Niue (2002) | Turkmenistan (2008) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | none; note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 14 villages at the second order | 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) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA%
15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
0-14 years: 34.7% (male 900,718/female 866,930)
15-64 years: 60.9% (male 1,537,638/female 1,567,049) 65 years and over: 4.4% (male 97,454/female 127,239) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes, taro, yams, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes; pigs, poultry, beef cattle | cotton, grain; livestock |
Airports | 1 (2001) | 28 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 22
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2007) |
Area | total: 260 sq km
land: 260 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL |
Area - comparative | 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than California |
Background | Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered. The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966 to about 2,100 in 2002) with substantial emigration to New Zealand, 2,400 km to the southwest. | Eastern Turkmenistan for centuries formed part of the Persian province of Khurasan; in medieval times Merv (today known as Mary) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. President for Life Saparmurat NYYAZOW died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NYYAZOW aide, emerged as the country's new president. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $1.641 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Alofi | name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; modified by southeast trade winds | subtropical desert |
Coastline | 64 km | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
Constitution | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act) | adopted 18 May 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Niue former: Savage Island |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | New Zealand dollar (NZD) | - |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) |
Dependency status | self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1974; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs and defense; however, these responsibilities confer no rights of control and are only exercised at the request of the Government of Niue | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard E. HOAGLAND
embassy: No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070 telephone: [993] (12) 35-00-45 FAX: [993] (12) 39-26-14 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) | chief of mission: Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW
chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
Disputes - international | none | cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005, but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled with Azerbaijan, Iran, and Kazakhstan due to Turkmenistan's indecision over how to allocate the sea's waters and seabed |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.6 million from New Zealand (2002) | $28.25 million from the US (2005) |
Economy - overview | The economy suffers from the typical Pacific island problems of geographic isolation, few resources, and a small population. Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. The island in recent years has suffered a serious loss of population because of migration of Niueans to New Zealand. Efforts to increase GDP include the promotion of tourism and a financial services industry, although Premier LAKATANI announced in February 2002 that Niue will shut down the offshore banking industry. Economic aid from New Zealand in 2002 will be about $2.6 million. | Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's 10th-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports. 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. From 1998-2005, 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 by an average of roughtly 15% per year from 2003-07, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, a poor educational system, government misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. President BERDIMUHAMEDOW's election platform included plans to build a gas line to China, to complete the Amu Darya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NYYAZOW government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.79 million kWh (2000) | 7.602 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 2.918 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 3 million kWh (2000) | 12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location near Mutalau settlement 68 m |
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 |
Environment - current issues | increasing attention to conservationist practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash and burn agriculture | 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
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 | Polynesian (with some 200 Europeans, Samoans, and Tongans) | Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003) |
Exchange rates | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.3535 (January 2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8629 (1998), 1.5082 (1997) | Turkmen manat per US$ - 11,250 (2007), 11,100 (2006) official rate
note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since NA May 2000)
head of government: Premier Young VIVIAN (since 1 May 2002) cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 1 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2005) election results: Young VIVIAN elected premier; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - Young VIVIAN (NPP) 70%, Hunukitama HUNUKI (AI)30% |
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; election last held on 11 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2% |
Exports | $137,200 (1999) | 117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | canned coconut cream, copra, honey, vanilla, passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts | gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles |
Exports - partners | NZ mainly, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia | Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large one on a blue disk in the center and a smaller one on each arm of the bold red cross | 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 similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon representing Islam with five white stars representing the regions or velayats of Turkmenistan appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $7.6 million (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 55% |
agriculture: 16.7%
industry: 39.2% services: 44.2% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -0.3% (2000 est.) | IMF estimate: 7%
note: official government statistics are widely regarded as unreliable (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 02 S, 169 52 W | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
Geography - note | one of world's largest coral islands | 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 |
Heliports | - | 1 (2007) |
Highways | total: 234 km
paved: 86 km unpaved: 148 km (106 km of which is access and plantation road) (2001) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan |
Imports | $2.38 million (1999) | 2,536 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs | machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | NZ mainly, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Australia, US | UAE 15.5%, Turkey 11.1%, Ukraine 9.1%, Russia 9%, Germany 7.8%, Iran 7.6%, China 6.4%, US 4.5% (2006) |
Independence | on 19 October 1974, Niue became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 7% (2007 est.) |
Industries | tourism, handicrafts, food processing | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | NA deaths/1,000 live births | total: 53.49 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 57.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (1995) (1995) | 11.3% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, ESCAP (associate), FAO, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, WHO, WMO | ABEDA, ADB, CIS, 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, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 18,000 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | NA | 2.32 million (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | most work on family plantations; paid work exists only in government service, small industry, and the Niue Development Board | agriculture: 48.2%
industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
Land use | arable land: 19.23%
permanent crops: 7.69% other: 73.08% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 4.51%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 95.35% (2005) |
Languages | Niuean, a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan; English | Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
Legal system | English common law
note: Niue is self-governing, with the power to make its own laws |
based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common roll and 14 are village representatives)
elections: last held 21 March 2002 (next to be held in March 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 9, independents 11; note - all 20 seats were reelected |
two parliamentary bodies, a People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some elected by popular vote and some appointed; meets at least yearly) and a National Assembly or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held in December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008) election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by the president note: in late 2003, a law was adopted reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 68.3 years
male: 65.23 years female: 71.54 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: 95% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.) |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
Map references | Oceania | Asia |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801 DWT
by type: cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand | - |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; Police Force | Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 3.4% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Niuean(s)
adjective: Niuean |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmenistani |
Natural hazards | typhoons | NA |
Natural resources | fish, arable land | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt |
Net migration rate | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population | -3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Niue People's Action Party or NPP [Young VIVIAN]; Alliance of Independents or AI [leader NA] | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT); NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NYYAZOW |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 2,134 (July 2002 est.) | 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 27% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 0.5% (2002 est.) | 1.617% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; offshore anchorage only | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 1,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Ekalesia Niue (Niuean Church - a Protestant church closely related to the London Missionary Society) 75%, Latter-Day Saints 10%, other 15% (mostly Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist) | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.981 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.766 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | domestic: single-line telephone system connects all villages on island
international: NA |
general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: Turkmenistan's telecommunications network remains woefully underdeveloped; Turkmentelekom, in cooperation with foreign investors, is planning to upgrade the country's telephone exchanges and install a new digital switching system international: country code - 993; 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 (2006) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 376 (1991) | 495,000 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1991) | 105,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004) |
Terrain | steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau | 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 | NA children born/woman | 3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 60% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006) |