Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/242.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 9.4 KB | 373 lines

@node Geography (Turkmenistan)
@section Geography (Turkmenistan)

@display

Location:
  South Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Uzbekistan
Map references:
  Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard
  Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  488,100 km2
 land area:
  488,100 km2  comparative area:
  slightly larger than California
Land boundaries:
  total 3,736 km, Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km,
  Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Coastline:
  0 km
 note:
  Turkmenistan does border the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Maritime claims:
  landlocked, but boundaries in the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
  and Iran will have to be negotiated
International disputes:
  none
Climate:
  subtropical desert
Terrain:
  flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; borders Caspian Sea in west
Natural resources:
  petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt
Land use:
 arable land:
  3%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  69%
 forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  28%
Irrigated land:
  12,450 km2 (1990)
Environment:
  contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals,
  pesticides; salinization, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation
  methods
Note:
  landlocked



@end display

@node People (Turkmenistan)
@section People (Turkmenistan)

@display

Population:
  3,914,997 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  2.04% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  30.91 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  7.6 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -2.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  71.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  64.93 years
 male:
  61.4 years
 female:
  68.62 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  3.82 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Turkmen(s)
 adjective:
  Turkmen
Ethnic divisions:
  Turkmen 73.3%, Russian 9.8%, Uzbek 9%, Kazakhs 2%, other 5.9%
Religions:
  Muslim 87%, Eastern Orthodox 11%, unknown 2%
Languages:
  Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Literacy:
  age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
 total population:
  100%
 male:
  100%
 female:
  100%
Labor force:
  1.542 million
 by occupation:
  agriculture and forestry 42%, industry and construction 21%, other 37%
  (1990)



@end display

@node Government (Turkmenistan)
@section Government (Turkmenistan)

@display

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Republic of Turkmenistan
 conventional short form:
  Turkmenistan
 local long form:
  Tiurkmenostan Respublikasy
 local short form:
  Turkmanistan
 former:
  Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Digraph:
  TX
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
Administrative divisions:   5 velayets: Balkan (Nebit Dag), Doshkhovuz (formerly Tashauz), Lebap
  (Charjev), Mary, Akhal (Ashgabat)
 note:
  all oblasts have the same name as their administrative center except Balkan
  Oblast, centered at Nebit-Dag
Independence:
  27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Constitution:
  adopted 18 May 1992
Legal system:
  based on civil law system
National holiday:
  Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Political parties and leaders:
 ruling party:
  Democratic Party (formerly Communist), chairman vacant
 opposition:
  Party for Democratic Development, Durdymurat HOJA-MUHAMMET, chairman












  ; Agzybirlik, Nurberdy NURMAMEDOV, cochairman, Hubayberdi HALLIYEV,
  cochairman
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal



@end display

@node Government (Turkmenistan 2. usage)
@section Government (Turkmenistan 2. usage)

@display

Elections:
 President:
  last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held NA June 1997); results - Saparmurad
  NIYAZOV 99.5% (ran unopposed)
 Majlis:
  last held 7 January 1990 (next to be held NA 1995); results - percent of
  vote by party NA; seats - (175 total) elections not officially by party, but
  Communist Party members won nearly 90% of seats; note - seats to be reduced
  to 50 at next election
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, nine deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch:
  under 1992 constitution there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral
  People's Council (Halk Maslahaty - having more than 100 members and meeting
  infrequently) and a 50-member unicameral Assembly (Majlis)
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Saparmurad NIYAZOV (since NA October 1990)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister (vacant); Deputy Prime Ministers Valery G. OCHERTSOV,
  Orazgeldi AYDOGDYEV, Yagmur OVEZOV, Jourakuli BABAKULIYEV, Matkarim RAJAPOV,
  Rejep SAPAROV, Boris SHIKHMURADOV (since NA); Chairman of the People's
  Council Sakhat MURADOV (since NA)
Member of:
  CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, IMF, NACC, UN, UNCTAD
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  NA
 chancery:
  NA
 telephone:
  NA
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Joseph S. HULINGS III
 embassy:
  Yubilenaya Hotel, Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09862
 telephone:
  [7] 36320 24-49-08
Flag:
  green field, including a vertical stripe on the hoist side, with a claret
  veritcal stripe in between containing five white, black, and orange carpet
  guls (an assymetrical design used in producing rugs) associated with five
  different tribes; a white crescent and five white stars in the upper left
  corner to the right of the carpet guls



@end display

@node Economy (Turkmenistan)
@section Economy (Turkmenistan)

@display

Overview:
  Like the other 15 former Soviet republics, Turkmenistan faces enormous
  problems of economic adjustment - to move away from Moscow-based central
  planning toward a system of decisionmaking by private entrepreneurs, local
  government authorities, and, hopefully, foreign investors. This process
  requires wholesale changes in supply sources, markets, property rights, and
  monetary arrangements. Industry - with 10% of the labor force - is heavily
  weighted toward the energy sector, which produced 11% of the ex-USSR's gas
  and 1% of its oil. Turkmenistan ranked second among the former Soviet
  republics in cotton production, mainly in the irrigated western region,
  where the huge Karakumskiy Canal taps the Amu Darya. The general decline in
  national product accelerated in 1992, principally because of inability to
  obtain spare parts and disputes with customers over the price of natural
  gas.
National product:
  GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
  -10% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  53% per month (first quarter 1993)
Unemployment rate:
  15%-20% (1992 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
  $100 million to outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992)
 commodities:
  natural gas, oil, chemicals, cotton, textiles, carpets
 partners:
  Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Imports:
  $100 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (1992)
 commodities:
  machinery and parts, plastics and rubber, consumer durables, textiles
 partners:
  mostly other than former Soviet Union
External debt:
  $650 million (end 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -17% (1992 est.)
Electricity:
  2,920,000 kW capacity; 13,100 million kWh produced, 3,079 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers, food processing, textiles
Agriculture:
  cotton, fruits, vegetables
Illicit drugs:
  illicit producer of cannabis and opium; mostly for CIS consumption; limited
  government eradication program; used as transshipment points for illicit
  drugs from Southwest Asia to Western Europe
Economic aid:
  $280 million offical aid commitments by foreign donors (1992)
Currency:
  retaining Russian ruble as currency; planning to establish own currency, the
  manat, but no date set (May 1993)



@end display

@node Economy (Turkmenistan 2. usage)
@section Economy (Turkmenistan 2. usage)

@display

Exchange rates:
  rubles per US$1 - 415 (24 December 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Turkmenistan)
@section Communications (Turkmenistan)

@display

Railroads:
  2,120 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
  23,000 km total; 18,300 km hard surfaced, 4,700 km earth (1990)
Pipelines:
  crude oil 250 km, natural gas 4,400 km
Ports:
  inland - Krasnovodsk (Caspian Sea)
Airports:
 total:
  7
 useable:
  7
 with permanent-surface runways:
  4
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  4
Telecommunications:
  poorly developed; only 65 telephones per 1000 persons (1991); linked by
  cable and microwave to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased
  connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new direct
  telephone link from Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) to Iran has been established;
  satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 INTELSAT for TV receive-only
  service; a newly installed satellite earth station provides TV receiver-only
  capability for Turkish broadcasts



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Turkmenistan)
@section Defense Forces (Turkmenistan)

@display

Branches:
  National Guard, Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), Joint
  Command Turkmenistan/Russia (Ground, Navy or Caspian Sea Flotilla, Air, and
  Air Defense)
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 933,285; fit for military service 765,824; reach military
  age (18) annually 39,254 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP



@end display