Turkmenistan

Country	Turkmenistan
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Capital	name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Population	4,884,887 (July 2009 est.)
GMT	+5
Location	Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Area	total: 488,100 sq km land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL
Ethnic groups	Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
Religions	Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
Languages	Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Government type	republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
National holiday	Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Constitution	adopted 18 May 1992
Legal system	based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Background	Eastern Turkmenistan for centuries formed part of the Persian province of Khurasan; in medieval times Merv (today known as Mary) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. President for Life Saparmurat NYYAZOW died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a vice premier under NYYAZOW, emerged as the country's new president.
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