Как правильно пишется ашхабад или ашгабат

Ашхабад

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«Ashkhabad» redirects here. For the Turkmen folklore band, see Ashkhabad (band). For the Second World War merchant ship, see SS Ashkhabad.

Ashgabat Aşgabat
Capital city
Neutrality Road, Gypjak Mosque, Abadanchylyk Square, Independence Park, Suburbs, Urban highways
Seal
Location of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan
Ashgabat Location of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan Ashgabat Ashgabat (Asia)
Coordinates: 37°56′15″N 58°22′48″E / 37.93750°N 58.38000°ECoordinates: 37°56′15″N 58°22′48″E / 37.93750°N 58.38000°E
Country	Turkmenistan
Founded	1881
Government
• Type	Presidential[1]
• Mayor	Ýaztagan Gylyjow[2]
Area
• Total	917.6 km2 (354.3 sq mi)
Elevation	273 m (896 ft)
Population  (2019[citation needed])
• Total	1,031,992
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+05:00
• Summer (DST)	UTC+05:00 (not observed)
Postal code	744000–744040
Area code	(+993) 12
Vehicle registration	AG
Website	ashgabat.gov.tm

Ashgabat or Asgabat (Turkmen: Aşgabat, [ɑʃʁɑˈbɑt];^[3] Persian: عشق‌آباد, romanized: ‘Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk (Russian: Полтора́цк, IPA: [pəltɐˈratsk]) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, near the Iran-Turkmenistan border.

The city was founded in 1881 on the basis of an Ahal Teke tribal village, and made the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. Much of the city was destroyed by the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, but has since been extensively rebuilt under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov’s «White City» urban renewal project,^[4] resulting in monumental projects sheathed in costly white marble.^[5] The Soviet-era Karakum Canal runs through the city, carrying waters from the Amu Darya from east to west.^[6] Since 2019, the city has been recognized as having one of the highest costs of living in the world largely due to Turkmenistan’s inflation and import issues.^[7][8][9]

Etymology[edit]

Ashgabat is called Aşgabat in Turkmen, (Russian: Ашхабад, romanized: Ashkhabad) in Russian from 1925 to 1991, and عشق‌آباد (‘Ešqābād) in Persian. Before 1991, the city was usually spelled Ashkhabad in English, a transliteration of the Russian form. It has also been variously spelled Ashkhabat and Ashgabad. From 1919 until 1927, the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary, Pavel Gerasimovich Poltoratskiy.^[10]

Although the name literally means «city of love» or «city of devotion» in modern Persian, the name might be modified through folk etymology. Turkmen historian Ovez Gundogdiyev believes that the name goes back to the Parthian era, 3rd century BC, deriving from the name of the founder of the Parthian Empire, Arsaces I of Parthia, in Persian Ashk-Abad (the city of Ashk/Arsaces).^[11]

Geography[edit]

Ashgabat is very close to the border with Iran.^[12] It occupies a highly seismically active oasis plain bounded on the south by the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains (Turkmen: Köpetdag) and on the north by the Karakum Desert. It is surrounded by, but not part of, Ahal Province (Turkmen: Ahal welaýaty). The highest point in the city is the 401 metres (1,316 ft) high sandhill upon which the Yyldyz Hotel was built, but most of the city lies between 200 and 255 metres (656 and 837 ft) of elevation. The Karakum Canal runs through the city.^[13][14][15]

Like the rest of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat’s soil is primarily sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the Paratethys Ocean. The Kopet Dag mountains emerged toward the end of the Cretaceous Period.^[16]

Urban layout[edit]

1881 to 1929[edit]

Prior to 1881 any buildings other than yurts were made solely from adobe and were limited to one story in height due to the seismic risk.^[17] As of 1900 only one building in the city was two stories tall, the municipal museum.^[18] City planning began following the Russian conquest, with «very simple planning schemes.» The basic layout of downtown streets «has been preserved to this day and defined the unique character of the city structure combining linear and radial types of layout of blocks.» The Russian writer Vasily Yan, who lived in Askhabad from 1901 to 1904, described the city as «a little tidy town consisting of numerous clay houses, surrounded by fruit gardens with straight streets, planted with slim cottonwood, chestnut, and white acacia planned by the hand of military engineers.»^[19] Another description noted,

The fortress was the center of the bureaucratic part of the city. Here stood especially sturdy thick-walled houses, with strong window grates and corner buttresses. Earthquakes were less frightening in such houses, and behind the thick walls even in the hottest months some measure of indoor coolness was retained. Each house had a garden around it, on maintenance of which residents spared neither expenditures nor water…Nearer the rail station lived the railroad workers and craftsmen. Here the houses were shorter and more densely spaced, gardens smaller, and dust on the streets greater…

Gradually a third center of Ashkhabad started to emerge, of the merchants. Roughly equidistant from the rail station and the fortress was laid out a sad marketplace, becoming not only a center of stores and stalls, but a center of gravity for merchants’ residence.^[20]

1930 to 1948[edit]

In 1930, asphalt was used for the first time to pave Ashgabat’s streets.^[21] The water supply was increased by piping water from springs in neighboring Gämi and Bagyr.^[21]

The first master plan for Ashgabat, developed between 1935 and 1937 at the Moscow Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Imagery, and Cartography, envisioned expansion to the west, including irrigation and greening of the Bikrova canyon (today Bekrewe).^[15] The city architect’s office was created in 1936 but was unable to implement the new master plan «as it implied significant demolition of the existing buildings.»^[22] A description of Ashgabat published in 1948 just before the earthquake noted, «In Ashgabat there are nearly no tall buildings, thus every two-story building is visible from above…», i.e., from the foothills. The tallest structures were the clock tower of the textile mill, the «round smokestack of the glass factory», two «exceptionally thin minarets» of the «former mosque», and «two splendid towers over the long building of the main city hotel.»^[20]

Impact of the 1948 earthquake[edit]

During the 1948 earthquake, since the bulk of Ashgabat at that time was built of either adobe or fired brick, all but a very few buildings collapsed or were damaged beyond repair (the reinforced concrete grain elevator, Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, and Kärz Bank were among the structures that survived).^[23][24] According to Turkmenistan’s official news agency,

Nearly all one-story residential buildings in the city made of mud brick were destroyed, 95 percent of all one-story buildings made of fired brick, and the remaining structures were damaged beyond repair. The number of inhabitable buildings was in single digits, and at that, only after capital renovation.^[22]

