Azerbaijan currently has diplomatic relations with 160 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Libya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of India, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

No seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea has been agreed upon and the usage of Caspian Sea water is a matter that remains unsettled by international agreement.

* Turkmenistan has an embassy in Astana.

As in the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan has the right to 25 % of the water that originates in its territory, but the new agreement allows Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan unlimited use of the water that flows into them from Kyrgyzstan, with no compensation for the nation at the source.

Independence came in 1991, as Saparmurat Niyazov, a former local communist party boss, declared himself absolute ruler for life as Turkmenbashi or Leader of the Turkmen and transitioned the newly independent Turkmenistan into an authoritarian state under his absolute control and has thus far resisted the democratization that has influenced many of the other former Soviet Republics.

The territory of Turkmenistan has been populated since ancient times, especially the areas near oasis of Merv, where traces of human settlements have been found.

Turkmenistan has a cold desert climate that is severely continental.

Like other CIS republics, Turkmenistan has established an Environmental Fund based on revenues collected from environmental fines, but the fines generally are too low to accumulate significant revenue.

According to estimates, as a result of desertification processes and pollution, biological productivity of the ecological systems in Turkmenistan has declined by 30 % to 50 % in recent decades.

The type of desertification caused by year-round pasturing of cattle has been termed the most devastating in Central Asia, with the gravest situations in Turkmenistan and the Kazakh steppe along the eastern and northern coasts of the Caspian Sea.

Turkmenistan has announced plans to clean up some of the Aral Sea fallout with financial support from the World Bank.

Turkmenistan has a single-party system, but has, according to the government, begun a transition towards a multi-party system.

His book, Ruhnama ( or Rukhnama ), which is revered in Turkmenistan almost like a holy text, has been translated into 32 languages and distributed for free among major international libraries.

In the post-Soviet era, Turkmenistan ’ s industrial sector has been dominated increasingly by the fuel and cotton processing industries to the detriment of light industry.

Turkmenistan has a state-controlled press and monitored communication systems.

The Tejen – Serakhs – Mashhad railroad, built in 1996 by Turkmenistan and Iran, has become a vital link of Central Asian, Russian, and European railroad systems with South Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Turkmenistan has one of the lowest gas prices in the world, at $ 0. 72 per gallon ($ 0. 19 per liter ).

Although the Government of Turkmenistan claims to favour trade with and export to the United States and Turkey, it has significant commercial relationships with Russia and Iran and a growing cross-border trade with Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan has no common land or Caspian Sea border with Russia.

Turkmenistan is a partner country of the EU INOGATE energy programme, which has four key topics: enhancing energy security,

By area Turkmenistan ranks fourth among the former Soviet republics, after Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Regarding the countries of origin, China was first in terms of volume, Turkmenistan ranked second, Uzbekistan came third, Turkey fourth and UAE fifth.

Among the destinations, Afghanistan was first, Iraq second, Azerbaijan third, UAE fourth and Turkmenistan ranked fifth.

Official estimates indicate that Turkmenistan is still the second largest gas producer in the CIS, after Russia, and a 2004 official estimate places reserves at about 23 trillion m³.

the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, in addition to Turkey and Iran.

The world's largest steppe region, often referred to as " the Great Steppe ", is found in southwestern Russia and neighbouring countries in Central Asia, stretching from Ukraine in the west through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the Altai, Koppet Dag and Tian Shan ranges.

Ashgabat (,,, also Ashkhabad in transliteration from Russian, formerly Poltoratsk between 1919 – 1927 ) is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia.

* The name of several cities in Turkmenistan renamed by Niyazov, the largest of which is Türkmenbaşy, Balkan Province, formerly known by the Russian name Krasnovodsk.

Off its Caspian shores the Balkan Province includes the island of Ogurja Ada, the most important island in Turkmenistan and one of the largest in the Caspian Sea.

Western Turkmenistan has major petroleum and natural gas reserves, and Turkmenistan's largest oil refinery is in Türkmenbaşy.

It is found primarily in the Caspian Sea, the world ’ s largest salt-water lake, which is bordered by Iran and the CIS countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.

Three of the largest cities in the Turan Depression are: Daşoguz in Turkmenistan, Nukus in Uzbekistan, and Urganch, also in Uzbekistan.

The Qaraqum Canal ( Karakum Canal, Kara Kum Canal, Garagum Canal ;, Karakumsky Kanal, Turkmen: Garagum kanally ) in Turkmenistan is one of the largest irrigation and water supply canals in the world.

Turkmenistan is largely desert country with nomadic cattle raising, intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge gas and oil resources.

Until the end of 1993, Turkmenistan had experienced less economic disruption than other former Soviet states because its economy received a boost from higher prices for oil and gas and a sharp increase in hard currency earnings.

During the Soviet era gas was exported mainly to other Soviet republics, as Turkmenistan steadily increased delivery from about 9. 2 million m³ in 1940 to about 234 million m³ in 1960 and about 51 billion m³ in 1975.

This changed in 1991, when Turkmenistan gained independence and established full control over gas export and export revenues.

In the mid-1990s Turkmenistan stopped delivering gas to some CIS members, citing failure to pay and unprofitable barter deals.

Turkmenistan is rich in natural gas, and currently sells most of its gas to Russia and Ukraine.

The $ 139 million Korpeje-Kurt Kui gas pipeline in western Turkmenistan and the $ 167 million Dousti ( Friendship in Persian ) Dam in the south of the country were built through a joint venture.

Recently, Russian-Turkmenistan relations have revolved around Russia's efforts to secure natural gas export deals from Turkmenistan.

" While at RAND, Khalilzad also had a brief stint consulting for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, which at the time was conducting a risk analysis for Unocal, now part of Chevron, for a proposed 1, 400 km ( 890 mile ), $ 2-billion, 622 m³ / s ( 22, 000 ft³ / s ) Trans-Afghanistan gas pipeline project which would have extended from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and further proceeding to Pakistan.

The Taliban and Unocal were in negotiations in Texas to discuss arrangements for the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan in 1997 and a deal was struck but later failed.

The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline ( also known as Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India Pipeline, TAP or TAPI ) is a proposed natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank.

The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.

On 24 April 2008, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan signed a framework agreement to buy natural gas from Turkmenistan.

Finally, in 16 May 2012, Meshrano Jirga, or upper house of parliament of Afghanistan, approved the agreement on a gas pipeline and the day after, the Indian Cabinet allowed state-run gas-firm GAIL to sign the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement ( GSPA ) with TürkmenGaz, Turkmenistan ’ s national oil company.

The pipeline will run from the Turkmenistan gas fields to Afghanistan.

Category: Natural gas pipelines in Turkmenistan

" Derweze #" Door to Hell " gas deposit | The Door to Hell " gas deposit, nearby Derweze, Turkmenistan.

* The Door to Hell, near Derweze, Turkmenistan, is a large hole leaking natural gas that has been burning since 1971.

* Darvaza ( also known as " Gates of Hell "), a location in Turkmenistan with a burning natural gas deposit