Austria (2002) | Turkmenistan (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 states (Bundeslaender, singular - Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten, Niederoesterreich, Oberoesterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg, Wien | 5 welayatlar (singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Nebitdag), Dashhowuz Welayaty (formerly Tashauz), Lebap Welayaty (Charjew), Mary Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 16.4% (male 686,205; female 652,840)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 2,814,866; female 2,756,777) 65 years and over: 15.4% (male 484,313; female 774,928) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
37.88% (male 891,758; female 852,104) 15-64 years: 58.09% (male 1,313,303; female 1,360,690) 65 years and over: 4.03% (male 70,800; female 114,589) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber | cotton, grain; livestock |
Airports | 55 (2001) | 76 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 24
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 14 (2002) |
total:
13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 31 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 27 (2002) |
total:
63 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 41 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 83,858 sq km
land: 82,738 sq km water: 1,120 sq km |
total:
488,100 sq km land: 488,100 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maine | slightly larger than California |
Background | Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law of that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. This neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet collapse of 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995. A prosperous country, Austria entered the European Monetary Union in 1999. | Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out. |
Birth rate | 9.58 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 28.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $53 billion
expenditures: $54 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues:
$588.6 million expenditures: $658.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | Vienna | Ashgabat |
Climate | temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain in lowlands and snow in mountains; cool summers with occasional showers | subtropical desert |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
Constitution | 1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1 May 1945) | adopted 18 May 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Austria
conventional short form: Austria local long form: Republik Oesterreich local short form: Oesterreich |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | euro (EUR); Austrian schilling (ATS)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
Turkmen manat (TMM) |
Death rate | 9.73 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.98 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $12.1 billion (2001 est.) | $2.5 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador William Lee LYONS BROWN, Jr.
embassy: Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091, Vienna mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [43] (1) 31339-0 FAX: [43] (1) 3100682 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Steven R. MANN embassy: 9 Pushkin Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 51-13-05 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Peter MOSER
chancery: 3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035 telephone: [1] (202) 895-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 895-6750 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Mered ORAZOV chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
Disputes - international | minor disputes with Czech Republic and Slovenia continue over nuclear power plants and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities | Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $410 million (2000) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $27.2 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspirant economies. Slowing growth in Germany and elsewhere in the world held the economy to only 1.2% growth in 2001 and 0.6% in 2002. To meet increased competition from both EU and Central European countries, Austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate the service sector, and lower its tax burden. | Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and huge gas (fifth largest reserves in the world) and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth largest producer. Until the end of 1993, Turkmenistan had experienced less economic disruption than other former Soviet states because its economy received a boost from higher prices for oil and gas and a sharp increase in hard currency earnings. In 1994, Russia's refusal to export Turkmen gas to hard currency markets and mounting debts of its major customers in the former USSR for gas deliveries contributed to a sharp fall in industrial production and caused the budget to shift from a surplus to a slight deficit. With an authoritarian ex-communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2000, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose sharply because of higher international oil and gas prices. Prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty and the burden of foreign debt. IMF assistance would seem to be necessary, yet the government is not as yet ready to accept IMF requirements. Turkmenistan's 1999 deal to ship 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas through Russia's Gazprom pipeline helped alleviate the 2000 fiscal shortfall. Inadequate fiscal restraint and the tenuous nature of Turkmenistan's 2001 gas deals, combined with a lack of economic reform, will limit progress in the near term. |
Electricity - consumption | 54.764 billion kWh (2000) | 4.785 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 15.11 billion kWh (2000) | 4.1 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 13.809 billion kWh (2000) | 1.1 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 60.285 billion kWh (2000) | 8.371 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 28%
hydro: 69% nuclear: 0% other: 3% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
99.94% hydro: 0.06% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m
highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m |
lowest point:
Vpadina Akchanaya -81.00 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 |
Environment - current issues | some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe | 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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | German 88%, non-nationals 9.3% (includes Croatians, Slovenes, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Roma), naturalized 2% (includes those who have lived in Austria at least three generations) | Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995) |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); Austrian schillings per US dollar - 11.86 (January 1999), 12.91 (1999), 12.379 (1998), 12.204 (1997) | Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (January 2001), 5,200 (January 2000), 5,350 (January 1999), 4,070 (January 1997), 2,400 (January 1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Thomas KLESTIL (since 8 July 1992)
head of government: Chancellor Wolfgang SCHUESSEL (OeVP)(since 4 February 2000); Vice Chancellor Herbert HAUPT (since 28 February 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a six-year term; presidential election last held 19 April 1998 (next to be held in the spring of 2004); chancellor traditionally chosen by the president from the plurality party in the National Council; in the case of the current coalition, the chancellor was chosen from another party after the plurality party failed to form a government; vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor election results: Thomas KLESTIL reelected president; percent of vote - Thomas KLESTIL 63%, Gertraud KNOLL 14%, Heide SCHMIDT 11%, Richard LUGNER 10%, Karl NOWAK 2% note: government coalition - OeVP and FPOe |
chief of state:
President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 by the Assembly (Majlis) during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next scheduled to be held NA); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the Assembly on 28 December 1999); deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5% |
Exports | $70 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $2.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel; textiles, foodstuffs | gas 33%, oil 30%, cotton fiber 18%, textiles 8% (1999) |
