Center gas pipelines. In parallel, a policy was (and is) being pursued to expand regional ties, primarily with Turkey and Iran, and to some extent with the Central Asian states. Foreign economic contacts with Western countries, including from the USA.
According to official data, foreign trade turnover in 2004 amounted to 6.8 billion dollars; At the same time, exports reached almost 4.4 billion, and imports were at the level of 2.4 billion dollars.
Gas occupies the main place in the commodity structure of exports. In second place are oil and petroleum products, as well as electricity. Next (depending on world market conditions) are the goods of the cotton group - raw cotton, cotton yarn, cotton fabrics and finished cotton products. Carpets and carpet products, leather and leather products, silk, horses of noble breeds, vegetables and fruits, fish, black caviar, and some other food products are also exported.
It should be emphasized that Turkmenistan is consciously relying on gas exports, since this is what gives it the opportunity to receive significant foreign exchange funds to pay for imports and develop and diversify the economy.
Exports are carried out to more than 50 countries of the world, but the leading position is almost invariably occupied by Ukraine (gas purchases) - over half of the total export volume. Iran is in second place - on average 20% of Turkmen exports, and Italy is in third place with 10-15%. They are followed by Türkiye and Russia. Others are located behind these countries, although the overall geographical structure of Turkmenistan's exports is very fluid, and the positions of countries change from year to year. Therefore, for example, it is quite likely that in connection with the signed Russian-Turkmen Agreement on gas supplies to the Russian Federation until 2028, Russia, from 2007, will come out on top as a foreign trade partner of Turkmenistan.
Among the imported goods, production and technical products dominate, about 80% of the total volume of imports - machinery and equipment (for the oil and gas industry, textile complexes, electric power, construction, etc.), means of transport, metal and metal structures (Turkmenistan has only now begun to think about creating its own metallurgical base, although there are almost no real opportunities for this), ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy products, coal, timber, other raw materials, chemicals, medicines, industrial consumer goods, etc.
The geographical structure of Turkmenistan's imports (there are connections with almost 80 countries of the world) differs from exports - here in recent years Germany has been in first place, whose share reaches almost 20%. This is followed by Ukraine and Russia (about 15% each), Turkey, Iran, USA, Japan, UAE, etc.
The state budget.
State finance statistics in recent years (as well as many other statistical data) are missing, so experts use information for 2000, especially since the structure of the state budget has changed slightly in recent years.
In 2002, the total expenditure was 29.1 trillion. manat, and income - 28.6 trillion, which meant a budget deficit of about 500 million manat. The main source of financing budget expenditures in 2000 was from state funds and complexes. So, 12 trillion. manat revenue part of the budget came from contributions from enterprises of the oil and gas complex, primarily Turkmenneftegaz, Turkmengaz, Turkmenneft, the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Turkmenistan, etc. Taxes (direct and indirect) took second place in ensuring state budget revenues. – their total amount was 4.4 trillion. manat
The general economic strategy of budget policy is aimed primarily at increasing the level of tax collection. However, there were no significant changes in tax policy.
An analysis of the revenue side of the state budget indicates a low level of the tax base of Turkmenistan: out of a total revenue of 28.6 trillion. manat income tax, which in countries with developed economies is the basis of budget revenues, provides an amount of only 0.85 trillion. (3%). Only one value added tax brought in much more revenue - 1.6 trillion. manat
The structure of the expenditure side of the budget for 2000 indicates a gradual strengthening of its social orientation. So, for example, with an increase in public sector expenditures by 64% compared to 1999, expenditures on social needs increased by 79% (allocations for doubling the salaries of public sector employees, pensions, scholarships and various benefits). In total on social sphere 4.3 trillion spent manat or 15% of total expenses.
The main expenditure part of the budget is the costs of various state funds and complexes, a total of 22.7 trillion. manat This type of cost is at the same time income from the activities of enterprises managed by such funds and complexes.
Among other types of official budget expenditures, it should be noted direct expenditures on the development of the national economy (agribusiness, transport and communications, construction, centralized capital investments, etc.) - a total of 787 billion manat; for defense and border protection – 600 billion; servicing external debt – 30 billion manats.
An analysis of the budget carried out by IMF experts from the point of view of the need to repay external debt (and according to various estimates of international financial institutions it amounts to from 1.7 to 2.6 billion dollars) indicates that in 2000 expenses on this item should have been no less than 380 million dollars (286 million – payments of the debt itself and 96 million – interest on it). It seems that by understating the level of costs for servicing external debt by government ministries and departments, the government of Turkmenistan seeks to emphasize the low overall size of external debt, the favorable situation in the national economy and increase the attractiveness of the country for foreign investors.
The budget deficit of approximately 500 million manats is expected to be covered through interest-free loans from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan.
Banking system.
By the beginning of 2004, there were 12 banks in Turkmenistan. According to experts from the Standard & Poor's banking rating structure, the state's share in the banking sector was over 96%; the total assets of the banking system were $3.327 million, the total volume of deposits in the system exceeded $500 million; the total net profit of the banking system country reached 23 million dollars.
The leading place is occupied by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan, which has the right to issue money.
Turkmenistan differs from other CIS countries in its high degree of market concentration in the banking sector, where the two largest are state-owned banks. The State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs and Daykhanbank own approximately 80% of all assets of the banking system.
Turkmenistan (as well as Russia, Uzbekistan and Belarus) is reluctant to privatize large banks with state participation. The predominance of state ownership of banks gives the government the opportunity to influence the credit decision-making process, which has a detrimental effect on the quality of assets and the efficiency of the banking system.
Turkish banks are active in the country - Kocbank and T.C. Ziraat Bankasi A.S., which have stable ratings according to Standard & Poor's ratios. There are branches of Iranian and Pakistani banks.
The activities of the banking sector of Turkmenistan reflect the high degree of dependence of the country's economic growth on gas exports. As a result, the national economy of Turkmenistan, characterized by a poorly diversified industry and based largely on the extraction of mineral raw materials and agriculture, is exposed to industry risks and depends on the cyclical factor.
Monetary system.
The monetary unit of Turkmenistan, the manat, was introduced on November 1, 1993. At the same time, the exchange of Russian rubles for manats began at the rate of 500 rubles per 1 manat. The official exchange rate of the national currency is determined by the Central Bank of the country and is invariably 1 $ = 5.2 manat. The real exchange rate of the manat is regulated by the “black market”, where at the beginning of 2005 it was approximately 24.5 manat per 1 dollar. There is no information on the size of the money supply in the country, and especially the excess paper money emission.
Paper banknotes of Turkmenistan are printed in Great Britain. The first batch arrived in the country from London on May 7, 1993. The export of more than 50 manats from the republic was prohibited.
In the first years of its existence, the Turkmen manat suffered a significant depreciation. If, when introduced into circulation in November 1993, its official exchange rate was equal to 500 Russian rubles per 1 manat and 1.99 manats per $1, then by mid-1996 the exchange rate dropped to the level of 55–59 manats per 100 Russian rubles and 2400–2450 manats for $1.
Simultaneously with banknotes in 1993, the change coins 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 tenge (1 manat = 100 tenge).
Coins of 1, 5 and 10 tenge are made of copper-clad steel (red), 20 and 50 tenge are made of nickel-clad steel (white).
However, due to high inflation rates, the circulation of coins has lost its practical meaning.
Tourism.
Turkmenistan is of considerable interest to foreign tourists from the point of view of the presence of historical monuments, natural monuments, study national traditions, folklore, etc.
