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Compare Western Sahara (2004) - Turkmenistan (2007)

Compare Western Sahara (2004) z Turkmenistan (2007)

 Western Sahara (2004)Turkmenistan (2007)
 Western SaharaTurkmenistan
Administrative divisions none (under de facto control of Morocco) 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 fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) cotton, grain; livestock
Airports 11 (2003 est.) 28 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways total: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 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: 8


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.)
total: 6


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


under 914 m: 4 (2007)
Area total: 266,000 sq km


land: 266,000 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 488,100 sq km


land: 488,100 sq km


water: NEGL
Area - comparative about the size of Colorado slightly larger than California
Background Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. 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 NA births/1,000 population 25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: NA


expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA
revenues: $1.434 billion


expenditures: $1.386 billion (2006 est.)
Capital none 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 hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew subtropical desert
Coastline 1,110 km 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Constitution - adopted 18 May 1992
Country name conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Western Sahara


former: Spanish Sahara
conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Turkmenistan


local long form: none


local short form: Turkmenistan


former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency Moroccan dirham (MAD) -
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.)
Diplomatic representation from the US none 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 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 Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991 but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals 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 NA $28.25 million from the US (2005)
Economy - overview Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. 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 83.7 million kWh (2001) 7.602 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2001) 2.918 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 90 million kWh (2001) 12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m


highest point: unnamed location 463 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 sparse water and lack of arable land 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: none of the selected agreements


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 Arab, Berber Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
Exchange rates Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 9.574 (2003), 11.584 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999) 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 none 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 NA (2001) 117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities phosphates 62% gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles
Exports - partners Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006)
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year
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
GDP purchasing power parity - NA -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: NA


industry: NA


services: 40% (1996 est.)
agriculture: 17.7%


industry: 39.2%


services: 43.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - NA -
GDP - real growth rate NA IMF estimate: 6%


note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates 24 30 N, 13 00 W 40 00 N, 60 00 E
Geography - note the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas 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: 6,200 km


paved: 1,350 km


unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est)
-
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 NA (2001) NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2000) 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 - 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate NA 22% (2003 est.)
Industries phosphate mining, handicrafts natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Infant mortality rate total: NA


male: NA


female: NA
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) NA 11.5% (2006 est.)
International organization participation none 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
Irrigated land NA sq km 18,000 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch - Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force 12,000 2.32 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% agriculture: 48.2%


industry: 13.8%


services: 37% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries total: 2,046 km


border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
total: 3,736 km


border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use arable land: 0.02%


permanent crops: 0%


other: 99.98% (2001)
arable land: 4.51%


permanent crops: 0.14%


other: 95.35% (2005)
Languages Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Legal system - based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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
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: NA


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 Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references Africa Asia
Maritime claims contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue none (landlocked)
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 branches - Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007)
Military expenditures - dollar figure NA -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA 3.4% (2005 est.)
National holiday - Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)


adjective: Sahrawi,Sahrawian, Sahraouian
noun: Turkmen(s)


adjective: Turkmenistani
Natural hazards hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility NA
Natural resources phosphates, iron ore petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate - -3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines - gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006)
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 NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based in Moscow
Political pressure groups and leaders none NA
Population 267,405 (July 2004 est.) 5,097,028 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line NA 27% (2002)
Population growth rate NA 1.617% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) -
Radio broadcast stations AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways - total: 2,440 km


broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006)
Religions Muslim 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 none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: sparse and limited system


domestic: NA


international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco
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 about 2,000 (1999 est.) 495,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular 0 (1999) 105,000 (2005)
Television broadcast stations NA 4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004)
Terrain mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast 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 - 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006)
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