|RNational holiday:|N Independence Day, October 27.
|RNature and climate:|N Most of the country is a lowland plateau. In the south, at the border to Iran and Afghanistan, are several mighty mountainchains reaching close to 3000 m.a.s.l. The Kara Kum desert, one of the largest deserts on earth, covers 90% of the country. The coast at the Caspian Sea is very low with vast areas below sea level.
Average temperature in January is +2°C by the Caspian Sea and -6°C in the interior and average temperature in July +30°C in the whole country.
Percipitation between 100 and 300 mm, least in the desert.
|RPeople:|N 72% Turkmen, 10% Russians, 9% Uzbeks and the remainder Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukraineans and Azerbaijanis.
The Turkmen have a rich oral tradition of tales, heroic poems and legends.
|REconomy:|N Traditionally the Turkmen are nomadic people breeding sheep, camels and horses. They are also known as skilled carpet weavers.
There is also some agriculture. Traditionally in the oases were cotton, wine, vegetables, cereals, fruits and tobacco are grown.
Through the Kara Kum canal water is taken from River Annu-Dar'ya and used for irrigation of vast areas which have increased the arable land considerably, but also is one of the main reasons that Lake Aral nowadays is almost dry.
There are rich resources of oil, natural gas, sulphur and salt. The oil is the base for an extensive chemical processing and is exported.
There is also an extensive textile manufacturing with both cotton and sheepwool as raw material.
|RHistory:|N Turkmenistan has been inhabited since pre-historic times. First by Iranian tribes and later by Turkish.
Invaded in the 10th century by Mongolian tribes, mainly Oghuz, that introduced Islam. In the 16th century the Turkmen had become a homogenous ethnic group that was ruled alternately by the Persians in the south and the Uzbeks in the north up to he 18th century. By the end of the 19th century Russia conquered Turkmenistan piece by piece, won an important victory at Gok Tepe 1881 when probably more than 150 000 Turkmen were killed. But the Turkmen were not completely subdued until in the 1920:s.
During the Gorbachev era the claims for cultural freedom increased. Not until 1990 the Turkmen language was recognized as an official language in spite of the fact that only 25% of the Turkmen speak Russian.
When the development towards democracy started in the Sovjet Union very little happened in Turkmenistan. The reforms did not reach this remote country and the communist party kept its grip.
After the unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 the Turkmen High Sovjet in October proclaimed the independent republic Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan was one of the founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, in December 1991.
Since independence Turkmenistan steadily has tried to improve economical and political relations with Iran and Turkey.
