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 north eastern Turkmenistan whose water levels fluctuate
widely; at its shallowest, its level is -110 m; it is presently at
-60 m, 20 m above Vpadina Akchanaya)
highest point: Ayrybaba 3,139 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 63%
forests and woodland: 8%
other: 26% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 13,000 sq km (1993 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, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol