Turkmenistan (2005) | Israel (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (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) |
6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 35.7% (male 909,113/female 860,128)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 1,462,198/female 1,516,836) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 78,119/female 125,687) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 26.7% (male 847,591; female 808,399)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,976,539; female 1,954,782) 65 years and over: 9.9% (male 262,781; female 348,916) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, grain; livestock | citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products |
Airports | 53 (2004 est.) | 51 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 23
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 30
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.) |
total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: negl. |
total: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
Background | Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. 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 were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. | Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo accords") guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. On 24 June 2002, US President BUSH laid out a "road map" for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions a two-state solution. However, progress toward a permanent status agreement has been undermined by Palestinian-Israeli violence ongoing since September 2000. The conflict may have reached a turning point with the election in January 2005 of Mahmud ABBAS as the new Palestinian leader following the November 2004 death of Yasir ARAFAT. |
Birth rate | 27.68 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 18.45 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $3.05 billion
expenditures: $3.05 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $44.98 billion
expenditures: $51.07 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
Capital | Ashgabat | Jerusalem; note - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv |
Climate | subtropical desert | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
Coastline | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) | 273 km |
Constitution | adopted 18 May 1992 | no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel local long form: Medinat Yisra'el local short form: Yisra'el |
Currency | - | new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standarization (ISO) code for the NIS |
Death rate | 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 6.19 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) | $70.97 billion (2003 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
embassy: 9 Pushkin (1984) Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-7070 telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel C. KURTZER
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63903 mailing address: PSC 98, Box 29, APO AE 09830 telephone: [972] (3) 519-7369/7453/7454/7457/7458/7551/7575 FAX: [972] (3) 516-4390 consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a foreign government |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel AYALON
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 364-5578 FAX: [1] (202) 364-5560 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; bilateral talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan has started but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights) |
Economic aid - recipient | $16 million from the US (2001) | $662 million from US (2003 est.) |
Economy - overview | Turkmenistan is 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 tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to a nearly 46% 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. In 1998-2004, 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 perhaps 30% in 2003 and 19% in 2004, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, the government's irrational use of oil and gas revenues, and its 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. | Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy grew at 1% in 2003, with improvements in tourism and foreign direct investment. In 2004, rising business and consumer confidence - as well as higher demand for Israeli exports - boosted GDP by 2.7%. |
Electricity - consumption | 8.908 billion kWh (2002) | 37.82 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 1.136 billion kWh (2004) | 1.457 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 11.41 billion kWh (2004 est.) | 42.24 billion kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | 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 |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m |
Environment - current issues | 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 | limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003) | Jewish 80.1% (Europe/America-born 32.1%, Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly Arab) (1996 est.) |
Exchange rates | Turkmen manats per US dollar - 10,100 (2004), 10,034 (2003), 10,098 (2002), 5,200 (2001)
note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 21,000 manats to the dollar |
new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999) |
Executive branch | 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: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 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 to be held in 2008 when NIYAZOV turns 70 and is constitutionally ineligible to run); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council 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% |
chief of state: President Moshe KATZAV (since 31 July 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ariel SHARON (since 7 March 2001) cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset elections: president is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term; election last held 31 July 2000 (next to be held mid-2007); following legislative elections, the president assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party - the task of forming a governing coalition; election last held 28 January 2003 (next schedulde to be held fall of 2006) election results: Moshe KATZAV elected president by the 120-member Knesset with a total of 60 votes, other candidate, Shimon PERES, received 57 votes (there were three abstentions); Ariel SHARON continues as prime minister after Likud Party victory in January 2003 Knesset elections; Likud won 38 seats and then formed coalition government with Shinui, the National Religious Party, and the National Union |
Exports | NA | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles | machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel |
Exports - partners | Ukraine 46.6%, Iran 17.3%, Turkey 4.2%, Italy 4.1% (2004) | US 38.4%, Belgium 7.4%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $120.9 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 28.5%
industry: 42.7% services: 28.8% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.7% services: 59.5% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $19,800 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | IMF estimate: 7.5%
note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are notoriously unreliable (2004 est.) |
1.3% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 60 00 E | 31 30 N, 34 45 E |
Geography - note | 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 | there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 25 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.); Sea of Galilee is an important freshwater source |
Heliports | 1 (2004 est.) | 3 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.) |
total: 16,281 km
paved: 16,281 km (including 56 km of expressways) unpaved: NA (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (1997) |