A new general plan was hastily developed by July 1949. The city was divided into four zones: central, northern, eastern, and southwestern. Reconstruction of the city began in that year.^[15][22] Thus from the early 1950s through 1991 Ashgabat’s skyline was dominated by the Brutalist Style favored by post-Stalin Soviet architects.^[25] The city’s central avenue, Magtymguly (former Kuropatkin, Freedom, and Stalin Prospect), featured «monotonous and primarily two-story construction of administrative and residential buildings.» This reconstruction «preserved the existing network of city streets as it was economically unjustified to redesign them.»^[22] The city was described as «…a Communist-era backwater, rebuilt into a typically drab provincial Soviet city…»^[26] The plan was updated in 1959.^[27]

Among the buildings erected in the 1950s and 1960s were the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Turkmenistan Communist Party, the Council of Ministers Building, the Mollanepes Academic Drama Theater, the former Ashkhabad Hotel (now renamed Paytagt), the Academy of Sciences complex, and the downtown library building. On then-Karl Marx Square stood a monument to the Soviet «fighters for victory of Soviet power in Turkmenistan».^[15]

The 1960s master plan[edit]

The Turkmen State Project Institute undertook a feasibility study in the mid-1960s to forecast Ashgabat’s development to the year 2000, and on that basis to develop a new master plan. Up until then the city had largely expanded to the east, but now the plan called for development to the south and west. This plan was used for about 20 years, and led to construction of the city’s first four-story apartment buildings in the Howdan (Russian: Гаудан) microdistricts, formerly the site of the Ashgabat-South aerodrome, as well as annexation of three collective farms in the near suburbs and their conversion into residential neighborhoods, one of which, Leningrad kolkhoz, to this day is referred to informally by its former name.^[22][28] The plan was reworked in 1974, and this resulted in relocation of several industrial plants away from the city center, and thus creation of the industrial zones to the northwest, south, southeast, and northeast.^[15]

Between 1961 and 1987 the city architect was Abdulla Ahmedov, who introduced Soviet modernism to Ashgabat.^[29] Ahmedov’s greatest architectural accomplishment during this period is considered the Ashgabat Hotel (today renamed Paytagt Hotel), built between 1964 and 1970, «a harmonious synthesis of architecture and monumental art.»^[29]

Growth[edit]

In 1948 Ashgabat was described before the earthquake as lying «on a sloping plain of the Kopet-Dag foothills, stretching seven kilometers from west to east and five kilometers from the railroad right-of-way to the south, in the direction of the mountains.»^[20] Through the mid-1970s, Ashgabat was a compact city, as shown by the 1974 Soviet military’s General Staff map J-40-081.^[30] The village of Köşi, collective farm «Leningrad», airport, and suburbs to the north were outside the city limits.

Beginning in the 1970s, Ashgabat’s boundaries shifted outward, with the aforementioned municipalities annexed, the aerodrome at Howdan redeveloped, and creation of the Parahat (Russian: Mir) neighborhoods to the south and industrial parks to the east. In 2013, Ashgabat annexed a portion of the then-Ruhabat district of Ahal Province as well as the city of Abadan (previously named Büzmeýin, and renamed that as a neighborhood) plus all land and villages in between. The southern boundary of Ashgabat was extended southward to the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains. Overall, Ashgabat’s land area rose by 37,654 hectares. The following municipalities were abolished due to their incorporation into the city of Ashgabat: city of Abadan, towns of Jülge and Ruhabat, villages of Gökje, Gypjak, Birleşik, Magaryf, Herrikgala, Ýalkym, Gurtly, Hellewler, Ylmy-Tejribe bazasy, Ýasmansalyk, Köne Gurtly, Gulantäzekli, Serdar ýoly, Gaňtar, Gyzyljagala, Inerçýage, Tarhan, Topurly, and Ussagulla.^[31][32][33] A further expansion occurred January 5, 2018, when additional land to the north was annexed, incorporating the Gurtly Reservoir and two greenfield residential construction projects, known today as Täze Zaman. This statute also established the current four boroughs of Ashgabat.^[34][35]

Climate[edit]

Ashgabat
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D 20 9 0 24 11 1 41 17 6 32 24 12 21 30 17 6 36 22 3 38 24 2 37 22 3 32 16 10 24 10 19 17 5 20 10 1 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: pogoda.ru.net[36]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D 0.8 47 31 0.9 52 34 1.6 62 42 1.3 75 53 0.8 86 62 0.2 97 71 0.1 101 75 0.1 99 71 0.1 89 61 0.4 76 50 0.7 62 41 0.8 51 34 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

The Kopet Dag mountain range is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south, and Ashgabat’s northern boundary touches the Kara-Kum desert. Because of this Ashgabat has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWk, bordering from BWh) with very hot, dry summers and cool, short winters. The average high temperature in July is 38.3 °C (100.9 °F). Nighttimes in the summer are warm, with an average minimum temperature in July of 23.8 °C (75 °F). The average January high temperature is 8.6 °C (47.5 °F), and the average low temperature is −0.4 °C (31.3 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ashgabat is 47.2 °C (117 °F), recorded in June 2015.^[36] A low temperature of −24.1 °C (−11 °F) was recorded in January 1969.^[36] Snow is infrequent in the area. Annual precipitation is only 201 millimetres (7.91 in); March and April are the wettest months, and June to September are the driest months. In May 2022, 338 millimetres (13.31 in), 1,352% of the monthly normal, was reported.^[37]

History[edit]

Ashgabat grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, first mentioned as a wine-producing village in the 1st-2nd century BC and leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC. Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century. After that it survived as a small village until Russians took over in the 19th century.^[40][41]

The near suburb of Köşi, until 2013 a separate village but in that year annexed by Ashgabat, may have been site of a Parthian fortress constructed to protect the capital city, Nisa, based on discoveries of pottery and other artifacts in the 1970s and as recently as 2020. Other artifacts indicating settlement during the Parthian period were reportedly discovered during laying of telephone cables on the site of the Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar in downtown Ashgabat.^[42]

According to Muradov, the first mention of the settlement in modern times is found in Khiva chronicles of 1811.^[43]

British Lieutenant Colonel H.C. Stuart reported in 1881 that the Ahal branch of the Teke tribe of the Turkmen ethnic group arrived in the area around 1830 and established several semi-nomadic villages (auls) between what are now the city of Serdar and village of Gäwers, inclusive. One of these villages was named Askhabad.^[44] The first Russian reference to Ashgabat dates to 1850, in a document kept in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives listing 43 Ahal fortresses, «Ishkhabad» among them.^[19] It was described as a «typical Turkmen aul«.^[20]

It was formally part of Persia but de facto autonomous under Turkoman tribal control until Russian forces defeated the Teke army at the Battle of Geok Tepe in January 1881. Persia ceded Askhabad to the Russian Empire in September 1881 under the terms of the Akhal Treaty.

