<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulphur, salt
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 3%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 0%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 69%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 0%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 28%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 12,450 sq km (1990)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> 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
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> NA
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Ozone Layer Protection