Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Uzbekistan

Map references: Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 488,100 sq km
land area: 488,100 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total 3,736 km, 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)

Maritime claims: landlocked, but boundaries in the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Iran are under negotiations

International disputes: Russia may dispute current de facto maritime border to midpoint of Caspian Sea from shore

Climate: subtropical desert

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 resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 69%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 28%

Irrigated land: 12,450 sq km (1990)

Environment:
current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salinization, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya river into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Ozone Layer Protection

Note: landlocked

NOTE: The information regarding Turkmenistan on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Turkmenistan Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Turkmenistan Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.