Russian Empire[edit]

The city was officially founded January 18, 1881, as a fortified garrison and was named after the Turkmen village on that site.^{[20][45][15][46]} Russian military engineers platted the garrison settlement «on the western edge of the aul (village) of Askhabad on the Gaudan (Howdan) road leading to Persia. The fortress stood on a hill 12 meters high, on which was constructed a citadel-redoubt, and below [it], the residential area, surrounded by walls and a moat.»^[15] Sixty-seven Turkmen families were compensated for the land confiscated from them for this construction.^[46]

Russia developed the area due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia. In 1882 a wagon road was built through the mountains to Quchan, Iran, which led to increased trade as well as settlement of Persian and Armeno-Turkmen merchants in Askhabad.^[46] The Trans-Caspian railway reached Askhabad in 1885. The population grew from 2,500 in 1881 to 10,000 in 1886 and 19,428 (of whom one third were Persian) by 1897.^[46][47] The Transcaspian Public Library was established in 1885, boys and girls high schools were founded in 1886, and the Kuropatkin School of Horticulture and Viticulture appeared in 1890. The first telephone station was installed in 1900.^[46]

The city was regarded as a pleasant municipality with European-style buildings, shops, and hotels. Several streets were named after Russian military figures, reflecting its status as a garrison town, including the main square, named in honor of General Mikhail Skobelev, commander of Russian forces during the 1880–1881 Trans-Caspian military campaign. These included as well the western boundary avenue, named in honor of General Nikolai Grodekov, and the city’s central avenue, renamed in the 1890s to honor General and Trans-Caspian Governor-General Aleksey Kuropatkin, both of whom had served in the Trans-Caspian campaign under Skobolev’s command.^[48]

In 1908, the first Bahá’í House of Worship was built in Askhabad. It was badly damaged in the 1948 earthquake and finally demolished in 1963.^[49][50] The community of the Bahá’í Faith in Turkmenistan was largely based in Askhabad.

By 1915 Askhabad featured branches of the Russian State Bank, Persian Accounting Loan Bank, Russian-Asian Bank, Société Générale, and Askhabat Mutual Credit Union.^[19]

Soviet period[edit]

Soviet rule was established in Ashgabat in December 1917. However, in July 1918, a coalition of Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, and Tsarist former officers of the Imperial Russian Army revolted against the Bolshevik rule emanating from Tashkent and established the Ashkhabad Executive Committee. After receiving some support (but even more promises) from General Malleson, the British withdrew in April 1919 and the Tashkent Soviet resumed control of the city.

In 1919, the city was renamed Poltoratsk (Russian: Полторацк), after Pavel Poltoratskiy, the Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.^[45][51] When the Turkmen SSR was established in 1924, Poltoratsk became its capital. The original name but in the form of «Ashkhabad» rather than «Askhabad» was restored in 1927.^[45] In keeping with standard Soviet practice, Imperial Russian street names were changed to honor prominent Communists, Russians, or socialist ideals. For example, Skobolev Square became Karl Marx Square, Grodekov Street became Ostrovskiy Street, and Kuropatkin Prospect became Freedom Prospect (and from 1953 to 1961, following Joseph Stalin’s death, Stalin Prospect).^[52][53] In 1927 a statue of Vladimir Lenin designed by A.A. Karelin and Ye.R. Tripolskaya was erected.^[15]

During World War II Ashgabat became a refuge for both institutions, including Moscow State University and the Kiev film studio, and individuals. Roughly 8,000 refugees were quartered in private homes during the war.^[21] Among the outsiders who escaped to Ashgabat during the war were Andrei Sakharov and author Yury Olesha. In 1944 Ukrainian motion picture director Mark Donskoy filmed Rainbow (Ukrainian: Веселка , Russian: Радуга) in Ashgabat, which was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film.^[21]

From this period onward, the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 6, 1948. An estimated 7.3 on the Richter scale, the earthquake killed 110–176,000^{[54][55][56][57]} (⅔ of the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000.^[58]

Independence[edit]

In July 2003, street names in Ashgabat were replaced by serial numbers except for nine major highways, some named after Saparmurat Niyazov, his father, and his mother. The Presidential Palace Square was designated 2000 to symbolize the beginning of the 21st century. The rest of the streets were assigned larger or smaller four-digit numerical names. Following Niyazov’s death in 2006, Soviet-era street names were restored, though in the years since, many of them have been replaced with names honoring Turkmen scholars, poets, military heroes, and figures from art and culture, as well as celebrating the nation’s independence. For example, Karl Marx Square became Garaşsyzlyk (Independence) Square, Ostrovskiy Street became Abba Annaýew (in honor of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s great-uncle), and Freedom Prospect became Magtymguly.^{[52][53][59][60]}

In 2013, the city was included in the Guinness Book of Records as possessing the world’s highest concentration of white marble buildings.^[61]

Ashgabat’s «11th Line» project was dedicated on June 29, 2012, including 17 high-rise apartment buildings along 10 ýyl Abadançylyk şaýoly, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a fire station, and a health clinic.^[62] The «12th Line» project was completed October 1, 2014, consisting of a straightening and widening of Atamyrat Nyýazow şaýoly plus construction of 13 high-rise apartment buildings, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a new headquarters building for the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Telekeçi shopping center, and the Development Bank. On that same date, the new Cabinet of Ministers building was also opened.^[63]

In preparation for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the city spent $5 billion on residential construction. December 4, 2014, the president issued a decree calling for construction of 60 9-story apartment buildings in the Parahat-7 microdistrict, a greenfield project in the southeast quadrant of the city.^[64] On November 10, 2015, the «13th Line» was dedicated, a complete reconstruction of buildings along Oguzhan köçesi west of Garaşsyzlyk şaýoly.^[65] Projects included demolition and redevelopment of the Leningrad kolkhoz neighborhood as the «14th Line», and the Gazha and Vosmushka neighborhoods as the «15th Line».^{[52][66][67][68][69]}

