Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia, with its capital at Ashgabat, and is home to roughly 7.5M people.
Its official languages are Russian, Turkmen; the currency in circulation is Turkmenistan manat (m); people from here are called Turkmen.
> INTEL_
> NOTABLE_
- »The Darvaza gas crater, known as the Door to Hell, has burned continuously for decades.
- »Around 80% of the country is Karakum desert.
> BORDERS_
Turkmenistan touches four neighbours: Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Kazakhstan to the northeast and Uzbekistan to the northeast. Directions run from one centre to the other.
> THE CAPITAL_
Ashgabat holds the world record for the highest concentration of white marble buildings, and its monumental centre was largely rebuilt after a 1948 earthquake destroyed the city.
> SCALE_
471,163 km² (181,917 sq mi), 52nd largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of Somalia.
Population 7,494,498, 104th of 198 on file. That averages 16 per km² (41 per sq mi).
> THE FLAG_
The most intricate national flag in the world: the vertical band carries five carpet guls, each the traditional design of one of the five major tribes, above an olive wreath.