Turkmenistan: Geography#
| Location | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 40 00 N, 60 00 E 40.0,60.0 |
| Area | total: 488,100 sq km land: 469,930 sq km water: 18,170 sq km We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows: Factbook: 488100 DBpedia: 488099 Geoname: 488100 Infoplease: 488100 Britannica: 491210 Wolfram: 488100 Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| Land boundaries | total: 3,736 km border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
| Coastline | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
| 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 |
| Highest Mountains | As there is no entry in Wolfram we are listing mountain list of Geonames only: According to Geonames: Gora Ziyerati Chnagurak 1059 m Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| 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 |
| Natural Hazards | NA |
| Natural Resource | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt |
| Land Use | arable land: 3.89% permanent crops: 0.12% other: 95.98% (2011) |
| Climate | subtropical desert |
| Irrigated Land | 19,910 sq km (2006) |
| Renewable Water Resources | 24.77 cu km (2011) |
| Environment_CurrentIssues | 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Large Cities | Ashgabat; Turkmenabat; Dasoguz; Mari; Balkanabat [Verified] Important Cities |
| 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 |