Subsequent to conclusion of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the «16th Line» project, a redevelopment of the Köşi neighborhood and extension of Magtymguly Prospect to the west, was begun in 2018.^[70][71] The «16th Line» was dedicated on November 10, 2020; it includes 16 high-rise apartment buildings, the Gül zemin shopping center, and a monument to the Alabay sheepdog.^[72] In addition, the Gurtly and Choganly housing complexes, both greenfield projects, were constructed.^[73][74][75] In May 2021 the government announced plans for the «17th Line», consisting of a resort complex encircling Golden Lake (Turkmen: Altyn köl), the former Gurtly Reservoir, to include 268 vacation cottages plus buildings for public services and amenities.^[76]

The largest current residential project is construction of «Ashgabat-City» (Turkmen: Aşgabat-siti) north of the Choganly residential neighborhood, which is planned to include over 200 buildings on 744 hectares, and for the first time in the city’s history to feature some buildings as tall as 35 stories.^{[77][78][79][80][81]} These will include 180 12- to 35-story residential buildings containing 17,836 apartments intended to house over 107,000 occupants.^[82][83][84]

Ashgabat milestones:^[85]

• 1882–1918 – administrative center of Russia’s Transcaspian Region
• 1918–1925 – administrative center of the Turkmen Oblast in the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
• since February 1925 – capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
• since October 1991 – capital of independent Turkmenistan

Districts[edit]

Boroughs[edit]

See also Map of the Boroughs of Ashgabat

As of January 5, 2018, Ashgabat includes four boroughs (uly etraplar), each with a presidentially appointed mayor (Turkmen: häkim):^{[1][86][87][88][89][90][91]}

1. Bagtyýarlyk etraby (formerly President Niyazov, Lenin District, expanded to include former Ruhabat District plus new territory)
2. Berkararlyk etraby (formerly Azatlyk, Sovetskiy District)
3. Büzmeýin etraby (formerly Abadan District, expanded to include former Arçabil and Çandybil Districts)
4. Köpetdag etraby (formerly Proletarskiy District)

This is a reduction from the previous number of boroughs. Arçabil and Çandybil boroughs were merged on February 4, 2015, and the new etrap, named Arçabil, was in turn renamed Büzmeýin in January 2018. At that time the Abadan borough of Ashgabat, created in 2013 by annexing the town of Abadan and surrounding villages to Abadan’s south, was abolished and its territory was merged into the newly renamed Büzmeýin borough. The former Ruhabat borough was abolished at the same time and its territory absorbed by Bagtyýarlyk borough.^[92]

On 15 June 2020, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced intention to create a fifth borough of Ashgabat, to be called Altyn etraby, centered on the new resort zone created on the shores of the former Gurtly Water Reservoir, recently renamed «Golden Lake» (Altyn köl).^[93]

Microdistricts[edit]

Ashgabat’s boroughs are subdivided into microdistricts (Russian: микрорайоны, singular микрорайон, Turkmen: etrapçalar, singular etrapça). These are administrative units that possess no independent governance structures. They are used for management of utilities and publicly owned housing. Ashgabat includes the following microdistricts:

• 1 through 11 Etrapça
• 30 Etrapça
• Howdan A
• Howdan B
• Howdan W
• Parahat 1 through 8^[94][95][96]

Demographics[edit]

In 1871 a Russian visitor named Strebnitskiy counted over four thousand «nomad tents» (yurts), implying a population of 16 to 20 thousand Ahal Teke Turkmen, many of whom were killed or dispersed in the 1881 Battle of Geok Tepe. The population was 2,500 in 1881, virtually all Russian.^[47] By 1886 Askhabad’s population was about 10,000, mainly ethnic Russians.^[15][19] Construction of the Trans-Caspian Railway stimulated an influx of migrants seeking employment, particularly from the Caucasus, Volga Valley, and Iran, and Askhabad’s subsequent population growth was as follows:

1897: 19,426
1908: 39,867
1911: 45,384

Ethnic Russians dominated the population after 1881, with about 20 percent admixture of Caucasus-origin migrants (mainly Armeno-Turkmen).^[15][20] One source indicates that pre-revolutionary Askhabad had no Turkmen residents at all, and that they lived in nearby auls.^[20] This began to change in the 1920s, following imposition of Soviet power, which brought with it forced collectivization. In 1926 Ashkhabad’s population of 51,593 included 52.4% Russians, 13.53% Armeno-Turkmen, 4.3% Persians, , and 29.8% «other». By 1939, Ashkhabad counted 126,500 residents, including 11.7% Armeno-Turkmen. The 1959 census recorded a population of 169,900, which grew to 338,000 by 1983, including 105 nationalities, of which ethnic Armeno-Turkmen constituted 40 percent.^[15]

According to estimates of the 2012 Turkmen census the Turkmens form 78.5% of the city’s population. Russians form 10% of the population, followed by Turks (1.1%), Uzbeks (1.1%), and Azeris (1%).^[97]

Architecture[edit]

Post-1991[edit]

Following independence in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov began hiring foreign architectural and construction firms, most prominently Bouygues of France and the Turkish firms Polimeks and Gap Inşaat, the latter a subsidiary of Çalık Holding. These firms blended Persian-style domes, which Niyazov favored, with Greco-Roman architectural elements such as pillars.^{[98][99][100][101][102]}

Following Niyazov’s death, domes began to go out of fashion for buildings other than mosques, and public buildings began to take on more modernist characteristics, often with a motif reflecting the structure’s intended occupant. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building is topped by a globe of the Earth, inside which is a conference center; the Development Bank building is topped by a giant coin; the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry building is shaped like a stylized caduceus, the dental hospital is shaped like a molar and the international terminal of Ashgabat International Airport is shaped like a falcon.^[103] The dominant characteristic of new construction since 1991 has been nearly universal facing with white marble.^[104][17] Another recurring motif is the eight-pointed star of Oguz Han, the largest of which is on the television tower and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.^{[105][106][107]} The official Turkmen government guide book to Ashgabat refers to the star of Oguz Khan as «…the basic dominant of the whole architectural-art decor…»^[19]

