Turkmenistan

The land of the Karakum Desert and the 'Gates of Hell'

Turkmenistan is our western neighbour, and 80% of it is the Karakum Desert! In the middle of the desert is Darvaza — a gas crater that has burned for 50 years, nicknamed the 'Gates of Hell'. Turkmens bred the most beautiful horses in the world — Akhal-Teke horses that shine like gold. The capital, Ashgabat, is built of white marble — the most marble buildings in the world. Turkmen carpets are famous; the flag even has a carpet pattern.

Capital: Ashgabat. Language: Turkmen, Russian.

Turkmenistan covers 491,210 km² with 6.5 million people; the Karakum (350,000 km²), the Caspian coast, the Kopet Dag mountains. The Karakum Canal (1,375 km, the world's longest irrigation canal) draws water from the Amu Darya. The Darvaza crater (1971 — Soviet geologists set the gas alight). History: Parthia (Nisa, UNESCO), Merv (the largest Silk Road city in the 12th century, destroyed by the Mongols in 1221), Konye-Urgench (capital of Khorezm), Turkmen tribes, Russia (1881, Geok Tepe), independence in 1991, and since 1995 UN-recognised permanent neutrality. 4th largest gas reserves in the world (Galkynysh). The Akhal-Teke horse is a state symbol. Ashgabat holds a Guinness record for white-marble buildings (543). The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake killed 110,000. The border with Uzbekistan is 1,800 km (Khorezm, Bukhara).

Fun facts

• The Darvaza gas crater has burned nonstop since 1971.
• Ashgabat has 543 white-marble buildings — a Guinness record.
• The Karakum Canal, 1,375 km, is the world's longest irrigation canal.