Turkmenistan

Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR).

Turkmenistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.

Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states.

It possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources.

Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by

the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert.

It is one of the driest deserts in the world, some places have an average annual precipitation of only 12 mm (0.47 in). The highest temperature recorded in Ashgabat is 48.0 °C

DemographicsMost of Turkmenistan's citizens are ethnic Turkmens with sizeable minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. Smaller minorities include Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukrainians, Armenians, Azeris, and Balochis.

LanguageTurkmen is the official language of Turkmenistan, although Russian still is widely spoken in cities as a "language of inter-ethnic communication". Turkmen is spoken by 72% of the population, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, and other languages 7%.

Religion• Muslims: 89% of the population • Followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church: 9% of

the population• Non-religious: 2% of the population

Ärtogrul Gazy Mosque in Ashgabat

In an election on 11 February 2007, Berdimuhamedow was elected president with 89% of the vote and 95% turnout. He

was sworn in on 14 February 2007.

Politics

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, repealed some of his processor's most

idiosyncratic policies

• banning opera and the circus• increased basic education to ten years from

nine years• higher education had been extended from

four years to five• increased contacts with the West

Presidential RepublicPresident

head of state

head of government

single-party systemNew Constitution

•abolition of the Council•increase in the size of Parliament• formation of multiple political parties

Only one effectively permitted to operate

Communist Party =

Democratic Party of Turkmenistan

Political gatherings are illegal unless government sanctioned.

Human rightsTurkmenistan has been widely criticised for human rights abuses and has imposed severe restrictions on foreign travel for its citizens.

Turkmenistan had the 3rd worst press freedom

conditions in the world, behind North Korea and Burma.

One of the "10 Most Censored Countries".

• Discrimination against the country's ethnic minorities remain in practice.

• Universities have been encouraged to reject applicants with non-Turkmen surnames, especially ethnic Russians

• It is forbidden to teach the customs and language of the Baloch, an ethnic minority.

The End