After independence, the city architect’s office ordered construction of many high-rise (generally 12-story) residential buildings. Modern construction techniques allow high-rise development with good seismic safety. Primarily consisting of residential towers, the first floor is typically used as retail space and for building maintenance.^[17]

Monuments and statues[edit]

Ashgabat features many sculptures honoring Turkmen, Turkic, and other Islamic poets and heroes. Four statues, of Lenin, Alexander Pushkin, Taras Shevchenko, and Magtymguly, date to the Soviet period, as do a statue and a bust of Turkmen composer Nury Halmammedov. Since then, however, much new sculpture has appeared. In Ylham (Inspiration) Park are found numerous busts and statues. Additional statues can be seen in the VDNH Park. A monumental statue of the current president was dedicated in May 2015 near Ashgabat Stadium. One also finds statues of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Alp Arslan. In addition to the statue of former President Niyazov atop the Neutrality Monument, a gilded statue of him stands before the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a gilded seated statue of him graces the entry to the Turkmen Agricultural University.

Since independence in 1991, several monuments to features of Turkmenistan’s governance have been erected: to neutrality, to the constitution, to the renaissance of Turkmenistan, to independence, as well as a special monument to former President Saparmurat Niyazov’s magnum opus, Ruhnama.

The memorial complex in Bekrewe includes a statue of a bull with the Earth balanced on its horns, symbolizing the 1948 earthquake, and a statue of two traditionally dressed Turkmen warriors guarding a widow grieving the death of her husband in World War II. The exterior wall of the museum features bas reliefs depicting events in Turkmenistan’s history.

In advance of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in September 2017, roughly one billion dollars was spent on widening and upgrading Ashgabat’s major thoroughfares.^[52] Several traffic circles were created, in which were placed mainly abstract monuments. As of 2020 the most recent addition to these are the Bicycle Monument (Turkmen: Welosiped binasy), which President Berdimuhamedov dedicated on June 3, 2020, and the Turkmen Alabay monument, dedicated on November 10, 2020.^[108][109]

Controversies[edit]

Much of the urban renewal since 1991 has involved demolition of traditional single-family residential housing, commonly with allegedly forced eviction of residents, and often without compensation to the homeowners. In particular, private homes rebuilt in neighborhoods flattened by the 1948 earthquake, many of which were never formally registered with the government, were subject to confiscation and demolition without compensation, as were former dacha communities like Ruhabat, Berzengi, and Choganly, which in nearly all cases lacked formal ownership documents.^{[110][111][112][113][114][115]}

First Baha’i Temple in the world[edit]

When Ashgabat was under Russian rule, the number of Bahá’ís in the city rose to over 1,000, and a Bahá’í community was established, with its own schools, medical facilities and cemetery. The community elected one of the first Bahá’í local administrative institutions. In 1908 the Bahá’í community completed the construction of the first Bahá’í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of mašriqu-l-‘aḏkār (Arabic: مشرق اﻻذكار),^[116] where people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions.^[117] The building was designed under the guidance of `Abdu’l-Bahá by Ustad’ Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi who also wrote a history of the Baha’is in Ashgabat.^[118][119]

The House of Worship itself was surrounded by gardens, with four buildings at the four corners of the gardens: a school, a hostel where travelling Bahá’ís were entertained, a small hospital, and a building for groundskeepers.^[119]

Under the Soviet policy towards religion, the Bahá’ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned these properties in 1928.^[120] For the decade from 1938 to 1948, when it was seriously damaged by the earthquake, it was an art gallery. It was demolished in 1963.^[117]

Other notable structures[edit]

The Arch of Neutrality was dismantled and re-erected in its original form in the south of the capital.

Turkmenistan Tower, the television and radio broadcasting tower, at a height of 211 meters is the tallest structure in the country. It was dedicated on October 17, 2011.^[17]

The administrative center of Ashgabat as the national capital is on the Archabil highway, where several ministries and agencies, as well as educational, research, and cultural centers, are found.^[121] The former Novofiryuzenskoye shosse (New Firyuza Highway) was rebuilt by Gap Inşaat in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Economy[edit]

The principal industries are cotton textiles and metal working. It is a major stop on the Trans-Caspian railway. A large percentage of the employment in Ashgabat is provided by the state institutions; such as the ministries, undersecretariats, and other administrative bodies of the Turkmenistan government. There are also many foreign citizens working as diplomats or clerks in the embassies of their respective countries. Ashgabat lends its name to the Ashgabat agreement, signed by India, Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.^[122]

In 2019 and 2020, Ashgabat was the most expensive city in the world for foreign expatriates in ECA International’s Cost of Living Survey.^[7][9][123] It was also listed as the second most expensive city in the world overall by the 2020 Mercer Cost of Living Survey.^[8] Its high cost of living for foreigners has been attributed to severe inflation and rising import costs.^[7][8][124]

Industry[edit]

Between 1881 and 1921, little industry existed in Ashgabat. Muradov relates that in 1915 the city featured «68 enterprises, mainly semi-handicrafts, with a total of 200-300 workers.»^[18] Another source relates that as of 1911 roughly half the workforce of somewhat more than 400 «workers» was employed at the railroad depot, engaged in locomotive and railcar maintenance and repair, with the rest occupied in cotton ginning, cottonseed oil extraction, flour milling, and leather-, brick-, glass-, and iron production.^[15] By 1915 the city boasted as well three printing houses, an electrical power station, three cotton gins, a creamery, a tannery, and 35 brickyards.^[19]

In 1921 Soviet authorities built a new glass plant plus a wine and spirits factory. In the years following several more factories were added, including the «Red Metalworker» iron-working plant (1925), the silk spinning plant (1928), a cotton spinning plant and textile plant (1929), candy factory (1930), garment factory (1933), shoe factory (1934), and a meat cannery (1938).^[15] As of 1948, Ashgabat boasted «about twenty large factory-plant enterprises, which produce fabrics, glass, footwear, garments, meat products, dredges, agricultural implement parts and much else.»^[20][125]

Annexation of the former city of Buzmeyin (Turkmen: Büzmeýin), which from 2002 to 2018 was known as Abadan,^[91] brought into Ashgabat’s city limits its major industrial suburb. Today’s Buzmeyin neighborhood features the Buzmeyin State Electrical Power Plant, and factories for production of reinforced concrete, cement, asbestos roofing, pipes, and concrete blocks, as well as a carpet-weaving factory and soft-drink bottling plant.^[15]

