Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Turkmenistan. 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. Mother's mean age at first birth is 24.2 years (2019) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 5 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
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Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
Map references | Asia |
Tarrain | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west |
Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt |
Natural Hazards | earthquakes; mudslides; droughts; dust storms; floods |
Irrigated Land | 19,950 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Amu Darya (shared with Tajikistan [s], Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan [m]) - 2,620 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 4,158 km |
Border Countries | Afghanistan 804 km; Iran 1,148 km; Kazakhstan 413 km; Uzbekistan 1,793 km |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked); note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
Climate | subtropical desert |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 469,930 sq km |
Water Area | 18,170 sq km |
comparative Area | slightly more than three times the size of Georgia; slightly larger than California |
Maritime Claims | |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m |
Lowest point | Vpadina Akchanaya (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) -81 m |
Mean elevation | 230 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 72% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 4.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 67.8% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 8.8% (2018 est.) |
Other | 19.2% (2018 est.) |
The most densely populated areas are the southern, eastern, and northeastern oases; approximately 50% of the population lives in and around the capital of Ashgabat
In Turkmenistan, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 0.92% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 16.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 6 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 5.7% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 4 beds/1,000 population (2014) |
Total fertility rate | 2.02 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.99 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 49.7% (2019) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 64.3% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 3.1% of GDP (2019 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -1.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Turkmenistani | Turkmenistani(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Muslim 93%, Christian 6.4%, Buddhist <1%, folk religion <1%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unspecified <1% (2020 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 24.5% (male 711,784/female 692,967) |
15-64 years | 68.6% (male 1,956,740/female 1,984,333) |
65 years and over | 6.9% (2024 est.) (male 174,346/female 223,981) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 56.6 |
Youth dependency ratio | 48.9 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 7.7 |
Potential support ratio | 13 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 31.2 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 30.7 years |
Female | 31.7 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 54% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 2.23% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 902,000 ASHGABAT (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 0.99 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.78 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 35.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 43.6 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 27.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 72.4 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 69.4 years |
Female | 75.5 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.8% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 99.9% of population |
Improved: total | total: 99.8% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.2% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0.1% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 2.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 0.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 1.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 5.5% (2020 est.) |
Male | 10.6% (2020 est.) |
Female | 0.4% (2020 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 0.2% |
Women married by age 18 | 6.1% (2019 est.) |
While Turkmenistan reputedly has a population of more than 5.6 million, the figure is most likely considerably less. Getting an accurate population estimate for the country is impossible because then President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW withheld the results of the last two censuses. The 2012 census results reportedly show that nearly 2 million citizens have emigrated in the last decade, which prompted BERDIMUHAMEDOW to order another census. Results of this census, covering 2008-2018, also were not released to the public but purportedly are similar. Another census was held in December 2022.
Authorities have reacted to the dramatic population decline by preventing Turkmen from leaving the country, including removing citizens from international flights and refusing to provide necessary documents. Turkmenistan’s rise in outmigration – mainly to Turkey, Russia, and Uzbekistan – coincided with the country’s 2013-2014 economic crisis. The outflow has been sustained by poor living standards, inflation, low income, and a lack of health care. At the same time, Ashbagat is encouraging people to have more children to make up for its shrinking population.
Want to know more about Turkmenistan? Check all different factbooks for Turkmenistan below.