Official name: Republic of Turkmenistan (map)
Capital: Ashgabat
Population: 5.600.000 (January 1, 2008)
Area: 488.100 square kilometers
Languages: Turkmen, Russian, English, Turkish
Religions: Muslim 85%, Eastern Orthodox 10%, other 5%
Ethnic mix: Turkmens 81%, Uzbeks 8%, Russians 5%, Kazakhs 4%, others 2%
Government: Single party republic
National currency: Manat (from the January 1, 2009 after denomination the official rate is 2,85 Manat = 1 US dollar)
President: Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov (in the office from the February 16, 2006)
GDP: 43,68 billion denominated manats in 2008 (15,3 billion USD dollars, according to the official statistics, GDP per capita: $ 2.730 in 2008)
GDP growth: 10,5 % in 2008, according to the official statistics
Industries: natural gas, oil, oil products, textiles, apparel, food procurement, power.
Chief crops: cotton, grain.
Arable land: 3%.
Livestock (2007): cattle - 2.4 mil., chickens - 8.0 mil., goats - 0.8 mil., sheep - 17.5 mil.
Oil production: 10.5 mil. tons (2007), natural gas production: 75 bil. cub meters (2007), electricity production: 12.0 bil. kWh.
Main trade partners: export - Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Italy, China, import - Russia, Ukraina, USA, UAE, Turkey, Germany, France.
Export volume: 11,9 billion USD dollars in 2008.
Import volume: 5,7 billion USD dollars in 2008 (according to the official statistics).
Trade surplus: 6,2 billion USD dollars in 2008.
Transport: length of railroads - 2.500 km, length of roads - 14.000 km, number of airports - 13, chief port - Turkmenbashi.
Communications (per 1.000 pop, 2008): TV sets - 250, radios - 320, personal computers - 80, internet users - 30. Telephone fixed lines - 800.000, mobile subscribers - 900.000.
Health: life expectancy - 58.0 for male, 64.9 for female, births (per 1.000 pop.) - 27, deaths (per 1.000 pop.) - 9, natural increase - 1,8%. AIDS rate: < 0,1%.
Education: literacy - 99.8%, number of secondary schools - 2.100, number of students - 1.100.000, number of higher schools - 16, number of students - more than 14.000.