Today more than 43 large and 128 medium-sized industrial enterprises along with over 1,700 small industrial facilities are located in Ashgabat and its suburbs.^[126] The most important are Ashneftemash, Turkmenkabel, and Turkmenbashy Textile Complex.^[127]

Electrical power generation[edit]

The Abadan State Power Plant (now Büzmeýin State Power Plant), commissioned in 1957, was the first large power plant in Turkmenistan. Two gas turbine plants with a capacity of 123 MW each currently generate electricity in this plant.^[128] The Ashgabat State Power Plant, located in the southern part of city, began operating in 2006. It is equipped with gas turbine generators with a total capacity of 254.2 megawatts.^[128]

Ashgabat also draws power from the Ahal State Power Plant, located outside the city in Ahal Province. It began operating in 2010 with two gas turbines producing 254.2 MW. Three small gas turbines were added in 2013 and two more gas turbines in 2014, bringing capacity to 648.1 MW.^[128]

Shopping[edit]

Altyn Asyr Bazaar in Choganly, also known as «Tolkuchka», features manufactured items including traditional fabrics and hand-woven carpets, as well as livestock and used automobiles. Modern shopping areas are found mostly in central streets, including the modern Berkarar Mall and the Paýtagt and Aşgabat shopping centres, as well as the 15 Years of Independence Shopping Centre (Turkmen: 15 ýyl Garaşsyzlyk söwda merkezi), colloquially known as the «Wholesale Market» (Russian: Optovyy rynok).^{[129][130][131]}

Local residents tend to shop at traditional bazaars: Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar, Teke Bazaar, Daşoguz Bazaar, Paytagt (Mir) Bazaar, and Jennet Bazaar. The Turkish-owned Yimpaş department store closed as of December 2016.^[132]

Transportation[edit]

The city is served by the Ashgabat International Airport, expansion of which cost $2.3 billion and which has a design capacity of 14,000,000 passengers per year.^{[133][134][135]} Turkmenistan Airlines is headquartered at the airport.^[136] Ashgabat offers air service to and from all the major cities of the Turkmenistan. Since March 2020, in order to prevent the import and spread of coronavirus infection, all planes arriving in Turkmenistan from abroad are redirected to the Turkmenabat International Airport .^[137]

On 18 October 2006, the Ashgabat Cable Car opened, connecting the city with the foothills of the Kopetdag.^[138]

Ashgabat Monorail commenced service in 2016, becoming the first monorail in the Central Asia region.^{[139][140][141]} It is a loop 5.2 kilometers long and circulates exclusively on the territory of the Olympic Village (Turkmen: Olimpiýa şäherçesi).^[140][141]

In January 2018, it was reported that black cars had been impounded for weeks in Ashgabat, a result of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s conviction that black cars bring bad luck.^[142]

The Ukrainian construction firm Interbudmontazh has proposed construction of a subway (metropolitan) line, to connect the Ashgabat-Siti residential area in the northern suburbs to downtown Ashgabat.^[143]

Railway[edit]

Ashgabat has a single central railway station. In May 2009 the restoration of the Ashgabat railway station was completed. The railway station is made in Soviet-style architecture with its long point on the building roof.

The Trans-Caspian Railway (Türkmenbaşy–Balkanabat–Bereket–Ashgabat–Mary–Türkmenabat) runs through Ashgabat from east to west. Since 2006 there is also a train line from Ashgabat to the north, the Trans-Karakum Railway.^[144]

As of July 2021, the following railway routes are scheduled from and to Ashgabat:^{[145][146][147][148]}

• Ashgabat-Balkanabat
• Ashgabat-Türkmenbaşy
• Ashgabat-Dashoguz
• Ashgabat-Sarahs
• Ashgabat-Serhetabat
• Ashgabat-Amyderýa

City buses and trolleybus[edit]

Public transport in the city consists mainly of buses. More than 100 bus^[149][150] lines cover a total range of more than 2,230 kilometres (1,386 miles) with 700 buses running on urban routes. The city primarily uses Iran Khodro 0457 (Mercedes-Benz) and Hyundai New Super Aero City^[151] buses.^[152] Bus timetables and detailed schematic map of the route are at every stop. Distances between stops are about 300–500 meters.

Travel in the Ashgabat city public transport for the majority of the country’s population incurs a fee. Money is thrown into a box next to the driver. Large bills are given to the driver, he gives change. The fare for travel in city public transport is 50 Turkmen tenge (since 2017).^[153] Route taxi (marshrutka) is 1 manat.

Information about bus routes and stops in Ashgabat is available in the mobile application Duralga.^[154]

From November 1, 2017, the electronic system of payment for public transport came into full force in Ashgabat. Payment can be made using an electronic transport card. There are three types of electronic cards: school, for pensioners and general. When entering through the front door of the bus, the passenger must present the electronic card to the validator. The term of use of the transport electronic card is 4 years.^[155]

The new International Passenger Bus Terminal of Ashgabat was inaugurated on September 5, 2014.^[156][157] It offers intercity service to Bäherden, Türkmenbaşy, Dashoguz, Turkmenabat, Archman, Konye-Urgench, and Mollagara, as well as points in between.^[158] The main intracity bus terminals serving Ashgabat are near the Teke Bazaar and at the domestic airport terminal. Intercity lines are operated by Hyundai Universe Luxury, Iran Khodro SC 0457, Sahab Renault and Yutong ZK6129H.

Also, suburban communication has been established with Ýaşlyk, Geok Tepe, Gorjaw, Yzgant, Babarap, Bugdaýly, Annau, Gämi, Owadandepe, Watan, Khurmant, Onaldy, Gami Dacha, Kasamly Julge, Gäwers, Yashyldepe, Akdashayak, Niyazow, Suitchilik, Parahat. PAZ 32054 buses and Volkswagen minibuses operate on suburban routes.^[159]

From 19 October 1964 to 31 December 2011 the city also had the Ashgabat trolleybus system. At the beginning of the twentieth century a narrow-gauge steam railway connected the city with the suburb of Firyuza. As of 2011, there were 7 routes in the city. As of 2011, the Ashgabat trolleybus fleet had 47 trolleybuses (Škoda 14TrM) on its balance sheet. In 2000, the last obsolete trolleybuses of the JuMZ-T2 model were written off.