In ancient times, the “Great Silk Road” ran through the territory of modern Turkmenistan - a symbol of the cultural integration of East and West. The trade caravan began its movement in Xi'an, went through India, all of Central Asia and further to the shores of the Black and Mediterranean seas. The name “Great Silk Road”, accepted today, was first given to this route by the German scientist F. Richthofen in 1877 in his work China. A number of large architectural monuments, which in ancient times were the most significant points - stops on the Great Silk Road. These are the settlements of Mashad-Mesrian in Dehistan, Parau near Kizil-Arvat, Shakhrislam in the Bakhard region, Nisa, Anau, Abiverd, Namazga-depe, Altyn-depe near Ashgabat, Serakhs, ancient Merv, Margush, Amul near Turkmenabad, Kunyaurgench, Shahsenem near Dashoguz.
Of considerable interest are the various funeral architectural complexes over the graves of prominent people. The undisputed pearl is the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar in old Merv; interesting in architectural solution also the Merv ensemble of the 15th century. – mausoleum of the Ashabs, companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The Astana Baba mausoleum in Lebap velayat deservedly attracts attention, near which you can always meet pilgrims. But perhaps most interesting monuments Turkmenistan is located in the city of Keneurgench, Dashoguz velayat - these are the mausoleums of Il Arslan and Khorezmshah Tekesh (12th century), the amazingly beautiful monuments of ancient Khorezm - the Tyurabek Khanum mausoleum and the majestic, 60-meter minaret of Kutlug-Timur, the highest in Central Asia. The ruins of ancient Dehistan rise on the absolutely flat and waterless plain of the Balkan velayat, the most significant among them is the Shir-Kabir mausoleum. Near Ashgabat, on the outskirts of the village of Bagir, Nisa is located - the ancient capital of the famous Parthian kingdom, which existed for almost 600 years (from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD).
As for natural monuments, it should be noted that there are well-preserved fossilized traces of Upper Jurassic dinosaurs on the western slope of the Kugitan ridge near the village of Khojapilata in the Charshanginsky etrap. On the surface of limestones with an absolute age of about 140 million years (Jurassic period), approx. 500 dinosaur tracks. The famous Karlyuk caves on Kugitangtau are unique natural monuments. The total length of the passages and galleries of the Hashimoyik cave is 5300 m. There are about 30 of them in the Karlyuk cave system. Many caves have not yet been explored. The Karlyuk Caves have no equal in Eurasia in terms of the richness of their decoration, and they are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 6 km north of Cheleken there is a crater lake, Pink Porsygel, of mud volcanic origin. It is best known for covering the mouth of an ancient mud volcano with pink water.
There are many centuries-old juniper trees in Kopetdag. Their average age is 400–500 years. In the country's only grove, Unabi (Kugitang), the trees are over 200 years old. In the Karakal region, in the Aidere gorge, the famous 500-year-old Shahoz (King Walnut) grows. On Kugitang, in the Khojaburjibeland tract, a pistachio grove has been preserved; the trees are 200–250 years old with a trunk thickness of about 1 m. Quite a few single trees have also been preserved. The patriarch is the 358-year-old plane tree Seven Brothers in the Firyuzinsky Gorge. In the Kurkulab gorge, near Germab, there are two centuries-old plane trees, the thickness of the trunk of one of them at the root collar is about 2 m. In the Middle Amudarya oasis, several centuries-old mulberry trees have been preserved. The largest among them is Mulberry Seidi with a trunk diameter of about 1.5 m and a crown length of 13 × 18.5 m. It grows near the village of Gultak, Karabekaul etrap. According to legend, the Turkmen classical poet Seidi (1775–1836) often rested under this tree. The pistachio savannah of Badkhyz with its centuries-old trees is unique in its beauty and uniqueness. Mount Boyadag, whose rocks shimmer in the sun, is known as a kind of museum of nature - there are approx. 40 hot, warm and cold springs with different water compositions.
National achievements in art and folklore, as well as the traditions of Turkmen cuisine, also attract attention. The rigor and beauty of “gels” - patterns of Turkmen carpets, the garnet color of which gradually becomes more and more saturated over the years, have gained wide popularity. Turkmen felt felt is often called the carpet’s sister, but it is more common in everyday life, and its ornaments, in terms of ancient origin, are not inferior to the symbolism of women’s jewelry Turkmen Carnelian and gilded silver are the main features of Turkmen jewelry, which are very diverse in shape and practical use.
Peculiarities national cuisine Turkmens are associated primarily with the art of baking bread - chorek. The most popular dish in Turkmenistan is pilaf, prepared from young lamb, carrots, rice and onions. Also very common is lamb shurpa soup with potatoes and tomatoes. It is impossible not to note the diversity of fruits and vegetables in Turkmenistan.
Turkmen wines have also become widely known.
The State Committee of Turkmenistan for Tourism and Sports, established in 2000, deals with issues of tourism development.
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Education.
At the first stage of independent development of Turkmenistan, its education system (primary, secondary and higher) was maintained according to the Soviet model. However, in 1993, President S. Niyazov announced a new policy in this area; First of all, it affected the secondary school, where the transition to nine-year education began. (At that time, 860 thousand children studied annually in Turkmenistan schools, 71 thousand students in technical schools, and 40 thousand students in universities).
To date, the number of students at all levels has decreased by an average of 10 times compared to the early 90s. The annual work in September-October during the cotton harvest has a negative impact on the quality of training. In general, the new policy in the field of education has led to a gradual narrowing of the effectiveness of this system, due to a decrease in the number of subjects studied (foreign languages, including Russian, physical education, drawing, labor, hygiene), the number of programs in physics, chemistry, and a number of other subjects has been reduced . The history program only provides for the study of the history of Turkmenistan; At the same time, the ideological work written by S. Niyazov is studied more often Ruhnama. Negative impact on educational process The dismissal of 11 thousand teachers in 2000–2001 had an impact.
Admission of students to universities decreased from 12 thousand to 3 thousand people (admission to medical institutes was reduced from 3 thousand to 600 people). Correspondence education faculties and many specialized departments were closed, the vocational education committee was abolished, and a system of mandatory work experience was introduced for admission to higher and secondary specialized educational institutions. Thus, currently more than 35 thousand young people a year do not have a chance to continue their education after leaving school.
In the field of education, corruption and bribery have been noted (the amount of bribes for admission to prestigious schools and universities reaches $10,000). Some higher educational institutions (military and police) are prohibited from admitting persons of non-Turkmen nationality. The transition to the Turkmen language in teaching has caused some damage to the quality of education, since it lacks modern terminology (especially in the field of natural sciences and high technologies), which still objectively forces students to use the Russian language.
Considerable damage to the education system, training and use of personnel, and research work was caused by the decision to not recognize diplomas issued since 1993 outside of Turkmenistan, the need to have two years of work experience “in the chosen specialty” to enter a university, as well as the liquidation of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. And although the leadership of Turkmenistan denies information about the non-recognition of Russian diplomas, the attitude towards their holders when hiring has worsened.
Lifestyle.
The basis of the socio-political life of the country, including the lifestyle of citizens, is the principle of authoritarianism of power. According to the country's leaders, a national classless society of a fundamentally new type is being successfully formed in the country, which has no analogues in historical retrospect and in the modern world. This, according to President Niyazov, is “a society built as a result of a conscious desire for self-determination, in which all its citizens, regardless of age, social status and religion, live with common aspirations.” In the future, such a social organism will be transformed into a “fair, legal society of general prosperity, in which everything will be subordinated to the well-being and prosperity of man.”
However, in reality, the country has seen a rise in Turkmen nationalism and the strengthening of the cult of the president. New conceptual approaches are being created to study the development of the Turkmen state and its place in the world historical process, the ideology of “Turkmenbashism” is being actively implemented, which, according to the authorities, should form the basis of the lifestyle of every resident of the country. These ideas are promoted by all means mass media.
