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.
- »The Darvaza gas crater, known as the Door to Hell, has burned continuously for decades.
- »Around 80% of the country is Karakum desert.
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.
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.
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 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.