Papua New Guinea (2001) | Turkmenistan (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 20 provinces; Bougainville, Central, Chimbu, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, East Sepik, Enga, Gulf, Madang, Manus, Milne Bay, Morobe, National Capital, New Ireland, Northern, Sandaun, Southern Highlands, Western, Western Highlands, West New Britain | 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:
38.7% (male 993,248; female 960,647) 15-64 years: 57.63% (male 1,507,064; female 1,402,666) 65 years and over: 3.67% (male 87,779; female 97,651) (2001 est.) |
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 | coffee, cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, tea, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables; poultry, pork | cotton, grain; livestock |
Airports | 492 (2000 est.) | 28 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
20 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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:
472 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 57 under 914 m: 402 (2000 est.) |
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2007) |
Area | total:
462,840 sq km land: 452,860 sq km water: 9,980 sq km |
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | slightly larger than California |
Background | The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997, after claiming some 20,000 lives. | 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 NIYAZOV died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NIYAZOV aide, emerged as the country's new president. |
Birth rate | 32.15 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$1.6 billion expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.) |
revenues: $1.434 billion
expenditures: $1.386 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Port Moresby | 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; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation | subtropical desert |
Coastline | 5,152 km | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
Constitution | 16 September 1975 | adopted 18 May 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Independent State of Papua New Guinea conventional short form: Papua New Guinea former: Territory of Papua and New Guinea abbreviation: PNG |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | kina (PGK) | - |
Death rate | 7.88 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.9 billion (2000 est.) | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Arma Jane KARAER embassy: Douglas Street, Port Moresby mailing address: P. O. Box 1492, Port Moresby telephone: [675] 321-1455 FAX: [675] 321-3423 |
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Susan JACOBS chancery: 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 745-3680 FAX: [1] (202) 745-3679 |
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 | $400 million (1999 est.) | $28.25 million from the US (2005) |
Economy - overview | Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by the rugged terrain and the high cost of developing infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the population. Mineral deposits, including oil, copper, and gold, account for 72% of export earnings. The 3.4% average annual growth rate of GDP during 1979-1998 conceals considerable year-to-year variation resulting from external economic shocks, natural disasters, and economic management problems. There has been little growth in the last half of the 1990s, with real GDP in 1999 barely 3% higher than in 1994, not enough to compensate for population growth. A new administration under the leadership of Prime Minister Mekere MORAUTA in July 1999 has promised to restore integrity to state institutions, to stabilize the kina, to restore stability to the national budget, to privatize public enterprises where appropriate, and to ensure ongoing peace on Bougainville. The government has had considerable success in attracting international support, specifically gaining the support of the IMF and the World Bank in securing development assistance loans. Significant challenges remain for MORAUTA, however, including gaining further investor confidence, specifically for the proposed Papua New Guinea-Australia oil pipeline, continuing efforts to privatize government assets, and in maintaining the support from members of Parliament who after 15 July 2001 can dismiss him with a vote of no-confidence. | 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 15% per year from 2003-06, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. In 2006, Ashgabat raised its natural gas export prices to its main customer, Russia, from $66 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm. 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 AmuDarya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NIYAZOV government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.693 billion kWh (1999) | 7.602 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 2.918 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 1.82 billion kWh (1999) | 12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
54.95% hydro: 45.05% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Wilhelm 4,509 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 | rain forest subject to deforestation as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; pollution from mining projects; severe drought | 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:
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: 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 | Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian | Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003) |
Exchange rates | kina per US dollar - 2.81 (October 2000), 2.696 (2000), 2.539 (1999), 2.058 (1998), 1.434 (1997), 1.318 (1996) | Turkmen manat per US$ - 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), represented by Governor General Silas ATOPARE (since 13 November 1997) head of government: Prime Minister Mekere MORAUTA (since NA August 1999); Deputy Prime Minister Michael OGIO (since 3 November 2000) cabinet: National Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the National Executive Council; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general for up to five years on the basis of majority support in National Parliament |
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 | $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns | gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles |
Exports - partners | Australia 30%, Japan 12%, Germany 7%, South Korea 4%, Philippines 3%, UK 3% (1999) | Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | divided diagonally from upper hoist-side corner; the upper triangle is red with a soaring yellow bird of paradise centered; the lower triangle is black with five, white, five-pointed stars of the Southern Cross constellation centered | 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 - $12.2 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