In the humanitarian sphere, the idea of the exclusivity of the Turkmen nation and its enormous contribution to the development of world culture is being propagated. The works of Turkmen writers and poets, artists and composers, theatrical productions and films are devoted to this topic. At the same time, censorship is intensifying, designed to minimize consumer access to works that do not fit into the officially established framework, but encouraging works that are artistically weak, but praise the era of the current Independent Turkmenistan.
Formally, since the beginning of the current millennium, the way of life of the Turkmens has been determined by the “holy book of Ruhnama,” which is the quintessence of the ideas of “Turkmenbashism.” This is a kind of spiritual code that summarizes the life guidelines of the state, born, as the author of the book emphasizes, “to cultivate strength and greatness of spirit in the Turkmens.” Turkmenbashi’s work is a study of almost all aspects of the life of the Turkmen people and prescribes “correct” standards of life, including behavior in everyday life. The nationalist concept embedded in the Ruhnama also has a religious overtones: some of its postulates correlate with the provisions of the Koran and serve as the basis for asserting the inviolability of the power of the president. The postulates underlying the Rukhnama are somewhat reminiscent of the moral code of the builder of communism, where moral and ideological ideas underlie all aspects of an individual’s life.
Culture.
Turkmenistan has a rich cultural heritage that has been created over thousands of years. This, in particular, is evidenced by the ongoing excavations of Nisa (18 km from Ashgabat) for many years, the capital of the ancient Parthian state, which existed at the turn of the 1st millennium BC. – 1st millennium AD The remains of city blocks, temples, and palaces have been preserved here. During the excavations of Nisa, elegant rhytons (horn-shaped cups) made of ivory, sculptures made of clay and stone, coins, and archival records on clay tablets were discovered. These finds are of global significance.
To the north of the city of Bayram-Ali lie the ruins of another ancient city - Merv, which is one of the most significant historical and architectural monuments of Turkmenistan. Its oldest part is the Erk-Kala settlement, which dates back to the 1st millennium BC. In the middle of the 1st millennium AD. Merv was the capital of the eastern part of the Sasanian Empire, and later the center of the Arab governors in Khorasan. The city reached its heyday in the 12th century. as part of the state of the Seljuks and Khorezmshahs, as evidenced by the remains of the Sultan-Kala settlement with the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar in the center. At that time, Merv was the largest center in the East for the production of artistic stamped ceramics. In the north of Turkmenistan, where ancient Urgench, the capital of Khorezm in the 12th–13th centuries, was located, monuments such as the Akkala fortress (“White Fortress”), a minaret, and the mausoleum of Fakhreddin Razi (second half of the 12th century), which is a brick cube-shaped building with a twelve-sided hipped dome.
The ancient culture of Central Asia, including Turkmenistan, is based on the religious traditions of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity and some other cults and beliefs. Beginning at the turn of the 7th–8th centuries, when the region was conquered by the Arabs, Islam became the dominant religion. Believers Turkmens, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kazakhs and some other ethnic groups of modern Turkmenistan profess predominantly Sunni-Hanifi Islam. However, a small part of the local population, who come from Iran, professes Shi'ism.
For centuries, Sufism has played a major role in Turkmen society - a mystical direction of Muslim faith, which is characterized by a combination of metaphysics with ascetic practice, the doctrine of gradual approach through mystical love to the knowledge of God. Sufism (as well as Sunnism) had a significant influence on the cultural development of Turkmenistan, literature, folk art, and even political life in the country.
Until the mid-1930s, the culture of Turkmenistan was also built on the cultural traditions of the Turkic Oguz people, dating back to the pre-Islamic period and most noticeably manifested in music, epic and literature. The culture of the country was also based on the Turkmen traditions themselves, which developed, as noted above, at the end of the 9th century. after the adoption of Islam by the Seljuk state. The most famous work of the pre-Islamic period is the national epic of the Oguz Oguz-name (Book of Oguz), belonging to the cultural heritage of not only Turkmens, but also Azerbaijanis and Turks. It was passed down orally from generation to generation and was only written down in the mid-16th century. The epic poem is also known Kitabi Dede Korkud, which reflected the pre-Islamic tribal culture of the Oguz and the influence of Islam in the 11th–12th centuries.
After the adoption of Islam by the Turkic peoples, writing based on the Arabic alphabet became widespread in Central Asia. At the same time, Persian, adopted as the state language by the Seljuks and almost all subsequent dynasties, was considered the language of science and high culture. However, Turkmen poetry used the Chagatai language, also widely spoken in Central Asia. Its phonetic system was flexible enough to convey the features of Turkic languages. In this case, Arabic graphics were used, slightly modified to better convey Turkic phonetics; It was in the Chagatai language that Turkmen literature developed. The great Turkmen poet and thinker of the 18th century wrote on it. Magtymguly (1733–1780s) and his followers Seitnazar Seidi (1775–1836) and Kurbandurdy Zelili (1780–1836). Before Magtymguly, Turkmen poetry was represented mainly by Sufi philosophical treatises in poetic form. He and his followers began to write poetry about nature and politics, going beyond the narrow conventions of Persian poetry; At the same time, motifs of Turkmen folk poetry and epic traditions were widely used. Among the outstanding poets of that time, Nurmuhamed-Gharib Andalib, Magrupi (or Kurbanali), Shabende and Gaibi should also be mentioned.
Since the middle of the 19th century. the works of Turkmen poets acquire political overtones; At the same time, the influence of Islamic mysticism, mainly Sufism, which previously dominated in Turkmen literature, is significantly weakening. After the annexation of Turkmenistan to the Russian Empire in the 1870s–1890s, social and political satire occupied a leading place in poetry. Satiric poets, such as Durdygylych and Mollamurt, were very popular in the early 20th century.
The Soviet period was marked by radical changes in social and cultural life. In 1928, the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin one, and the Turkmens found themselves cut off from their literary heritage. In 1940, the Latin alphabet as the basis of writing was replaced by Russian, and continuity cultural traditions in Turkmenistan was violated again. However, at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. The country's government decided to switch back to the Latin alphabet.
Turkmen fiction and drama began to develop mainly in Soviet times. The novels and plays written then praised the real and imaginary achievements of socialism, incl. the emancipation of women, the collectivization of agriculture, the eradication of feudal and tribal remnants, and later the victory of the Soviet people in World War II. Among the Turkmen writers of the Soviet period, the most famous is the poet, novelist and playwright Berdy Kerbabaev (1894–1974).
It should be especially noted that over the course of thousands of years, many legends have been created about the world-famous Akhal-Teke horses, which, according to legend, originated from heavenly horses, and about which already in the 5th century. BC. “Father of History” Herodotus reported that the Turanians (ancestors of the Turkmens) chose them as a symbol of the sun. Even now it is prohibited to export Akhal-Teke horses from Turkmenistan without special permission.
In 2003, the “Society of Turkmen Culture” was registered in Russia, uniting representatives of the Turkmen diaspora living in Moscow. Its main task is to promote the development of Turkmen culture, deepening friendship and mutual understanding between the peoples of Russia and Turkmenistan.
In the cultural sphere there were strict prohibitions and restrictions on the part of the authorities. After the ban on opera, ballet, circus, and the closure of cinemas, public libraries were closed at the beginning of 2005, because, according to the country’s leaders, “no one goes there or reads books anyway.” Subscription to foreign publications was prohibited back in 2002. Only the president’s works, primarily the Rukhnama, are sold in abundance in bookstores.
Mass media.
Television has been operating in Turkmenistan for over 40 years, and currently there are 4 state channels - TMT-1, TMT-2, TMT-3 (all in Turkmen language) and the satellite information and music channel TV-, which came into operation at the end of 2004. 4 (broadcast in Turkmen, English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, French and Farsi). According to estimates, there are currently about 900 thousand televisions in the country. A 10-minute news release is given in Russian. Each channel broadcasts about 16 hours a day.
The overwhelming majority of the program is of a low professional level; The viewer is presented only with positivity; criticism can come exclusively from the president himself. At the beginning of 2002, he sharply criticized national television programs for the first time, emphasizing their endless praise of the president, hours of chants, lack of zest, etc. However, after this the situation on Turkmen TV remained almost unchanged.
On television, as in other media, there is censorship. There is no live broadcast; broadcasts are given after careful review by censors (the Committee for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press and Other Media under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, as well as relevant ministries and departments.
In these conditions, the country's population uses the capabilities of satellite television whenever possible. In Ashgabat, whose population is approaching 800 thousand people, approximately 2/3 of the capital’s residents watch TV programs from satellite, in velayats (cities) - over 30%, and in rural areas - about 10%. In this case, preference is given mainly to Russian television programs. Further growth in the number of owners of satellite dishes is limited by the high cost of equipment. There is a ban on cable television in the country, which is motivated by the fact that providers sometimes broadcast “programs that do not correspond to the national spirit” on cable.
Radio Turkmenistan is also state-owned, broadcasts only in the Turkmen language and the content of the programs does not differ from television. Broadcasting on Mayak wires, which was an outlet for Turkmenistan for many years, was banned in July 2004. The few journalists and radio listeners who maintain contact with foreign media are systematically harassed by the authorities. By 2002, there were 17 AM radio stations, 8 FM and 3 shortwave stations in the country. Radio listeners had about 1.4 million radio receivers at their disposal.
Press In 2005, Turkmenistan had 23 newspapers (including 5 regional ones, for example, “Ashgabat”, “Vatan” (“Motherland”), “Mary-Shykhu-Jahan”, “Balkan”) and 6 magazines. 21 newspapers are published one to three times a week. And only 2 newspapers - “Turkmenistan” and “Neutral Turkmenistan” are published 6 times a week; Moreover, the only newspaper in Russian is “Neutral Turkmenistan”. The founder of almost all central newspapers is President S. Niyazov. There are also departmental newspapers, for example, Mugallymlar Gazeti, published 3 times a week, its founder is the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and the trade union of education workers.
All periodicals, as well as TV and radio broadcasting, almost completely pay attention to the activities of the president and the achievements of the Turkmens in various spheres of the socio-economic and socio-political life of the country. Since October 1996, subscriptions to foreign, including Russian, newspapers and magazines have been prohibited for individuals and non-governmental organizations. In 1997, Russian editorial offices of local newspapers were liquidated in the velayats. And since 2002, the import of Russian press into the country was completely prohibited. There are cases of forced subscription of Turkmen citizens at their place of work to Turkmen newspapers and magazines.
At the same time, the Turkish newspaper “Zaman” is published on a regular basis in Turkmenistan, which has its own editorial office “Zaman-Turkmenistan” and an independent publishing base. It is curious that the agreement on the activities of Zaman was concluded at the level of heads of state and secured by a separate resolution of the President of Turkmenistan.
According to the international organization Reporters Without Borders, in 2004, out of 167 countries in the world, Turkmenistan was in 164th place in terms of press freedom.
In Turkmenistan there is only one information Agency, state-owned, – “TDH” (“Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary” or Turkmen State News Agency, formerly “Turkmen Press”), from which all media receive information. Foreign agencies in Turkmenistan are also obliged to cover events in the country only in the context of loyalty to the policies of the Turkmen authorities.
Created in 1992 Union of Journalists of Turkmenistan does not play a significant role in the country and does not influence relationships within the journalistic community.
Internet services is provided by the country's only state-owned provider "Turkmentelecom", the cost of connection to which is high, which makes its use difficult. The provision of these services is subject to a number of conditions that reduce the possibilities of access to it. In 2002, the few Internet cafes in Ashgabat were closed, and in 2004 the state stopped opening new email addresses. Authorities can block access to websites that host “undesirable” information, and those caught visiting such sites are subject to sanctions.
The state has a number of websites on the Internet that provide information on issues of political, economic, and social life of the country; This information is presented in a style favorable to the authorities.
STORY
Ancient history.
The first evidence of human settlement of the territory of Turkmenistan dates back to the Neolithic era. During archaeological excavations, many stone tools were found, as well as the remains of settlements of hunters and fishermen, among which the most famous is the Jebel Grotto in the eastern part of the Caspian Sea. It was also discovered that in the 2nd millennium BC. Pottery production and metal processing arose in these territories.
The southern part of Turkmenistan represented the northeastern outskirts of the ancient agricultural cultures of the Middle East, and it was here that agriculture and cattle breeding most likely began to develop for the first time in Central Asia. The Jeitun settlement, found near Ashgabat, dates back to the 6th century. BC, is one of the most ancient agricultural settlements in the territory of the former USSR.
The ancient farmers of the foothill plains of southern Turkmenistan lived sedentarily in houses built from clay rollers - the predecessors of mud brick, and made harvesting sickles with flint inserts, grain grinders, and molded ceramic dishes decorated with red painting. During the Neolithic period, the first primitive irrigation canals began to appear in this zone. The development of agriculture continued into the Bronze Age. A number of archaeological sites date back to that time: large settlements Namazga-Tepe, Altyn-Tepe, Kara-Tepe and others, some of which belong to the proto-urban type. During the excavations, objects of art were also discovered there - figurines, ceramic vessels with paintings, etc.
Areas of agriculture in southern Turkmenistan in the 7th–6th centuries. BC e. were part of different states: Margiana (Myrgaba basin) - was part of Bactria; the southwestern regions of Parthia and Hyrcania are part of Media. In the 4th–6th centuries. BC e. the territories that later formed Turkmenistan itself were part of the Achaemenid state, and then into the possession of Alexander the Great and his successors. At the end of the 1st millennium BC. The Khorezm kingdom was founded, the period of prosperity of which began in the middle of the 4th century. BC. The cities of Khorezm were centers of development of agriculture, crafts and trade.
The Parthian kingdom, which appeared later during the reign of King Mithridates II (124–84 BC), quickly turned into one of the large eastern states. During that period, the city of Merv (the main city of Parthia, now Mary) became an important trade, craft, cultural and even intellectual center. It is no coincidence that Merv was called “Shahu Jahan”, which means “Queen of the World”. Important trade routes passed through this city (including the famous Great Silk Road), which connected Khorezm, Sogd, Balkh, India and China.
In 224 AD southern Turkmenistan was captured by the Sassanid dynasty of Iranian shahs. At the same time, part of the nomadic tribes of Turkmenistan began to assimilate with the Xiongnu tribes, predecessors of the Huns. In the middle of the 5th century. an alliance of Hunnic tribes led by the Hephthalites managed to subjugate most of this territory. The Hephthalites were defeated by the Turkic union of tribes, which helped big influence on the language and way of life of the peoples they conquered. By the beginning of the Arab conquest in the 6th century. almost all the tribes here became Turkic-speaking and later began to profess Islam introduced by the Arabs. Since that time, this denomination has become fundamental in the Turkmen state until the present day.
Middle Ages.
At the beginning of the 8th century. the territory between the Caspian Sea and the Amu Darya came under the rule of the Arab Caliphate. Local Turkic tribes who converted to Islam established close trade and cultural relations with the rest of the Muslim world. However, as the power of the Arabs weakened (although Islam still remained the dominant religion), the Oghuz Turks penetrated into the territory of Turkmenistan, and in the mid-11th century. it came under the rule of the Seljuk state, which was named after the leader of the Oguz - Seljuk ibn Tugak and his descendants - the Seljuks. The capital of this state was the city of Merv. The Oguzes mixed with local tribes, and on this basis a people was formed that received the name “Turkmen”, and the country began to be called Turkmenistan (“land of the Turkmens”). In the 12th–13th centuries. it was under the rule of the shahs of Khorezm, which in turn was conquered by the troops of Genghis Khan in 1219–1221 and became part of the Mongol Empire.