Taxi[edit]

In Ashgabat taxis are available at any time of the day or night.^[160] Awtomobil Ulag Hyzmat OJSC is the monopoly taxicab operator in the city.^[161] The fleet uses only new Toyota Corolla^[162] (white) and Hyundai Elantra (yellow) automobiles.^[163] Taxi fare is from 5 to 30 manats, depending on the distance from the city center and the results of negotiations with the driver.^[164]

Passengers may also hire taxicabs via mobile apps Onlaýn taksi and Taxi hyzmaty.^[165][166]

Telecommunication[edit]

As of 2021, Ashgabat has two mobile phone service providers:

• Altyn Asyr is a Turkmen national state company for the provision of communication services, established in 2004. In 2010, the company launched a 3G network of UMTS standard, covering all districts of Ashgabat and the Ashgabat International Airport . On September 18, 2013, the 4G network was put into operation using LTE technology.^[167]
• Ashgabat City Telephone Network provides CDMA communication services (over 55 thousand subscribers). The network was created and put into operation by the company for the first time in 2003.^[168]

In addition to the mobile network providers, Turkmentelecom provides internet services.

Turkmenpochta is the official national postal operator of Turkmenistan. Based in Ashgabat, it currently operates through 38 postal offices in city.^[169]

Media[edit]

Notable newspapers published in Ashgabat include the daily newspapers Türkmenistan and Neytralny Turkmenistan.^[170]

TV[edit]

The main offices of 7 television channels are located in Ashgabat: Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk, Miras, Turkmenistan Sport, Turkmen Owazy, Ashgabat and Turkmenistan TV.^[171]

Ashgabat TV is main city channel. The channel tells about the events of social, cultural, economic life, the activities of scientific and educational institutions of the Ashgabat.^[172][173]

Almost 136^[174] international TV channels are available in the IPTV playlist for subscribers of the Ashgabat City Telephone Network.^[175] Most of them are thematic channels: news, sports, scientific and educational, TV channels for children, channels of various genres of cinema, music.^[174]

Residents of Ashgabat also watch television via satellite dishes.^[176]

Radio[edit]

As of 2008, Ashgabat has 4 FM stations: Owaz, Char Tarapdan, Miras and Watan. These stations can additionally be streamed through Turkmentelecom’s website.^[177]

Science and education[edit]

Ashgabat is the most important educational center of Turkmenistan with several institutions of higher education. Magtymguly Turkmen State University was founded in 1950. The main university building is located on Beýik Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy şaýoly. Turkmen State Medical University is situated in Ashgabat as well. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Health and Pharmaceutical Industry of Turkmenistan. Other prominent institutions are the Turkmen State Institute of Economics and Management, a main business school founded in 1980, as well as the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, Turkmen Agricultural University, and The National Institute of Sports and Tourism of Turkmenistan. In 2016, the English- and Japanese-medium Oguz Khan University of Engineering Technologies was opened with support of the Japanese government. The International University of Humanities and Development is another English-medium institution of higher education. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ training ground is the Institute of International Relations.^[178][179]

Ashgabat is home to five military academies: the Military Institute, the Naval Institute, the Border Guards Institute, the Institute of National Security, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Institute. In 2020 the Military Institute began accepting applications from women.^[179][180]

Four international secondary schools operate in Ashgabat. The Russian Embassy sponsors the Russian-medium A.S. Pushkin Russo-Turkmen School, the French construction company Bouygues sponsors a French school for children of its Francophone employees, the Turkish Embassy sponsors the Turkish-medium Turgut Ozal Turkmen-Turkish School, and the American Embassy sponsors the English-medium Ashgabat International School.^{[181][182][183][184]}

Prior to establishment of Soviet authority in Turkmenistan, Ashgabat had only 11 schools and no scientific or research centers.^[15] By 1948 Ashgabat had three institutions of higher education, 20 technical schools, 60 libraries, «and approximately the same number of kindergartens.»^[20]

The Turkmen Academy of Sciences was founded June 29, 1951, and includes the unique Desert Institute among its 26 scientific research institutes, as well as the State Seismological Service, 17-degree-granting schools, two medical research centers, a library, and two print shops. The Academy of Sciences is the only institution in Turkmenistan accredited to award postgraduate degrees. In 2019, President Berdimuhamedov decreed that state funding of the Academy of Sciences would end within three years.^{[15][185][186][187][188]} Prior to founding of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences, local scientific-research institutes, all located in a single two-story building, were subordinate to the USSR Academy of Sciences.^[20]

Main sights[edit]

Museums include the Turkmen Fine Arts Museum and Turkmen Carpet Museum, noted for their impressive collection of woven carpets as well as a Turkmen history museum and the Ashgabat National Museum of History, which displays artifacts dating back to the Parthian and Persian civilizations. Ashgabat was also home to the Arch of Neutrality, a 75 m (250 ft) tall tripod crowned by a golden statue of late president Saparmurat Niyazov (also known as Turkmenbashy, or head Turkmen). The 15 m (50 ft) high statue, which rotated in order to always face the sun during daylight hours, was removed on August 26, 2010, after Niyazov’s successor, current President Berdimuhamedov, made clear earlier in the year that the statue was to be taken out of Ashgabat’s Independence Square.^[189] In 2011 a Monument to the Constitution was built, its total height of 185 m (607 ft) makes it the second tallest structure in Turkmenistan.^[190]

Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest Ferris wheel in an enclosed space.^[191] The Ashgabat Flagpole is the fifth tallest free–standing flagpole in the world, standing at 436 ft (133 m) tall. The Ashgabat Fountain has the world’s greatest number of fountain pools in a public place.^[192][193] Ashgabat also features Turkmenistan Tower which is the tallest tower in Turkmenistan, the decorative octagonal Star of Oguzkhan is recognized as the world’s largest architectural image of the star and entered in the Guinness World Records.^[194]

Palaces[edit]

• Oguzhan Presidential Palace, the official presidential headquarters.
• Ruhyýet Palace, a place for official state events, forums, meetings, inaugurations.
• Wedding Palace, a civil registry building.^[195]

Theatres[edit]

Ashgabat’s major theaters are:

• Alp Arslan National Drama Theatre
• Magtymguly National Musical and Drama Theatre
• Main Drama Theatre named by Saparmurat Turkmenbashi
• Mollanepes Students Theatre
• Mukams Palace
• Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre
• Theatre «Art Ist»
• Turkmen State Puppet Theatere
• Turkmen State Circus

Each of several former municipalities annexed by Ashgabat also features local a «house of culture» Turkmen: Medeniýet Öýi.

