Expatriates Forums in Turkmenistan

Travelling to Turkmenistan: some questions

Writer-Ukraine — Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:07 am

Author: Writer-Ukraine

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:07 am

Hi,

I’m a 24 year-old British translator and editor, currently working in Kyiv, Ukraine. I’ve been planning a journey through the Caucasus and Central Asia for a couple of years – I’m writing a collection of travel stories - and it looks as if next spring I’ll finally have the time and money to make it happen.

I have a degree in Russian, and studied in Russia before moving to Ukraine, but I have always been captivated by the culture in the satellite states. I have read a fair amount about Turkmenistan, but haven’t found much information that is helpful for planning a journey.

So, my questions are:

- How easy/safe is it to move across the country, and across borders? How expensive/reliable are trains and marshrutki?

- What are the visa requirements for short-term, tourist stays?

- How widely is Russian spoken in towns and cities? Do people react to foreigners positively or negatively?

- How many expats are there, generally?

- What are Turkmenistan’s landmarks? – (not necessarily the biggest tourist attractions, but the places that best represent the country and its people).

- What is a realistic daily budget (two meals, transport and accommodation)?

Apologies if I’ve asked any questions that appear a hundred times on the forum. I’d be very grateful for any advice, ideas and information.

Thanks,

Jon

UK telly with a turkish delight!! Check THIS OUT!

Suzi Williams — Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:54 pm

Author: Suzi Williams

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:54 pm

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very short skirts in Turkmenistan ...good or bad ?

jasmine007 — Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:46 pm

Author: jasmine007

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:46 pm

Perhaps many women simply do not have shapely enough legs that can carry off the wearing of a very short skirt gracefully.
Legs have to be more than shapely they also have to be attractive. Nylon stockings make legs more attractive but this is evidently a personal choice .

Not only are our legs not elegant or sexy enough to show off in a very short skirt but our posture isn't observed enough to NOT show off more than we intended. How many times have your eyes been drawn to the sudden hiking of a skirt thigh high? More times than many men would like their wives or partners to know about anyway, I'll bet.
The sudden hiking of a skirt thigh high can be improved upon if the woman is wearing pantyhose nylon stockings. At least these look a bit sexier than the sudden appearance of fish-belly white thighs.

>>>>>But from this woman's perspective, another of the disadvantages of wearing a very short skirt is **********the breeze factor*******. Don't laugh, but getting a sudden gust of cold wind up bare legs is cold and disconcerting, to be polite.<<<<<<<<<

Very short Skirts leave a lot of bare leg open to the elements and this is very disadvantageous as far as most women are concerned.

TURKMENISTAN COUNTRY PROFILE / TURKMENISTAN COUNTRY GUIDE

Turkmenistan Info — Wed May 09, 2007 9:02 am

Author: Turkmenistan Info

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 9:02 am

TURKMENISTAN COUNTRY PROFILE

Introduction

Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly.

Geography

Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 60 00 E

Area:
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km
water: negl.

Area - comparative: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries:
total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km

Coastline: 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: subtropical desert

Terrain:
flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)
highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt

Land use:
arable land: 3.72%
permanent crops: 0.14%
other: 96.14% (2001)

Irrigated land: 17,500 sq km (2003 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues:
contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau

People

Population: 4,952,081 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 909,113/female 860,128)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 1,462,198/female 1,516,836)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 78,119/female 125,687) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 21.56 years
male: 20.68 years
female: 22.44 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.81% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 27.68 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 73.08 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 69.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 61.39 years
male: 58.02 years
female: 64.93 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.41 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 200 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2004 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)

Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97% (1989 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan
local long form: none
local short form: Turkmenistan
former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch

Capital: Ashgabat

Administrative divisions:
5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Constitution: adopted 18 May 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty)
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held in 2008 when NIYAZOV turns 70 and is constitutionally ineligible to run); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council on 28 December 1999; deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president
election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%

Legislative branch:
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom are elected by popular vote and some of whom are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003; Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009)
election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by President NIYAZOV
note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted, reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow; the Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition-in-exile groups, is based in Europe

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organisation participation:
AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500
FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
embassy: 9 Pushkin (1984) Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000
mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-7070
telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45
FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14

Flag description:
green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe

Economy

Overview:
Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to a nearly 46% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatisation goals remain limited. In 1998-2004, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by perhaps 30% in 2003 and 19% in 2004, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, the government's irrational use of oil and gas revenues, and its unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $27.6 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: IMF estimate: 7.5%
note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are notoriously unreliable (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 28.5%
industry: 42.7%
services: 28.8% (2004 est.)

Labour force: 2.32 million (2003 est.)

Labour force - by occupation: agriculture 48.2%, industry 13.8%, services 37% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate: 60% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line: 58% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 40.8 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 29% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.05 billion
expenditures: $3.05 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: cotton, grain; livestock

Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Industrial production growth rate: official government estimate: 22% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production: 11.41 billion kWh (2004 est.)

Electricity - consumption: 8.908 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 1.136 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 162,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption: 63,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports: NA

Oil - imports: NA

Oil - proved reserves: 273 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production: 58.57 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 9.6 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 43.5 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.43 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance: $114 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $4 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles

Exports - partners:
Ukraine 49.8%, Iran 17.2%, Italy 5.3%, Turkey 4.7% (2004)

Imports: $2.85 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Russia 14%, Ukraine 13.8%, US 11.1%, UAE 8.1%, Turkey 8%, Germany 6.8%, France 4.6% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3.034 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $16 million from the US (2001)

Currency (code): Turkmen manat (TMM)

Exchange rates: Turkmen manats per US dollar - 10,100 (2004), 10,034 (2003), 10,098 (2002), 5,200 (2001)
note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 21,000 manats to the dollar

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 374,000 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 52,000 (2004)

Telephone system:
general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: NA
international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (government owned and programmed) (2004)

Internet country code: .tm

Internet hosts: 524 (2004)

Internet users: 8,000 (2002)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2004)

Highways:
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km
unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.)

Waterways: 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003)

Pipelines: gas 6,549 km; oil 1,395 km (2004)

Ports and harbours: Turkmenbasy

Merchant marine:
total: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
by type: cargo 3, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2005)

Airports: 53 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 23
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 30
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.)

Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)

Military

Military branches: Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (2004)

Military manpower - military age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 18-49: 1,132,833 (2005 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 759,978 (2005 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 56,532 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $90 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.4% (FY99)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; bilateral talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan has started but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled

Illicit drugs:
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan