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At a glance

Capital: Ashkhabad (See more on ITYPEMBA.COM)

Official language: Turkmen

Currency: Manat

Continent: South Asia

With the train into the desert

A vacation in Turkmenistan is mainly characterized by ruins and deserts

Location Turkmenistan

You can reach Turkmenistan by train from Western Europe. To do this, they first have to go to Baku in Azerbaijan and take the ferry across the Caspian Sea to go ashore in Turkmenbashi. In addition to this coastal strip, Turkmenistan has a border with Iran in the south and Uzbekistan in the north. The country also borders Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. If you prefer to fly, you will find an international airport in the capital Ashgabat, which you can reach from Frankfurt via Baku, Istanbul and / or Moscow.

Central Asia vacation

According to Countryaah, Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia, a region that is marked by snow-capped mountains and vast deserts. The Silk Road, which connected Orient and Occident, once passed through this area. This place on earth was shaped like no other by the countless peoples from Europe and Asia. This location in history was shaped primarily by the Silk Road. In its heyday, trade on the Silk Road left behind great monuments of medieval Islamic architecture.

Travel to Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is shaped by the Karakum Desert, which covers about 90% of the country with sand. In addition to a lot of desert, there are some ruins to see in Turkmenistan. Some date from the Sufi dynasty at the beginning of the 14th century, some are younger. The highlights include the grave mosque of the Sufi dynasty in Kohne Urgensch, the ruins of the fortress mosque in Anau. There is also an underground water reservoir in Anau, which was built in 1456. Other destinations are the ruins of Nisa and three mausoleums: that of Sultan Tekesch, the mausoleum Fachreddin Radi and that for Najmeddin Kubra. Another mausoleum is said to be home to a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed – you can find the mausoleum of Muhammad ibn Said in Merw. In addition, there are many tombs in the country, which are the destination of some archaeological expeditions. The ruins of the city of Merw were recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Important facts

Capital: Ashkhabad

Official language: Turkmen

Currency

Currency (sub-unit)

Manat (100 tenge)

ISO 4217 code

TMT / 934

Geography

Continent: Asia

Region: south

Geo coordinates: N 38 ° 58 ’11 ” E 59 ° 33′ 22.6″

Highest mountain: Ayrybaba (3,139 m)

Total area: 488,100 km²

Mainland: 488,100 km²

National border: 3,736 km

Coastline: 1,768 km

Politics

Dependency: UN member since: 1992

Economy

Export goods: Light industry, oil, natural gas

GDP: $ 8,653,700,000

GDP purchasing power parity: $ 43.76 billion

GDP share of agriculture: 16.7%

GDP share of industry: 36.2%

GDP share of services: 47.1%

Inflation rate: 11.2%

Export: $ 5,200,000,000

Import: $ 4,776,000,000

Gold and currency reserves: $ 3,144,000,000

Electricity consumption: 10,374 million KWh

Gas reserves: 2,010,000 million m³

Gas production: 59,000 million m³

Gas consumption: 18,800 million m³

Oil reserves: 273 million m³

Oil production: 339,000 million m³

Oil consumption: 87,000 million m³

Cultivation area: 4.74%

Bovine: 930,000 pieces

Sheep: 6,220,000 pieces

Fishing: 13,600 t

Demographic data

Residents: 5,042,900

Residents in cities: 2,250,400

Average age: 21.8 years

0-14 years: 35.2%

15-64 years: 60.7%

> 65 years: 4.1%

Population growth: 1.83%

Birth rate: 27.61 / 1,000 residents

Death rate: 8.6 / 1,000 residents

Migration: -0.75 / 1,000 residents

Ratio men / women: 0.98

Fertility: 3.37 children / woman

Infant mortality: 72.56 ‰

Life expectancy men: 58.43 years

Life expectancy women: 65.41 years

Country codes

ISO 3166 Alpha 2: TM

ISO 3166 Alpha 3: TKM

ISO 3166 numeric: 795

Top Level Domain: tm

IOC country code: TKM

UN / LOCODE: TM

Source: Abbreviationfinder

Communication

Telephone connections: 405,000

Cell Phones: 130,000

TV: 1,090,000

Computer: 114,000

Internet users: 250,000

Transportation

Railway lines: 2,440 km

Paved roads: 21,080 km

Cars: 445,000

Merchant fleet (ships over 1,000 GRT): 8th

Pipelines: 7,944

Health

Number of doctors: 15,390

Daily food intake: 2,780 kcal / resident

HIV- infected people: 200

Education

Illiteracy: 1 %

History

Last sovereign since: 1991

Religion

Main religious group: Muslims

Crime

Prison inmates: 23,700

Military

Armed forces (troop strength): 32,000

Main battle tank: 570

Warplanes: 80

GETTING THERE

Arriving by plane

Turkmenistan’s national airline Turkmenistan Airlines (T5) offers flights from London and Birmingham to Ashkhabad as well as connections to Istanbul (Turkey), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Karachi (Pakistan) and Kiev (Ukraine). Serious delays occur regularly at Turkmenistan Airlines.

Lufthansa (LH) regularly flies direct to Ashkhabad from Frankfurt. Turkish Airlines (TK) from Istanbul. Further connections from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Kiev (Ukraine).

In Turkmenistan, flight tickets have to be paid for in foreign currency; foreigners are usually charged ten times the regular price.

Departure fee

US $ 25. Citizens of the former member states of the Soviet Union pay US $ 15 and Turkmen citizens US $ 5.

Arrival by car

There are roads to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and to Mashad and Tehran in Iran. The Iranian-Turkmen border crossing is usually only open to citizens of Iran and the former member states of the Soviet Union. The Iranian and Turkmen authorities may provide U. special permits for other citizens, which you have to get before departure.

There are bus connections to the capitals of neighboring countries, including the Uzbek Chiva and Mashad in eastern Iran.

Note on arriving by car

When entering Turkmenistan with a private car, foreigners must take out liability insurance for their vehicle in Turkmenistan. The green international insurance card is not valid. In addition, an additional tax has to be paid on the fuel prices subsidized in Turkmenistan. The amount of this tax is based on the likely distance traveled in Turkmenistan. This tax is also levied on entry in US dollars. Long waiting times at the border must be expected.

Arriving by train

The main line of the Trans-Caspian Railways runs between Turkmenbashi in the west via Ashkhabad to Tschardschau in the east. Connections to the Russian Federation and further east exist here. The route network was expanded and extended to Mashad and Bandar Shahi (Iran), from here direct connections to Istanbul are available. It takes about 24 hours to get to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and three days to Moscow. For safety reasons, the compartment should be locked during night train journeys.

Arrival by ship

There are connections from Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnowodsk) to Baku (Azerbaijan) and occasionally to Astrakhan in the Russian Federation via the Caspian Sea.

It is theoretically possible to travel by ship from Moscow to Turkmenbashi on the Volga and across the Caspi Lake without having to go ashore once.