Turkmenistan (2008) | Tokelau (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 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) |
none (territory of New Zealand) |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, grain; livestock | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats |
Airports | 28 (2007) | none; lagoon landings are possible by amphibious aircraft (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
Background | 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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $1.641 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (1987 est.) |
Capital | name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad)
geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
none; each atoll has its own administrative center |
Climate | subtropical desert | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) | 101 km |
Constitution | adopted 18 May 1992 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
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: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Death rate | 6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) | $0 |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
none (territory of New Zealand) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $28.25 million from the US (2005) | from New Zealand about $4 million annually |
Economy - overview | 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. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 7.602 billion kWh (2005) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 2.918 billion kWh (2005) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | - |
Electricity - production | 12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.) | NA kWh |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)
highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification | very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003) | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | Turkmen manat per US$ - 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 |
New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003), 2.1622 (2002), 2.3788 (2001), 2.2012 (2000) |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General of New Zealand Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4 April 2001); New Zealand is represented by Administrator Neil WALTER (since 1 March 2003)
head of government: Pio TUIA (since February 2005); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors) functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | 117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.) | $98,000 f.o.b. (1983) |
Exports - commodities | gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006) | New Zealand (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 16.7%
industry: 39.2% services: 44.2% (2007 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (1993 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | IMF estimate: 7%
note: official government statistics are widely regarded as unreliable (2007 est.) |
NA |
Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 60 00 E | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
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 | consists of three atolls, each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over three meters above sea level |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: NA
paved: NA unpaved: NA |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan | - |
Imports | 2,536 bbl/day (2004) | $323,000 c.i.f. (1983) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | UAE 15.5%, Turkey 11.1%, Ukraine 9.1%, Russia 9%, Germany 7.8%, Iran 7.6%, China 6.4%, US 4.5% (2006) | New Zealand (2000) |
Independence | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (2007 est.) | NA% |
Industries | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | 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.) |
total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 11.3% (2007 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | 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 | UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Irrigated land | 18,000 sq km (2003) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 2.32 million (2003 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 48.2%
industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.) |
- |
Land boundaries | total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 4.51%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 95.35% (2005) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
Languages | Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | New Zealand and local statutes |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral General Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has 6 seats, Fakaofo has 7 seats, Atafu has 8 seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held January 2002 (next to be held January 2005) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 68.3 years
male: 65.23 years female: 71.54 years (2007 est.) |
total population: NA
male: -9 years female: -9 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.) |
NA |
Location | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Asia | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | 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 | Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.4% (2005 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmenistani |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | NA | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt | NEGL |
Net migration rate | -3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA |
Pipelines | gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2007) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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 |
none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.) | 1,405 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 27% (2002) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.617% (2007 est.) | -0.01% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: 1 radio station provides service to all islands (2002) |
Railways | total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006) |
- |
Religions | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
NA |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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) |
general assessment: modern satellite-based communications system;
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations, established in 1997 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 495,000 (2006) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 105,000 (2005) | 0 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004) | - |
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 | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006) | - |