Ashgabat

From New World Encyclopedia
Ashgabad
Aşgabad
Ashgabad (Turkmenistan )
Ashgabad
Ashgabad
Coordinates: 37°58′N 58°20′E
Country Flag of Turkmenistan.svg Turkmenistan
Province Ahal Province
founded 1818
Population (2001)
 - Total 695,300

Ashgabat (Aşgabat in Turkmen) is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia, and is situated between the Kara Kum desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) from the Iranian frontier. It is 250km from the second largest city in Iran, Mashhad.

Geography

The name "Ashgabat" is believed to derive either from the Persian Ashk-ābād meaning "the City of Arsaces", or a loose translation of the Persian عشق (eshq meaning "love") and آباد (ābād meaning "cultivated place" or "city"), "the city of love". Before 1991, the city was usually spelled "Ashkhabad" in English, a transliteration of the Russian form.

The Kopet-Dag mountain range is about 25km to the south, and Ashgabat's northern boundary touches the Kara-Kum desert. Because of this location, Ashgabat has an arid climate with hot and dry summers and mild and short winters. Summer temperatures can easily reach 104°F (40°C) for long periods of time. June through August are hot, with night temperatures normally not falling lower than 86°F (30°C). Winter normally starts in December; snow is rare and there can be a lot of rain. Normally, winter temperatures are 50-60°F (10-15°C), and rarely can go as low as -10°C (14°F) in January. The lowest temperature was recorded in January 1969, -18°F (-28°C).

The desert city suffered a chronic water shortage until the Karakum Canal, the largest irrigation and water supply canal in the world, from the Amu-Darya River across the Karakum Desert, reached the city in 1962.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake caused extreme damage in Ashgabat and nearby villages, on October 5, 1948. Up to 110,000 died in the event in which almost all brick buildings collapsed, concrete structures were heavily damaged and freight trains were derailed.

Since independence, Ashgabat has undergone significant building development, and has a number of magnificent government buildings, mosques, and museums, as well as new housing construction.

History

First Bahá'í House of Worship.

Ashgabat is a relatively young city, growing out of a village of the same name established in 1818. It is not far from the site of Nisa, the ancient capital of the Parthians and the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, which had been destroyed either by an earthquake in the first decade b.c.e., or by the Mongols in the 13th century.

It remained a part of Persia until 1884. In 1869, Russian soldiers built a fortress on a hill near the village, and this added security soon attracted merchants and craftsmen to the area. Tsarist Russia annexed the region in 1884 from Persia under he terms of Akhal Treaty, and chose to develop the town as a regional center of the Transcaspian oblast (province) due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia, and its position on the caravan routes and on the Transcaspian Railway. It was regarded as a pleasant town with European style buildings, shops and hotels.

In 1908, the first Bahá'í House of Worship was built in Ashgabat. The city had a population of more than 45,000 by 1911.

Soviet rule was established, lost and then regained in 1917, and the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary. The name "Ashgabat" was restored in 1927 when the Communist Party was properly established in Turkmenistan, though it was usually known by the Russian form Ashkhabad.

From this period onward the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although this was severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 5, 1948. An estimated 7.3 on the Richter scale, the earthquake killed over 110,000 (2/3 the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 14,000.

The Bahá'í House of Worship was seriously damaged in the earthquake in 1948 and was demolished by the Soviet authorities in 1963.

Upon independence in 1992, the Turkmenistan government adopted the Turkmen version of the city’s name, Ashgabat.

Government

File:AshgabatAssembly.jpg
Assembly of Ashgabat.

Turkmenistan is a moderate Islamic state in a volatile region. The politics of Turkmenistan take place in the framework of a presidential republic, with the president both head of state and head of government. Turkmenistan has a single-party system. Any opposition to the government is considered treason and punishable by life imprisonment. Turkmenistan has many political prisoners. Turkmenistan is dominated by a pervasive cult of personality extolling the late president as “Türkmenbaşy” ("Leader of all Turkmen"), a title he assumed in 1993.

The country is divided into five oblasts, or regions, with a lower tier of local government, including a mayor, a deputy, and a council, appointed by the president.

Since independence, although the material situation has improved markedly, the political situation has deteriorated, especially in terms of human rights.

Economy

A bazaar in Ashgabat

Turkmenistan is largely a desert country with nomadic cattle raising, intensive agriculture in irrigated oases, and huge natural gas and petroleum resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, placing the country in the top 10-15 producers. It possesses the world's fifth largest reserves of natural gas and substantial oil resources.

Ashgabat is primarily a government and administrative center. The principal industries are cotton textiles, carpet-weaving, glassworks, and metal working. It is a major stop on the Trans-Caspian railway. The city's spectacular environment has made it a centre for film making.

Since independence, the material standards of many of the people who live in Ashgabat has improved, and there's a very marked increase in the number of consumer goods available in stores.

The city is served by Ashgabat Airport, the only international airport in Turkmenistan. It is located approximately six miles (10km) northwest of the city. The airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 12,000 foot-long precision-approach runway (12L-30R), opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov (1940-2006).

Demographics

File:IndependenceMonumentAshgabat.jpg
Independence and Peace Monument.

Ashgabat had a population of 695,300 in 2001.

Ashgabat has a primarily Turkmen population, with minorities of ethnic Russians, Armenians, and Azeris.

The Türkmen language, a member of the East Oghuz branch of Turkic, is spoken by 72 percent of the population, 12 percent speak Russian, nine percent speak Uzbek language, while languages spoken by the remainder are not specified but includes Balochi language.

Ashgabat has a primarily Sunni Muslim population.

Tertiary educational institutions include the Turkmen A.M. Gorkii State University, as well as polytechnic, agricultural, and medical institutes. The Turkmen Academy of Sciences has an Institute of Deserts.

The Ashgabat International School is an international school in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. It is a private, non-profit day school which offers an educational program from a 3 to 4 year old program through high school for students of all nationalities. High school students may take courses by distance learning through the University of Nebraska High School Correspondence Program.

Notable buildings

Ashgabat has an opera house and theatres. Museums include the Turkmen Fine Arts Museum, noted for its impressive collection of woven carpets, and a Turkmen history museum Ashgabat National Museum of History which has artifacts dating back to the Parthian and Persian civilisations. The Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan is an important institute of higher learning. Large mosques include the Azadi Mosque (which resembles the Blue Mosque in Istanbul), the Khezrety Omar Mosque, and the futuristic Iranian Mosque. Ashgabat is also home to the Arch of Neutrality, which is a large tripod on which there is a golden statue of former President Saparmurat Niyazov (also known and generally referred to as Turkmenbashi, or leader of the Turkmens). This statue rotates in order to always face the sun during daylight hours. It is said to be made of pure gold.

  • Türkmenbaşı Palace presidential headquarters
  • Rukhiyet Palace

References
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External links

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