30% industry: 35% services: 35% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 17.7%
industry: 39.2% services: 43.2% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.9% (2000 est.) | IMF estimate: 6%
note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 147 00 E | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
Geography - note | shares island of New Guinea with Indonesia; one of world's largest swamps along southwest coast | 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 | 2 (2000 est.) | 1 (2007) |
Highways | total:
19,600 km paved: 686 km unpaved: 18,914 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.7% highest 10%: 40.5% (1996) |
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 | $1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals | machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Australia 53%, Singapore 13%, Japan 6%, US 4%, New Zealand 4%, Malaysia 4% (1999) | 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 | 16 September 1975 (from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship) | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 22% (2003 est.) |
Industries | copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production; construction, tourism | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | 58.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 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) | 17% (2000 est.) | 11.5% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (observer), C, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, 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) | 3 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 18,000 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the proposal of the National Executive Council after consultation with the minister responsible for justice; other judges are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission) | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 1.941 million | 2.32 million (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 85%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture: 48.2%
industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
820 km border countries: Indonesia 820 km |
total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
Land use | arable land:
0.1% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 92.9% other: 6% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 4.51%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 95.35% (2005) |
Languages | English spoken by 1%-2%, pidgin English widespread, Motu spoken in Papua region
note: 715 indigenous languages |
Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Parliament - sometimes referred to as the House of Assembly (109 seats, 89 elected from open electorates and 20 from provincial electorates; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14-28 June 1997 (next to be held NA June 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - PPP 15%, Pangu Pati 14%, NA 14%, PDM 8%, PNC 6%, PAP 5%, UP 3%, NP 1%, PUP 1%, independents 33%; seats by party - PPP 16, Pangu Pati 15, NA 15, PDM 9, PNC 7, PAP 5, UP 3, NP 1, PUP 1, independents 37; note - association with political parties is very fluid |
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:
63.46 years male: 61.39 years female: 65.64 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 68.3 years
male: 65.23 years female: 71.54 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 72.2% male: 81% female: 62.7% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
Map references | Oceania | Asia |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total:
20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 35,361 GRT/51,096 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 9, chemical tanker 1, combination ore/oil 3, container 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2 (2000 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 branches | Papua New Guinea Defense Force (includes Ground, Naval, and Air Forces, and Special Forces Unit) | Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $42 million (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY98) | 3.4% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,306,159 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
723,012 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1975) | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) |
Nationality | noun:
Papua New Guinean(s) adjective: Papua New Guinean |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmenistani |
Natural hazards | active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Rim of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis | NA |
Natural resources | gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | National Alliance or NA [Michael SOMARE]; National Party or NP [Michael MEL]; Papua New Guinea United Party or Pangu Pati [Chris HAIVETA]; People's Action Party or PAP [Ted DIRO]; People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Sir Mekere MORAUTA]; People's National Congress or PNC [Simon KAUMI]; People's Progress Party or PPP [Michael NALI]; People's Unity Party or PUP [Alfred KAIABE]; United Party or UP [Rimbiuk PATO] | 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 NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based in Moscow |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 5,049,055 (July 2001 est.) | 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% | 27% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 2.43% (2001 est.) | 1.617% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kieta, Lae, Madang, Port Moresby, Rabaul | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 28 (1998) | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 410,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 22%, Lutheran 16%, Presbyterian/Methodist/London Missionary Society 8%, Anglican 5%, Evangelical Alliance 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1%, other Protestant 10%, indigenous beliefs 34% | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
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 | general assessment:
services are adequate and being improved; facilities provide radiotelephone and telegraph, coastal radio, aeronautical radio, and international radio communication services domestic: mostly radiotelephone international: submarine cables to Australia and Guam; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); international radio communication service |
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 | 47,000 (1996) | 495,000 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3,053 (1996) | 105,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (1997) | 4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004) |
Terrain | mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills | 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 | 4.3 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 60% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 10,940 km | 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006) |