Exports - partners | EU 63% (Germany 35%, Italy 9%, France 5%), Switzerland 5%, US 5%, Hungary 4% (2000) | Ukraine, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red | green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $226 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $19.6 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2%
industry: 33% services: 65% (2002 est.) |
agriculture:
25% industry: 43% services: 32% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $27,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.6% (2002 est.) | 16% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 47 20 N, 13 20 E | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere | landlocked |
Heliports | 1 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 133,361 km
paved: 133,361 km (including 1,613 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1998) |
total:
22,000 km paved: 18,000 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 4,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 23% (1995) |
lowest 10%:
2.6% highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe | limited illicit cultivator of opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; limited government eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Russia and Western Europe; also a transshipment point for acetic anhydride destined for Afghanistan |
Imports | $74 billion c.i.f. (2001) | $1.65 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs | machinery and equipment 60%, foodstuffs 15% (1999) |
Imports - partners | EU 68% (Germany 42%, Italy 7%, France 5%), US 6%, Switzerland 3%, Hungary 2% (2000) | Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Germany, US, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan |
Independence | 1156 (from Bavaria) | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2001 est.) | 18% (2000 est.) |
Industries | construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | 4.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 73.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.8% (2002 est.) | 14% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 37 (2000) | NA |
Irrigated land | 457 sq km (2000 est.) | 13,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Judicial Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof; Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgerichtshof | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 4.3 million (2001) | 2.34 million (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 67%, industry and crafts 29%, agriculture and forestry 4% (2001 est.) | agriculture 44%, industry 19%, services 37% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,562 km
border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km |
total:
3,736 km border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
Land use | arable land: 16.89%
permanent crops: 0.99% other: 82.12% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 63% forests and woodland: 8% other: 26% (1993 est.) |
Languages | German | Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
Legal system | civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung consists of Federal Council or Bundesrat (64 members; members represent each of the states on the basis of population, but with each state having at least three representatives; members serve a four- or six-year term) and the National Council or Nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: National Council - last held 24 November 2002 (next to be held in the fall of 2006) election results: National Council - percent of vote by party - OeVP 42.3%, SPOe 36.9%, FPOe 10.2%, Greens 9%; seats by party - OeVP 79, SPOe 69, FPOe 19, Greens 16 |
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (more than 100 seats, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets infrequently) and a unicameral Assembly or Majlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - NA; Assembly - last held 12 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - all 50 elected officials preapproved by President NIYAZOV; most are from the DPT |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78 years
male: 74.85 years female: 81.31 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
61 years male: 57.43 years female: 64.76 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
Map references | Europe | Commonwealth of Independent States |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 46,563 GRT/59,278 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 6, combination bulk 1, container 2 (2002 est.) |
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,459 GRT/8,865 DWT ships by type: container 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Land Forces (KdoLdSK), Air Forces (KdoLuSK) | Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $1,497.1 million (FY01/02) | $90 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.8% (FY01/02) | 3.4% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,092,623 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,173,500 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,728,191 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
952,218 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age (2002 est.) | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 50,580 (2002 est.) | males:
48,292 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | National Day, 26 October (1955); note - commemorates the State Treaty restoring national sovereignty and the end of occupation and the passage of the law on permanent neutrality | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Austrian(s)
adjective: Austrian |
noun:
Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmen |
Natural hazards | landslides; avalanches; earthquakes | NA |
Natural resources | iron ore, oil, timber, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower | petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt |
Net migration rate | 2.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -1.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 777 km; natural gas 840 km (1999) | crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km |
Political parties and leaders | Austrian People's Party or OeVP [Wolfgang SCHUESSEL]; Freedom Party of Austria or FPOe [Susanne RIESS-PASSER]; Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe [Alfred GUSENBAUER]; The Greens Alternative or GA [Alexander VAN DER BELLEN] | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Austrian Trade Union Federation (primarily Socialist) or OeGB; Federal Economic Chamber; OeVP-oriented League of Austrian Industrialists or VOeI; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action; three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party or OeVP representing business, labor, and farmers | NA |
Population | 8,169,929 (July 2002 est.) | 4,603,244 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 58% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.23% (2002 est.) | 1.85% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Enns, Krems, Linz, Vienna | Turkmenbashi |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 160 (plus several hundred repeaters), shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 6.08 million (1997) | 1.225 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 6,095.2 km (3,643.3 km electrified)
standard gauge: 5,564.2 km 1.435-m gauge (3,521.2 km electrified) narrow gauge: 33.9 km 1.000-m gauge (28.1 km electrified); 497.1 km 0.760-m gauge (94 km electrified) (2001 est.) |
total:
2,187 km broad gauge: 2,187 km 1.520-m gauge (1996 est.) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant 5%, Muslim and other 17% | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; compulsory for presidential elections | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: highly developed and efficient
domestic: there are 48 main lines for every 100 persons; the fiber optic net is very extensive; all telephone applications and Internet services are available international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Eutelsat; in addition, there are about 600 VSAT (very small aperture terminals) (2002) |
general assessment:
poorly developed domestic: NA international: linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 4 million (consisting of 3,600,000 analog main lines plus 400,000 Integrated Services Digital Network connections); in addition, there are 100,000 Asymmetric Digital Services lines (2001) | 363,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 6 million (2001) | 4,300 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 45 (plus more than 1,000 repeaters) (2001) | 3 (much programming relayed from Russia and Turkey) (1997) |
Terrain | in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west |
Total fertility rate | 1.4 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 3.58 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.8% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 358 km (1999) | the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for Turkmenistan |