Overview:
Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with nomadic cattle raising,
intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge gas and oil
resources. Half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; it is the
world's tenth largest producer. It also is the world's fourth largest
producer of natural gas and has the fifth largest reserves.
Furthermore, Turkmenistan has substantial oil resources; its two oil
refineries make it an exporter of refined products. Profiting from the
move toward market prices for its oil and gas resources, Turkmenistan
has suffered the least economic decline of the 15 states of the former
USSR. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a
tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious
approach to questions of economic reform, using the profits from its
gas and cotton exports to sustain a generally inefficient economy.
Economic restructuring and privatization have just begun, and price
liberalization and price increases have been accompanied by generous
wage hikes and subsidies. At the same time, Turkmenistan faces serious
constraints on its gas and oil earnings because of the inability of
its traditional regional customers to pay for the current level of
purchases and the lack of pipeline access to hard currency markets.
Faced with financial shortfalls, rampant inflation, and the desire to
ensure a stable currency, the regime has become more receptive to
market reforms yet still seeks to offer widespread social benefits to
its population and to retain state domination over the economy.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $13 billion (1993 estimate from
the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and
published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as
extrapolated to 1993 using official Turkmen statistics, which are very
uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)
National product real growth rate:
7.8% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$3,330 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
45% per month (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
2.9% (1992 est.); includes only officially registered unemployed; also
large number of underemployed
Budget:
revenues:
$NA
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$1.2 billion to states outside the FSU (1993)
commodities:
natural gas, cotton, petroleum products, textiles, carpets
partners:
Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Eastern Europe,
Turkey, Argentina
Imports:
$490 million from states outside the FSU (1993)
commodities:
machinery and parts, grain and food, plastics and rubber, consumer
durables, textiles
partners:
Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey
External debt:
NEGL
Industrial production:
growth rate 5.3% (1993)
Electricity:
capacity:
2,920,000 kW
production:
13.1 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
3,079 kWh (1992)
Industries:
natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Agriculture:
cotton, grain, animal husbandry
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:
recipient:
Turkmenistan has received about $200 million in bilateral aid credits
Currency:
Turkmenistan introduced its national currency, the manat, on 1
November 1993
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year
@Turkmenistan, Communications
Railroads:
2,120 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
total:
23,000 km
paved and gravel:
18,300 km
unpaved:
earth 4,700 km (1990)
Pipelines:
crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km
Ports:
inland - Krasnowodsk (Caspian Sea)
Airports:
total:
7
usable:
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 7.5 telephone circuits per 100 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 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
@Turkmenistan, Defense Forces
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 15-49 962,987; fit for military service 787,991; reach
military age (18) annually 40,079 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
$NA, NA% of GDP
@Turks and Caicos Islands
Header Affiliation: (dependent territory of the UK)
@Turks and Caicos Islands, Geography
Location: Caribbean, in the western North Atlantic Ocean, 190 km north of the Dominican Republic and southeast of The Bahamas Map references: Central America and the Caribbean Area: total area: 430 sq km land area: 430 sq km comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline: 389 km Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm International disputes: none Climate: tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry Terrain: low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps Natural resources: spiny lobster, conch Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 98% Irrigated land: NA sq km Environment: current issues: freshwater scarcity, private cisterns collect rainwater natural hazards: subject to frequent hurricanes international agreements: NA Note: 30 islands (eight inhabited)
@Turks and Caicos Islands, People