Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Turkmenistan
local long form:
none
local short form:
Turkmenistan
former:
Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type:
defines itself as a secular democracy and a presidential republic; in actuality displays authoritarian presidential rule, with power concentrated within the presidential administration
Capital:
name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
geographic coordinates:
37 57 N, 58 23 E
time difference:
UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city*: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), Ashgabat*, Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
note:
administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
Independence:
27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Constitution:
adopted 18 May 1992; amended several times, last in 2008; note - sources disagree on whether the changes in 2008 are amendments or reflect a new constitution (2012)
Legal system:
civil law system with Islamic law influences
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007)
cabinet:
Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term; election last held on 12 February 2012 (next to be held February 2017)
election results:
Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW reelected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 97.1%, Annageldi YAZMYRADOW 1.1%, other candidates 1.8%
Legislative branch:
unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly (Mejlis) (125 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections:
last held on 15 December 2013 (next to be held in December 2018)
election results:
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 47, Organization of Trade and Unions of Turkmenistan 33, Women's Union of Turkmenistan 16, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 14
note:
in 26 September 2008, a new constitution of Turkmenistan abolished a second, 2,507-member legislative body known as the People's Council and expanded the number of deputies in the National Assembly from 65 to 125; the powers formerly held by the People's Council were divided up between the president and the National Assembly
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Turkmenistan (consists of the court president and 21 associate judges)
judge selection and term of office:
judges appointed by the president; judge tenure NA
subordinate courts:
provincial, district, and city courts; High Commercial Court; military courts
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Kasymguly BABAYEW]
note: a law authorizing the registration of political parties went into effect in January 2012; unofficial, small opposition movements exist abroad; the three most prominent opposition groups-in-exile are the National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT), the Republican Party of Turkmenistan, and the Watan (Fatherland) Party; the NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 attack on President NYYAZOW's motorcade
Political pressure groups and leaders:
none
International organization participation:
ADB, CIS (associate member, has not ratified the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings and held the chairmanship of the CIS in 2012), EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOW (since 14 February 2001)
chancery:
2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 588-1500
FAX:
[1] (202) 280-1003
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert E. PATTERSON (since 26 April 2011)
embassy:
No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000
mailing address:
7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070
telephone:
[993] (12) 94-00-45
FAX:
[993] (12) 94-26-14
Flag description:
green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches; five white stars and a white crescent moon appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe; the green color and crescent moon represent Islam; the five stars symbolize the regions or welayats of Turkmenistan; the guls reflect the national identity of Turkmenistan where carpet-making has long been a part of traditional nomadic life
note:
the flag of Turkmenistan is the most intricate of all national flags
National symbol(s):
Akhal-Teke horse
National anthem:
name: "Garassyz, Bitarap Turkmenistanyn" (Independent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem)
lyrics/music: collective/Veli MUKHATOV
note: adopted 1997, lyrics revised 2008; following the death of the President Saparmurat NYYAZOW, the lyrics were altered to eliminate references to the former president
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Turkmenistan on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Turkmenistan Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Turkmenistan Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14