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 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: Travel tips, articles, photos, gallery, cities database, population, pics, flags, statistics, free maps online
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This page was last updated on 16 September, 2007| Introduction - Turkmenistan: |  | Location - Turkmenistan: |  | Location | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |  |  |  | Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |  |  |  | Map references | Asia |  |  |  | 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: 4.51% permanent crops: 0.14%
 other: 95.35% (2005)
 |  |  |  | Irrigated land | 18,000 sq km (2003) |  |  |  | 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 rivers 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 - Turkmenistan: |  | Government - Turkmenistan: |  | Economy - Turkmenistan: |  | Communications - Turkmenistan: |  | Transportation - Turkmenistan: |  | Military - Turkmenistan: |  Source: CIA >>>
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