Present-day Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. Various Persian empires ruled the area in antiquity, and Alexander the Great, Muslim armies, the Mongols, Turkic warriors, and eventually the Russians conquered it. In medieval times, Merv (located in present-day Mary province) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia in the late 1800s, Turkmen territories later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik resistance in Central Asia. In 1924, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic; it achieved independence when the USSR dissolved in 1991. President for Life Saparmurat NIYAZOV died in 2006, and Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV, a deputy chairman under NIYAZOW, emerged as the country's new president. BERDIMUHAMEDOV won Turkmenistan's first multi-candidate presidential election in 2007, and again in 2012 and 2017 with over 97% of the vote in elections widely regarded as undemocratic. In 2022, BERDIMUHAMEDOV announced that he would step down from the presidency and called for an election to replace him. His son, Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV, won the ensuing election with 73% of the vote. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV, although no longer head of state, maintains an influential political position as head of the Halk Maslahaty (People’s Council) and as National Leader of the Turkmen People, a title that provides additional privileges and immunity for him and his family. Since Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV stepped down from the presidency, state-controlled media upgraded his honorific from Arkadag (protector) to Hero-Arkadag, and began referring to Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV as Arkadagly Serdar, which can be translated as "Serdar who has a protector to support him."Turkmenistan has sought new export markets for its extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves, which have yet to be fully exploited. Turkmenistan's reliance on gas exports has made the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in the global energy market, and economic hardships since the drop in energy prices in 2014 have led many citizens of Turkmenistan to emigrate, mostly to Turkey.
Area: 488,100 km2
Climate: subtropical desert
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Groups: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003 est.)
Languages: Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%major-language sample(s): Dünýä Faktlar Kitaby – esasy maglumatlaryň wajyp çeşmesidir (Turkmen)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions: Muslim 93%, Christian 6.4%, Buddhist <1%, folk religion <1%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unspecified <1% (2020 est.)
Capital: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
Government type: presidential republic; authoritarian
Chief of state: President Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV (since 19 March 2022)
Head of government: President Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV (since 19 March 2022)cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the presidentelections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 12 March 2022 (next to be held in 2029); note - on 11 February 2022, President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV announced his intent to retire, setting up an early presidential electionelection results: 2022: Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV elected president; percent of vote - Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV (DPT) 73%, Khydyr NUNNAYEV (independent) 11.1%, Agadzhan BEKMYRADOV (IAP) 7.2%, other 8.7%; note - Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV is the son of previous president Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV2017: Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV reelected president in the first round; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOV (DPT) 97.7%, other 2.3%note: the president is both chief of state and head of government
Description: legislature name: Assembly (Mejlis)legislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 125 (all directly elected)electoral system: plurality/majorityscope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 5 yearsmost recent election date: 3/26/2023parties elected and seats per party: Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT) (65); Groups of citizens of Turkmenistan (28); Agrarian Party (24); Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (8)percentage of women in chamber: 25.6%expected date of next election: March 2028
Information derived by "The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/"