Turkmenistan--Geography
CIA FactbookThe World Factbook 1993: Turkmenistan Geography

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

Area: total area: 488,100 km2 land area: 488,100 km2 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 does border the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)

Maritime claims: landlocked, but boundaries in the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Iran will have to be negotiated

International disputes: none

Climate: subtropical desert

Terrain: flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; 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 km2 (1990)

Environment: contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salinization, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods

Note: landlocked