In subsequent centuries, large-scale settlement of Turkmen tribes was observed along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, the Mangyshlak peninsula, Ustyurt, Balkhany, the northwestern part of the Khorezm area, the shores of Lake Sarykamysh and Uzboy, and even in the Karakum desert. They also occupied the lands of southern Turkmenistan, where an Iranian-speaking agricultural population still remained.
During the reign of the descendants of Genghis Khan, some Turkmen tribes achieved partial independence and founded vassal feudal states. They played a prominent role in the history of the Turkmen even after Central Asia at the end of the 14th century. was conquered by Timur (Tamerlane). After the fall of the Timurid dynasty, nominal control of this territory passed to Persia and the Khanate of Khiva. At that time, a layer of traders gradually emerged among the Turkmen, mainly among the tribes living on the coast of the Caspian Sea, who began to trade with Russia (especially actively during the reign of Peter I).
During the late Middle Ages, the Turkmen tribes were finally divided between three feudal states - Persia, Khiva and Bukhara. Social order Turkmens, starting from the 16th century, are defined by historians as patriarchal-feudal with elements of patriarchal slavery. Feudal relations were most developed among the settled agricultural tribes (Daryalyk Turkmens, Yazyrs of the Kopetdag region). At that time, the Turkmens had almost no large cities, developed crafts, and economically lagged behind their neighbors - the indigenous inhabitants of Persia, Bukhara and Khiva, which was one one of the main reasons for their political fragmentation. In the 16th–17th centuries. their territory was the object of fierce wars between the Bukhara and Khiva khans, and the south of Turkmenistan was captured by Safavid Iran.
During that period, Sarykamysh Lake, along the shores of which Turkmen tribes lived, began to gradually dry out, and the water flow along the Daryalik also decreased. This circumstance forced people to gradually move south, to the Atrek steppes and Kopetdag regions, and from there to the southeast, to the valleys of the Murgab and Amu Darya. From the beginning of the 17th century. Kalmyks, who came from the east in search of free lands, began to raid the nomads of the northern Turkmens and the city of Khorezm. By that time, the strengthening of political and economic relations between the Turkmens and Russia began. Moreover, at the end of the 17th century. Some Turkmen tribes, tired of the raids of the Kalmyks and the armed detachments of the Khiva Khan, transferred to Russian citizenship and partially moved to the North Caucasus.
New story.
In the first half of the 18th century. Most of the territory of Turkmenistan fell into the hands of the Iranian Shah Nadir. The unconquered part of the Turkmen went to Mangyshlak, to the Caspian steppes and to Khorezm. However, after the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747, his empire quickly collapsed, which allowed the Turkmen tribes, who had temporarily gone north, to return to southern Turkmenistan.
At that time, Turkmens inhabited almost the entire territory of modern Turkmenistan. Many of the Turkmen tribes - Ersari, Tekins (Teke), Emut (Iomut), Goklen, Saryks and Salyrs, Chovdurs, etc. - had significant military potential and established trade relations with other countries. Trade routes connecting Europe with Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan ran through the Turkmen lands.
During the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813, Russian diplomats entered into a friendly alliance with a number of Turkmen tribes against Persia. The territory of Turkmenistan itself was assigned the role of a springboard in Russian plans to conquer Central Asia with its rich natural resources. Russia's penetration into Turkmenistan began with the founding of the city of Krasnovodsk in 1869 on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. In 1869–1873, the tribes of western Turkmenistan easily succumbed to pressure from diplomats and the military force of Russia, while the tribes of eastern Turkmenistan offered fierce resistance to Russian troops until January 1881, when the Geok-Tepe fortress was taken. The fall of this fortress completed the conquest of the Turkmen lands by Russia.
After joining Russia, Turkmenistan began to be actively involved in the economic system of Russian market relations, which was much more progressive compared to the archaic socio-economic structure of the Turkmen tribes.
In the 80s of the 19th century. The Trans-Caspian Railway was built on the territory of Turkmenistan, which stimulated the growth of the region’s economy, the production and export of raw materials (primarily cotton) to Russia and further to European markets.
Cities arose in the Transcaspian region (Krasnovodsk, Ashgabat, etc.) with a growing Russian and Armenian population, and industrial enterprises appeared. Before the October Revolution, elements of the market appeared in the social system of the Turkmen, which remained mainly patriarchal-feudal, especially noticeable in the southern (Ashgabat, Merv) regions.
During the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907, strikes organized by Social Democrats took place on the Trans-Caspian Railway. After the defeat of the revolution, strikes were prohibited, and any manifestations of discontent were harshly suppressed by the authorities.
In 1916, a wave of mass protests of the indigenous population against mobilization for rear work swept across Turkmenistan. After the overthrow of the tsarist government in March 1917 major cities– Ashgabat, Krasnovodsk, Chardzhou, Maryakh – previously banned groups of Social Democrats, including the Bolsheviks, became more active. However, the rural population remained passive and did not leave the control of their religious and tribal leaders.
Recent history.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Red Army, the White Guard, the British Expeditionary Forces, and the Social Revolutionaries fought on the territory of Turkmenistan. The eastern regions of Turkmenistan remained under the rule of the Khiva and Bukhara khanates, which were vassals of the Russian Empire. Although the Bolsheviks managed to win over the Russian workers in the cities, attempts to win the trust of the Turkmen peasants - dekhans - were unsuccessful.
In December 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in Ashgabat, but did not last long there. The White Guards and Socialist Revolutionaries, with the support of British troops, rebelled in July 1918 and expelled the Bolsheviks. To prevent the loss of Turkmenistan and the entire Trans-Caspian region, units of the Red Army were sent there. In August 1918, the territory of Turkmenistan was occupied by British troops, who retained control until September 1919, when most of them were withdrawn by the British government. Individual anti-Bolshevik formations continued to resist until February 1920, when units of the Red Army occupied Krasnovodsk. This event meant the final defeat of the White Guards and Socialist Revolutionaries; At the same time, the withdrawal of British military units was completed. In 1920, revolutionary upheavals took place in Khiva and Bukhara, and the Khorezm and Bukhara People's Soviet Republics were formed there.
In the period from April 1918 to October 1924, the country was officially called the Turkmen Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and was part of the RSFSR. On October 27, 1924, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the USSR. The first step taken by the government of the Turkmen SSR was the continuation of land and water reforms that began after the victory of the Red Army in 1920. At the same time, the redistribution of lands that previously belonged to large landowners - bai - was carried out; the organization of peasant cooperatives and the restoration of the oil industry began.
In 1926, the republic began to collectivize agriculture and create large cotton plantations. By 1929, almost 15% of dekhans became members of collective farms (kolkhozes), and by 1940 almost all the land was in the use of collective farms, and the peasants who cultivated it became collective farmers. Shortly before the start of World War II, Turkmenistan came to second place (after Uzbekistan) in the USSR in cotton production. Other branches of agriculture also developed intensively, facilitated by the expansion and improvement of irrigation systems, primarily the construction of reservoirs and irrigation canals.
The 1930s were marked by the intensive development of the oil industry. Production resumed at the fields of the Cheleken Peninsula, which were damaged during the civil war, and new fields near Nebitdag were explored and put into operation. Almost all raw materials mined or grown in Turkmenistan were sent for processing to other Soviet republics.
One of the important results of the development of industrial production was the formation of new social groups - engineering and technical workers and skilled workers. The level of literacy of the population was significantly increased in the republic, and thanks to the support of the federal government of the USSR, significant progress was achieved in the development of education and health care.
However, along with this, during collectivization, the Turkmen middle class (the so-called “kulaks”) in agriculture was practically destroyed, and during collectivization, almost the entire Muslim clergy and a significant part of the newly formed national intelligentsia became victims of repressions that took place from the mid-1930s -x until 1953.
Second World War gave a powerful impetus economic development Turkmenistan, since at the beginning of the war many industrial enterprises from the western regions of the USSR were evacuated to Turkmenistan; Accordingly, the need arose for the rapid development of transport. At that time, the Ashgabat (now Central Asian) railway was extended to the Caspian port of Krasnovodsk.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the 87th separate Turkmen brigade was created, which later formed the basis of the 76th Infantry Division. During the war, 19 thousand soldiers and officers of Turkmenistan were awarded orders and medals, 51 Turkmen soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The economic and social difficulties of the post-war years were added to by the tragedy that befell the Turkmen people in 1948 - the devastating Ashgabat earthquake. However, during the post-war period, it was possible (largely thanks to the Russians and Ukrainians who came to Turkmenistan from the regions of the USSR devastated during the war) to restore and modernize the national economy of the republic: create an oil and gas complex, develop the oil refining industry, build the Karakum Canal, diversify agricultural production, including increasing cotton harvests.
Period of independence.
On August 22, 1990, Turkmenistan declared its sovereignty within the USSR. In October 1990, Saparmurat Niyazov, first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan since 1985 and chairman of the Supreme Council of the republic (since January 1990), was elected president of the republic in uncontested elections. On October 26, 1991, the government held a referendum on the independence of Turkmenistan; 94% of the population voted for independence. The next day, October 27, 1991, the Supreme Council declared Turkmenistan an independent state, and at the end of December 1991 the country joined the CIS. The following year, 1992, the Constitution of Turkmenistan was adopted (May 18), and three years later, on December 12, 1995, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the “Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan,” which determined the country’s domestic and foreign policy.
The 2001 offensive in the country was declared the beginning of the “golden age” of the Turkmen people, an era of prosperity in the economic and social sphere.
At the same time, according to international human rights organizations, in recent years Turkmenistan has been among the top ten countries in the world with the most brutal dictatorial regimes (along with countries such as the DPRK, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, etc.).
In December 1991, at a joint meeting of parliament, the Council of Elders and the national movement “Galkynysh”, President S. Niyazov received powers for an indefinite presidency. In his public speeches, he emphasizes that during the transition period in the country it is necessary to maintain strict government regulation of the socio-economic sphere. In his opinion, rapid socio-economic reforms (especially market reforms) and democratic transformations will lead to absolute impoverishment of the population and chaos in all spheres of public life. According to the president, “no one is allowed to play at democracy. Laws must first work, and democracy will come by itself. Any attempts to push Turkmenistan to untimely radical measures of a socio-economic nature run counter to the national interests of the country, which has chosen its own path of development.”
The opposition has been completely suppressed in the country. Turkmenistan is one of the few countries where the prosecutor's office officially receives 50% of the confiscated property of persons accused of various crimes.
At the same time, there are positive aspects in the socio-economic policy of the authorities; stability in society is maintained. There is a desire to prevent the activation of Islamic extremists in the country; measures are being taken to prevent the penetration of orthodox Islam into Turkmenistan from the outside (from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, etc.).
A significant achievement of the president is the low crime rate in the country. According to official data in Turkmenistan, with a population of more than 5 million (2000), only 10,885 crimes were registered, incl. 267 murders, 159 grievous bodily harm, 61 rape, 3234 thefts, 320 robberies.
In addition, the country has low pay utilities. The use of gas and water is free, electricity consumption is almost not paid for, significant benefits are provided to the population when purchasing salt and flour; low tariffs for public transport(bus, trolleybus) - 2 cents per trip, the cost of an air ticket from Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea) - about 2 dollars. A liter of AI-95 gasoline costs about 2 cents, prices for basic food products are low - lavash, milk, suzma (national cottage cheese), many vegetables and fruits.
Nevertheless, foreign observers note the consistent and targeted oppression of ethnic minorities, including Russians, the suppression of the rights and freedoms of the country's citizens, detention without trial in prisons, and the flourishing of corruption in public life and the economy. Drug use is widespread in the country, especially among young people, and unemployment is high. In 2004, Turkmenistan was ranked as one of the worst countries to live in, ranking 150th out of 155 countries in the Economic Freedom Index. North Korea ranks last in it.
Turkmenistan in the 21st century.
In December 2004, parliamentary elections were held in the country. By Turkmen standards, voter turnout was low (only 76 percent). All seats in parliament were given to the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan.
Niyazov, who had long suffered from heart disease, died on December 20, 2006, with no clear successor.
Presidential elections were held on February 11, 2007. Former Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov won.
On February 12, 2012, presidential elections took place. The current President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received the majority of votes (97.14%).
Sergei Kamenev
Literature:
Kamenev S.N. Regional economic cooperation between Russia and Central Asia with the states of the Middle East. – In: “Central Asian macroregion and Russia.” M., Russian Center for Strategic Studies, 1993
National program of the President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Turkmenbashi “Strategy of socio-economic transformations in Turkmenistan for the period until 2010”, Ashgabat, 1999
Kamenev S.N. Russia – Turkmenistan: expansion of economic ties. – magazine “Asia and Africa Today”, No. 10, 2000
Kamenev S.N. Fuel and energy complex of Turkmenistan: current state and development prospects– In the magazine “Central Asia and the Caucasus”, No. 6 (18), 2001
Socio-economic situation of Turkmenistan for 2000. Ashgabat, 2001
Kamenev S.N. The current socio-political situation of Turkmenistan– Journal “Central Asia and the Caucasus”, No. 2 (20), 2002
Kamenev S.N. Economy of Turkmenistan at the present stage– Magazine “Central Asia and the Caucasus”, No. 3 (21), 2002
Kamenev S.N. Foreign policy of Turkmenistan– Journal “Central Asia and the Caucasus”, No. 4 (22), 2002
Demidov M.S. Post-Soviet Turkmenistan. M., publishing house "Natalis", 2002
Kamenev S.N. Energy policy and energy projects of Turkmenistan– Journal “Central Asia and the Caucasus”, No. 4 (28), 2003
Kamenev S.N. Main directions of Russian policy in Central and South Asia– In the collection: “Pakistan, countries of South Asia and the Middle East. M., publishing house "Scientific Book", 2004
"Central Asia. Journal of Area Study Center.” University of Peshawar. Peshawar. Pakistan, 2000–2005
Internet resources:
turkmenistan.ru;
www.turkmenbusiness.org – Economy and business in Turkmenistan;
www.tax.gov.tm – State Tax Service of Turkmenistan;.
www.gundogar.org – Turkmen opposition in Russia and abroad.
www.watan.ru – Turkmen opposition in Russia and abroad
www.eurasianet.org – website for the entire CIS.
www.ca-c.org – magazine “Central Asia and the Caucasus”.
www.euroasia.ru – Countries
Comfortably located in the western part of Central Asia, the state of Turkmenistan borders on four neighbors: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The geography of Turkmenistan is characterized by a mostly flat terrain, with mountains and hills concentrated in the south of the country.
The boundless geography of Turkmenistan
In the very heart of Turkmenistan lie the majestic Karakum Desert - black sands, the vast dunes of which excite the hearts of travelers and tourists. This is what is remarkable geography of Turkmenistan– most of the country is represented by a rocky and gravelly desert in the west and sandy desert in the east. In the west lies the deserted Krasnovodsk plateau. The southern periphery of Turkmenistan crosses mountain system Kopetdag, whose emerald green foothills provide a striking contrast to the endless waves of sand. From the west, the coast of the country is washed by the azure waters of the Caspian Sea.