Illicit drugs | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan | increasingly concerned about cocaine and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan; money-laundering center |
Imports | NA | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs | raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods |
Imports - partners | US 11.8%, Russia 9.7%, UAE 9.2%, Ukraine 9%, Turkey 8.6%, Germany 8%, France 5%, Georgia 4.6%, Iran 4.5% (2004) | US 15.6%, Belgium 9.3%, Germany 8%, UK 6.7%, Switzerland 6.1%, Italy 4.1% (2003) |
Independence | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) | 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | official government estimate: 22% (2003 est.) | -0.6% (2003 est.) |
Industries | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing | high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting |
Infant mortality rate | total: 73.08 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 69.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 7.21 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.96 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 9% (2004 est.) | 0.7% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO | BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 17,500 sq km (2003 est.) | 1,990 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Supreme Court (justices appointed for life by the president) |
Labor force | 2.32 million (2003 est.) | 2.61 million (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 48.2%, industry 13.8%, services 37% (2003 est.) | agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6%, manufacturing 20.2%, construction 7.5%, commerce 12.8%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, finance and business 13.1%, personal and other services 6.4%, public services 31.2% (1996) |
Land boundaries | total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
total: 1,017 km
border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km |
Land use | arable land: 3.72%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 96.14% (2001) |
arable land: 16.39%
permanent crops: 4.17% other: 79.44% (2001) |
Languages | Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
Legal system | based on civil law system | mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom are elected by popular vote and some of whom are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003; Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009) 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 President NIYAZOV note: in late 2003, a new 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 |
unicameral Knesset or parliament (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 January 2003 (next scheduled to be held fall of 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Likud Party 29.4%, Labor 14.5%, Shinui 12.3%, Shas 8.2%, National Union 5.5%, Meretz 5.2%, United Torah Judaism 4.3%, National Religious Party 4.2%, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3.0%, One Nation 2.8%, National Democratic Assembly 2.3%, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya (YBA) 2.2%, United Arab List 2.1%, Green Leaf Party 1.2%, Herut 1.2%, other 1.6%; seats by party - Likud 38, Labor 19, Shinui 15, Shas 11, National Union 7, Meretz 6, National Religious Party 6, United Torah Judaism 5, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality 3, One Nation 3, National Democratic Assembly 3, YBA 2, United Arab List 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 61.39 years
male: 58.02 years female: 64.93 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 79.17 years
male: 77.08 years female: 81.37 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.4% male: 97.3% female: 93.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
Map references | Asia | Middle East |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | total: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
by type: cargo 3, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2005) |
total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 752,873 GRT/881,711 DWT
by type: container 18 registered in other countries: 40 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (2004) | Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Corps (including Pioneer Fighting Youth (Nahal)), Navy, Air Force(including Air Defense Forces); note - historically there have been no separate Israeli military services |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $90 million (FY99) | $9.11 billion (FY03) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.4% (FY99) | 8.7% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,581,883
females age 15-49: 1,532,234 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 1,294,742
females age 15-49: 1,250,969 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 51,054
females: 53,515 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) | Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May |
Nationality | noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen |
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli |
Natural hazards | NA | sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt | timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand |
Net migration rate | -0.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 6,549 km; oil 1,395 km (2004) | gas 140 km; oil 1,509 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
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 Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar 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; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow; the Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition-in-exile groups, is based in Europe |
Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) [Muhammad BARAKA]; Green Leaf Party (no longer active) [Boaz WACHTEL and Shlomi SANDAK]; Herut (no longer active) [Michael KLEINER]; Labor Party [Shimon PERES]; Likud Party [Ariel SHARON]; Meretz (merged with YAHAD) [Zahava GALON]; National Democratic Assembly (Balad) [Azmi BISHARA]; National Religious Party [Ephraim "Efie" EITAM]; National Union (Haichud Haleumi) [Avigdor LIBERMAN] (includes Tekuma Moledet and Yisra'el Beiteinu); One Nation [David TAL]; Shas [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Shinui [Yosef "Tommy" LAPID]; United Arab List [Abd al-Malik DAHAMSHAH]; United Torah Judaism [Yaakov LITZMAN]; YAHAD [Yossi BEILIN]; Yisra'el Ba'Aliya or YBA (merged with Likud) [Natan SHARANSKY] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yesha (settler) Council promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise; B'Tselem monitors human rights abuses |
Population | 4,952,081 (July 2005 est.) | 6,199,008
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more than 5,000 in the Gaza Strip, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 58% (2003 est.) | 18% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.81% (2005 est.) | 1.29% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Turkmenbasy | Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa, Tel Aviv-Yafo |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2004) |
total: 640 km
standard gauge: 640 km 1.435-m gauge (2003) |
Religions | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% | Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: NA 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 |
general assessment: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest
domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital international: country code - 972; 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 374,000 (2002) | 3.006 million (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 52,000 (2004) | 6.334 million (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (government owned and programmed) (2004) | 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley |
Total fertility rate | 3.41 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 2.47 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2004 est.) | 10.7% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003) | - |