The name Turkmenistan is derived from Turkmen + stan. Turkmen, as a Turkic ethnic group, means “almost Turk” and -stan is a Persian ending meaning “land of.” There are a couple other theories as to its origin. While it was under Russian rule, they changed its name to Turkmen SSR but was also commonly called Turkmenia.
Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia, surrounded by Kazakhstan to the north; Uzbekistan to the north and east; Afghanistan to the southeast; Iran to the south; and the Caspian Sea to the west. The vast majority of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert, and the other parts are covered by the Great Balkhan mountain range and the Kopet Dag range. For most of the year, its climate is arid desert with subtropical temperature range and has milder, wetter winters.
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| Saparmurat Niyazov |
Originally, this area was inhabited by Indo-Iranians but was taken over by the Oghuz tribes who were a Turkic group from around Mongolia. The term Turkmen first referred to those from the Oghuz tribes now living in Turkmenistan who converted to Islam. The Seljuk Empire took over in the 10th century and was later defeated, only to have the Mongols do the same thing a century later. By the time the 16th century came along, a couple of Uzbek khanates were quite influential in Turkmenistan, and Turkmen soldiers helped out Uzbek soldiers quite a bit. However, one particular Turkmen group wasn’t really having it anymore and got under the Uzbek military’s skin enough to be kicked to the curb. Turkmenistan was also known for doing its part in the slave trade that spread across Central Asia. So, there’s that. In the late 19th century, Russia took an interest in Turkmenistan and moved right in. Not only did they pull in Turkmenistan as a territory, but they included the Uzbeks as well (talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time). They changed over to being the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924, and a decade later, the Russians had killed off what part of their cultural nomadic lifestyle they had left. As Turkmenistan was preparing itself for its independence after Russia broke up in 1991, it found itself being run by the communist leader Saparmurat Niyazov. His guy had such a strong motivation of independent nationalism with a cult of personality to match (he even wrote his own religious book that he made people practically memorize). So, it’s no surprise he made himself president for life. He ended up having a lot of terrible, garbage policies and ideas he implemented (you don’t say!), especially ones that centered on a one-party system, strict censorship rules, human rights issues, and stuff like that (he once closed down all the hospitals outside of the capital and all the rural libraries; like, this guy’s nuts). He died in 2006, and a new guy took over and had a lot of work to do to undo what his predecessor did.
The capital city is the south-central city of Ashgabat (also spelled Ashgabad, Ashkhabad, Ashkhabat, or Aşgabat); it’s really not that far from the Iranian border. It means “city of love” or “city of devotion.” With about a million people today, it started out as an ancient wine-making village along the Silk Road (I can see why it’s the city of love now). Today, it has several universities, shopping areas, theatres, parks, sporting venues, and museums.
Turkmenistan has a lot of natural gas and oil reserves. Even at that, they generally have a pretty high unemployment rate. Some of their problems lie in that they’re landlocked without an adequate way to export. This was especially true about 20 years ago, although I think they have some better trade deals now. And for such a long time, government corruption wasn’t really helping their economy either. Agriculture is also fairly important as well, and especially cotton, which is one of their biggest exports. In an effort to build up tourism in Turkmenistan, medical tourism has been on the rise. Their new president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (what a name!) also had put in a lot of money into building up a touristy area called Awaza (which seems named after the worst typing exercise). It was his attempt to build up a Dubai-like tourist zone along the Caspian Sea and has also been likened to a “Turkmen Las Vegas,” but some reports have shown that, like the real Las Vegas, it’s not quite all as advertised.
Nearly 93% of Turkmens are Muslim, while 6% are Christian. Of the Christians that are there, most adhere to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and more specifically the Russian Orthodox Church; however, there are several other denominations of Christian churches represented throughout the country, probably mostly in the capital and other larger cities. There’s also a small following of Baha’i in Turkmenistan that has been present since the religion began. During the Soviet years, pretty much all religions were wiped out altogether.
Turkmen is the official language, not surprising. It’s related to Turkish and Azerbaijani. However, Russian is still used as a lingua franca in many cities as a way to communicate between different ethnic groups. There’s also quite a few Uzbek speakers in Turkmenistan as well, which makes sense given its close proximity and history. Pockets of other languages are spoken throughout the country based on ethnic groups.
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| Indoor Ferris wheel |
I am all about weird claims to fame, and Ashgabat does not disappoint. They claim to have the highest Ferris wheel that’s enclosed, the fourth-tallest freestanding flag pole, and the Ashgabat Fountain, which has the most fountain pools in one place. And on top of that, the Guinness Book of Records included Ashgabat in 2013 for having the highest concentration of white marble buildings. And the city is also where Turkmenistan Tower is located, which has one identifiable mark: a large octagonal star. Dubbed the Star of Oguzkhan, it is the world’s largest architectural image of a star, according to the Guinness Book of Records. So, there’s something for everyone here!
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