Turkmenistan time
The time zone of the state is UTC+5. Turkmenistan time does not shift between summer and winter periods.
Climate of Turkmenistan
Based geographical location The country is distinguished by its arid continental character. Summer in Turkmenistan is hot and dry, with little rainfall, while in winter the climate is mild, with temperatures ranging from -5 to +4 degrees. Dust storms and hot winds are common in desert plains.
Turkmenistan weather
Best time to visit Turkmenistan- off-season. It is especially good in spring and autumn: from March to May, the slopes of the foothills bloom with bright colors of greenery and a palette of flowers, the air is filled with the aromas of flowering trees. The proximity of the sea has a moderating effect on the weather of coastal regions.
Nature of Turkmenistan
It is amazing and unique – the country’s fauna includes more than 90 species of mammals. Geography the country is determined by the species diversity of the fauna: the desert is home to rare species of mammals - goitered gazelles, kulans, cheetahs, camels; From the northern countries, millions of beautiful flocks of birds flock to the coast of the Caspian Sea, including graceful swans and flamingos.
The flora is represented by numerous shrubs, a rich species diversity of flowering plants, low mountains are covered with carpets of tall umbrella grasses. Tourism of Turkmenistan offers travelers the Khazar national reserve- a fairy tale in reality, fascinating with the beauty and grandeur of pristine nature.
Almost a quarter of the territory of Turkmenistan lies within the Turan Lowland, occupied mainly by the Karakum Desert.
Only in the south there is a narrow strip of hills and mid-altitude mountains. The southernmost point (and the CIS) is located near the city of Kushka.
In the southern part there are the Kopetdag mountains (height up to 2942 m, Rize); to the northwest of them there are two separate ridges: Small Balkhan (777 m) and Big Balkhan (1881 m). Adjacent to the Kopetdag from the north is a foothill plain, which in the west merges with the Caspian lowland plain. In the southeast, the northern foothills of Paropamiz - the Badkhyz (1267 m) and Karabil (984 m) hills, separated by the Murghab River - enter the borders of Turkmenistan. In the extreme southeast there is a spur of the Gissar ridge Kugitangtau (3139 m, the highest point of the republic).
In the west is the Krasnovodsk plateau (308 m), in the northwest is the southern edge of the Ustyurt plateau. To the south of Ustyurt there is the Zauzboy folded region, which is a system of bushy flat-topped hills (Kaplankyr, Chelyunkry, etc.) and depressions separating them. Within the Caspian lowland plain, the Nebit-Dag (39 m), Boya-Dag (134 m), Kum-Dag, Mondzhukly (27 m) and others rise.
In the north and northeast of the Kopetdag foothill plain stretch the Karakum, which are divided into central (or lowland) and Zaunguz. The southeastern Karakum Desert is located between the Amu Darya and Tedzhen rivers. These deserts are characterized by cellular-ridged and hilly semi-overgrown sands; There are areas of sand dunes, and in the depressions there are takyrs and sors.
The coastline of the Caspian Sea in the south is slightly indented, and only in the north has a winding outline, forming bays (Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Krasnovodsky, Turkmensky), peninsulas (Krasnovodsky, Dardzha, Cheleken) and spits (the largest is Krasnovodskaya. There are islands off the coast Ogurchinsky, Kamysh-lyada and others.
Economic and social development of Turkmenistan increased consumption of water resources. Turkmenistan is a water-scarce state. For 1 sq. km there is only 0.94 thousand m3 of water per year (1999 data), while the average water supply in the CIS territory is 194 thousand m3 per year per 1 sq. km. km. The availability of own water resources per capita in the CIS averages 16.6 thousand cubic meters. m per year, while in Turkmenistan this figure does not exceed 0.16 thousand cubic meters. m per year (i.e. more than 100 times lower than the average level of the CIS countries). The arid climate and low mountains parallel to the humid air currents determine the extreme scarcity of water resources in Turkmenistan compared to other Central Asian states.
The hydrographic network is distributed unevenly: in most of the territory (central, northern, western) there are no rivers at all. The largest and most abundant river in Central Asia, the Amu Darya, runs along the eastern border of the republic. Its total length is 2520 km, of which about 1000 km flows through the territory.
The river network of Southern Turkmenistan is represented by the rivers Murgab, Tedzhen, Atrek and small rivers on the northeastern slope of the Kopetdag. There are about 3 thousand watercourses on the territory of Turkmenistan with a total length of 14,300 km. Channels less than 10 km long account for 95% of the total number of rivers. Only 40 watercourses have a constant flow. Lakes are an uncharacteristic element of hydrography. They are located mainly in the Uzboy riverbed, river floodplains and natural depressions. The largest are Sarykamysh (2200 sq. km) and freshwater lakes of Western Uzboy (Yaskhan, Kara-Tegelek, Topiatan, etc.).
In the west, Turkmenistan is washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea, which stretches from north to south for almost 1200 km, with an average width of 320 square meters. km, area - approx. 380 thousand sq. km, water volume - 78 thousand cubic meters. km.
Coastline length - approx. 7 thousand km, average water salinity - 12.8%. The level of the Caspian Sea is 28.3 m below the level of the World Ocean (1980 data), the maximum depth is 1025 m, but it is subject to significant long-term fluctuations. In the 20th century The water level dropped by more than 2 m. To slow down the further drop in sea level (on average by 1.5-2.0 cm per year), a dam was built in 1980 between the Caspian Sea and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay.
The depths of the Caspian Sea are rich in oil and gas. Mirabilite and other salts are mined in the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay. The sea is home to valuable species of fish, especially sturgeon (82% of the world catch), as well as herring, bream, pike perch, roach, carp, and sprat.
The climate is sharply continental, arid, with large annual and daily temperature ranges, low air humidity, high evaporation and low precipitation.
This climate regime is due to the location of Turkmenistan in the lower latitudes, a significant distance from the World Ocean, the peculiarities of atmospheric circulation, the nature of the surface structure, and the presence of mountain systems in the south and southeast.
The absence of orographic barriers in the north and northwest allows cold air masses to freely penetrate the country, which often causes a sharp cooling (especially in the winter-spring period) in almost all areas.
In general, the climate is characterized by extreme instability in the cold half of the year and relatively stable hot and dry summers, as well as mild and little snow, sometimes cold winters, a short wet spring, and dry autumn. The average January temperature ranges from -5° C in the northeast to +4° C in the Atrek region; the absolute minimum is -32° C in the Tashauz region, -29° C in the foothill zone of the Kopetdag and -10.3° C in the south of the Caspian Sea coast. The average July temperature is +28° C in the northeast and +32° C in the south; absolute maximum +49.9° C. The average annual precipitation is about 80 mm in the middle reaches of the Amu Darya, 150 mm in the Karakum Desert, 200-300 mm in the foothills and intermountain valleys and over 400 mm in the mountains. Hot, dry winds and dust storms are typical for the plains.
The snow cover is unstable, usually lasting for several days (in the northern regions and mountains). The winds are constant, north-east, north, north-west prevail; In the foothills of the Kopetdag in the summer a dry, hot garmsil wind blows. The growing season is 200-270 days.
Within Turkmenistan there are 10 districts, united into 3 groups. Mountain and foothills: 1) Big and Small Balkhan, 2) Kopetdag, 3) Paropamiz - Badkhyz and Karabil, 4) Kugitang, 5) Krasnovodsk and Zauzboy, having a highly dissected erosion-tectonic relief. The mountains (Kopet Dag, Kugitangtau, etc.) are characterized by high seismicity. Structural elevated plains are the Ustyurt plateau and the Zaunguz Karakum. Ustyurt is characterized by desert flat-topped hills - kyrs with gray-brown desert soils; semi-shrub hodgepodges (tethir, biyurgun) and wormwood predominate. The surface of the elevated alluvial plain of Zaunguzya is dissected by ridges (30-60 m); sandy desert soils and rarely takyrs are developed in the interridge depressions. Denudation drainless depressions are common (Akchakaya and others). In Zaunguzie there are psammophytes with ephemeroid forbs (mainly sedge-silt) and ephemerals; from shrubs - saxaul, kandym, bordzhak, cherkez.
