Transportation ———————
Railways:
total: 2,120 km in common carrier service; does not include
industrial lines
broad gauge: 2,120 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Highways:
total: 23,000 km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km (1990 est.)
Waterways: the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway
Pipelines: crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km
Ports: Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnowodsk)
Airports:
total: 64
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 13
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 8
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 7
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 35 (1994 est.)
Communications ———————
Telephones: NA
Telephone system: poorly developed
domestic: NA
international: 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