Lowland plains: 1) Caspian or Western Turkmen lowland, 2) Lowland Karakum, 3) valleys and deltas of the Amu Darya, Murgab, Tedzhen rivers, as well as oases - on
Over a large area in a desert climate, they are subject to intense wind erosion, which has created various forms of aeolian relief (ridged, ridged-cellular and hilly-ridged sands; in the East and the Far West, dune sands occupy a significant place). In the valleys and deltas of rivers, alluvial (floodplain) meadow and meadow-takyr-like soils are common, and oasis sands are widely developed. The landscape of river valleys and deltas as a whole is artificially transformed and represents a typical example of a cultural landscape. It is here that the main areas of cotton growing, melon growing and horticulture of Turkmenistan are located.
The territory of Turkmenistan is part of the Mediterranean geosynclinal belt and occupies part of two large tectonic elements - the EpiPaleozoic Turanian plate and the Alpine folded region.
Between the Kopetdag and the Turan plate there is the Pre-Kopetdag marginal trough. The pre-Alpine basement is composed of pre-Upper Paleozoic metamorphic formations and effusive-sedimentary formations of the Upper Paleozoic - Triassic; the overlying complex is formed by sedimentary geosynclinal, geoanticlinal and subplatform formations of the Mesozoic - Paleogene (up to 8 km thick), passing to the north into platform and orogenic formations of the Upper Oligocene - Anthropogene (several km thick), filling the Western Turkmen depression and the Pre-Kopet Dag trough. The eastern part of the territory of Turkmenistan, covering the mountainous block-folded uplift of the southwestern spurs of the Gissar Range, belongs to the epiplatform region. Its structure involves the Paleozoic foundation and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary cover (the lower parts of the latter are formed by Jurassic-Paleogene platform formations, and the upper part - by Neogene-Anthropogen orogenic formations). The southern regions are characterized by increased seismicity.
Desert vegetation predominates in Turkmenistan. Shrubs grow on the sands: white and black saxaul, kandym, cherkez, sand acacia, astragalus; the grass cover is dominated by swollen sedge. On salt marshes and sors grow comb grass, sarsazan, potashnik, etc. On the Ustyurt plateau there are shrub saltworts: Karadzha-Cherkez, kevreik, biyurgun, tetir, gray wormwood. The river valleys are dominated by island tugai forests (mainly poplar-petta, poplar-turanga and elk). Wormwood, solyanka, saxaul, ephemeral and other communities are widespread. The vegetation is very sparse and has low phytomass, but thanks to good autumn-winter-spring vegetation it is able to provide feed for livestock.
The desert lowlands and foothills of the Kopetdag are characterized by semi-shrub vegetation - southern and gray wormwood and ephemeral forbs. On the foothill plain, in the foothills of the Kopetdag, on Karabil and Badkhyz, herbaceous vegetation of the ephemeral type (bulbous bluegrass, desert sedge, ferula) and ephemerals are common. In the upper and middle mountain zones (from 1000 m and above), on mountain plateaus and gentle slopes you can see feather grass and wheatgrass steppes; juniper trees are found at altitudes above 1500 m. The gorges of the Western Kopetdag are rich in wild fruit trees and shrubs (grapes, apple trees, hawthorns, cherry plums, almonds, pomegranates, walnuts, figs, pistachios). On Badkhyz there is open pistachio forest. For the most part, deserts are used (if grass grows) as year-round pastures.
Above 2000 m, thickets of shrubs (barberry, hawthorn, etc.) appear on the wetter windward slopes, and juniper woodlands appear on brown soils. The herbaceous layer contains a rich set of species, often blooming beautifully (irises, tulips, mandrake, etc.). In the same layer, but on drier slopes, communities of thorny grasses (cousinia) and cushion shrubs (astragalus, acantholimona, etc.), as well as mountain fescue and feather grass steppes, are developed. Since steppe communities occupy the largest areas, this entire variegated belt is often called steppe.
Unirrigated plains are characterized by xerophytic subshrubs and shrubs. Many of them have no leaves or drop them when drought occurs. The roots are branched and penetrate to great depths (for example, in camel thorn, more than 20 m). The seeds of desert plants are often pubescent or equipped with peculiar wings that facilitate wind transfer. Many plants of sandy deserts are adapted to rapid rooting even in moving soils.
The flora of Turkmenistan contains many endemic species. 
The richness of the flora can be judged by the fact that in Kopetdag alone there are 2 thousand species of higher plants, and in deserts and low mountains - at least 1 thousand. Genetically, all this flora has close connections with the Mediterranean, the Middle and Near East.
In low mountains, ephemeral communities on gray soils are common, sometimes very peculiar, for example, sparse thickets of tall (up to 2.5-3 m) umbrella grasses (ferula, dorema). The background for them is ephemeral short grass (sedge, bluegrass, poppies, etc.). In summer the view changes dramatically.
In the lower parts of the mountain slopes, on dark gray soils, communities of large-grass ephemeroids (wheatgrass, regneria, bromegrass) are common, which are sometimes called steppe and which burn out by summer. Above 900-1000 m there is a belt of wormwood deserts on light brown soils.
On the Badkhyz hill and in a number of other mountainous areas there were 
successful experiments were carried out to create pistachio forests. There is reason to believe that this tree species existed there before, but was destroyed as a result of centuries-old cattle grazing on the slopes. The collection of pistachios is both an important contribution to the diet of the local population and supplies goods to the market.
A special place is occupied by the so-called. tugai - thickets of poplar, oleaster, white willow, comb grass, giant grasses and other moisture-loving plants along the banks of the Amu Darya and Murghab.
In the oases, cotton, alfalfa, melons and horticultural crops are grown, as well as grapes.
Animals are well adapted to living in deserts. Many of them are nocturnal, some can go without water for a long time and are distinguished by their ability to run quickly over long distances. The country has 91 species of mammals, 372 species of birds, 74 species of reptiles and about 60 species of fish.
Of the large mammals, the following animals should be noted: goitered gazelle, argali, jackal, wolf, sand cat, steppe cat, corsac fox; from rodents - gerbils, gophers and jerboas; from reptiles - agamas, monitor lizards, efa, viper, arrow snake, steppe boa, cobra, steppe tortoise; among birds - saxaul jay, larks, desert raven, sparrows; of invertebrates - beetles, scorpions, karakurt spider, phalanges.
In the foothill zone, along with a rich fauna of reptiles and rodents, there is an abundant fauna of birds: crested lark, hoopoe, sandgrouse, little bustard, kite, black vulture, griffon vulture, etc. In the mountains there are wolves, foxes, leopards, argali, bezoar goats, marking goats, wild cat; Birds include pheasant, chukar, Caspian mountain turkey (sular), etc. Badkhyz is home to kulan, argali, goitered gazelle, and hyena. In the Amu Darya valley - wild boar, Bukhara deer (hangul); among birds - pheasant, etc. In the Amu Darya itself there are thorn, barbel, asp, carp, pseudoshovel, etc.; Introduced herbivorous fish - grass carp and silver carp - are common in the Karakum Canal and reservoirs, as well as in the Amu Darya. There are many waterfowl along the banks of reservoirs.
In Turkmenistan there are the Krasnovodsk Reserve, the Badkhyz Reserve, and the Repetek Reserve.
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