Parks and squares[edit]

Ashgabat has many parks and open spaces, mainly established in the early years of the Independence and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: the Botanical Garden, Güneş, Turkmen-Turkish friendship, Independence. The oldest city park, Ashgabat, was founded in 1887 and is colloquially known as First Park.^[196] In the center of Ashgabat is the Inspiration Alley, an art-park complex which is a favorite place for many locals. The amusement park World of Turkmenbashi Tales is a local equivalent to Disneyland. Squares: 10 Years of Turkmenistan Independence, Magtymguly, Eternal Flame, Zelili, Chyrchyk, Garashsyzlyk, March 8, Gerogly, Dolphin, 15 years of Independence, Ruhyýet, 10 ýyl Abadançylyk, Ylham and Tashkent.

The Ashgabat Botanical Garden was founded on 1 October 1929, and is the oldest botanical garden in Central Asia.^{[197][198][199]} It covers a territory of approximately 18 hectares, and contains a live exhibition of more than 500 different species of plants coming from various parts of the world.^[200][201]

Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex[edit]

Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex was opened in 2014 in remembrance of those killed in the Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881, during World War II, and to commemorate of the victims of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake. It is located in the southwestern part of the city on Bekreve street.^[202][203]

Cinemas[edit]

Ashgabat has five cinemas. In 2011, Aşgabat Cinema, the first 3-D cinema in Turkmenistan, opened in Ashgabat.^[204] The Watan and Turkmenistan theaters were reconstructed. Additional cinemas are located in the Berkarar Mall and the Gül zemin Mall.

Mosques[edit]

Major mosques in Ashgabat include:

• Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque
• Ärtogrul Gazy Mosque, a gift from Turkey, was inaugurated in 1998 and resembles the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
• Hezreti Osman Mosque in the 8th microdistrict
• Hezreti Omar Mosque in the Parahat 7 microdistrict^[205]
• Azadi Mosque on Zarpçi köçesi
• Shehitler (Turkmen: Şehitler) mosque on Görogly köçesi
• Iranian mosque near the Iranian Embassy

There are also several mosques in former towns and villages annexed by Ashgabat and thus now neighborhoods within the city limits.

Churches[edit]

Ashgabat has five operating Christian churches. Four are Russian Orthodox churches:^[206]

• Saint Alexander Nevsky Church, founded in 1882 as parish church of the Russian military garrison, consecrated in 1900, located in the 30th Microdistrict (Russian: Храм святого благоверного великого князя Александра Невского)
• Temple of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, located inside the Khitrovka Cemetery (Russian: храм святителя и Чудотворца Николая)
• Temple of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, located near the Ruhnama School (Russian: храм Воскресения Христова)
• Temple of the Holy Equals to Apostles Cyril and Methodius, located in Büzmeýin (Russian: Храм святых равноапостольных Кирилла и Мефодия)

The Roman Catholic Chapel of the Transfiguration operates on the grounds of the Apostolic nunciature.

Other Christian denominations exist but as of 2019 only two were registered with the government and thus able to operate legally. The U.S. Department of State reported that Turkmen authorities «scrutinize or obstruct religious
groups attempting to purchase or lease buildings or land for religious purposes.»^[207]

Sports[edit]

The main sporting venues in Ashgabat are the Olympic Stadium, Ashgabat Stadium, the National Olympic ice rink, Sports complex for winter sports and the Olympic water sports complex.

Ashgabat was chosen as the host city of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games,^[208] and was also the first city in Central Asia to host the Asian Indoor Games. Between 2010 and 2017 an Olympic Village was built by the Turkish firm Polimeks south of the city center, at a cost of $5 billion.^[209][210]

In October 2017 a Jack Nicklaus Designs Signature 18-hole golf course opened in Ashgabat. It features 82 sand traps and covers 70 hectares.^{[211][212][213][214][215][216][217]}

Ashgabat was the host of the 2018 IWF World Weightlifting Championships.

The city’s professional football clubs Altyn Asyr FK, FC Aşgabat and FK Köpetdag Aşgabat play in the Ýokary Liga, the top league of Turkmenistan.

Inha Babakova, 1999 World High Jump champion, was born in Ashgabat.

Weightlifter Polina Guryeva captured Turkmenistan’s first Olympic medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, taking silver in the women’s 59 kg.

Twin towns – sister cities[edit]

Ashgabat is twinned with:^[218][219]

Partner cities[edit]

Ashgabat cooperates with:^[218]

See also[edit]

• Boroughs and landmarks of Ashgabat
  • Bagtyýarlyk District
  • Berkararlyk District
  • Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue
  • Büzmeýin (Abadan)
  • Büzmeýin District
  • Galkynysh Square, Ashgabat
  • Gypjak
  • Independence Square, Ashgabat
  • Kopetdag District
  • Magtymguly Avenue
  • Saparmurat Turkmenbashy Avenue
• List of cities in Turkmenistan
• OpenStreetMap wiki article on geography of Ashgabat
• Russian Turkestan

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). «Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь.» (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, «Русские словари», 1993.

External links[edit]

• Official website

«Ashkhabad» redirects here. For the Turkmen folklore band, see Ashkhabad (band). For the Second World War merchant ship, see SS Ashkhabad.

Ashgabat Aşgabat
Capital city
Neutrality Road, Gypjak Mosque, Abadanchylyk Square, Independence Park, Suburbs, Urban highways
Seal
Location of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan
Ashgabat Location of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan Ashgabat Ashgabat (Asia)
Coordinates: 37°56′15″N 58°22′48″E / 37.93750°N 58.38000°ECoordinates: 37°56′15″N 58°22′48″E / 37.93750°N 58.38000°E
Country	Turkmenistan
Founded	1881
Government
• Type	Presidential[1]
• Mayor	Ýaztagan Gylyjow[2]
Area
• Total	917.6 km2 (354.3 sq mi)
Elevation	273 m (896 ft)
Population  (2019[citation needed])
• Total	1,031,992
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+05:00
• Summer (DST)	UTC+05:00 (not observed)
Postal code	744000–744040
Area code	(+993) 12
Vehicle registration	AG
Website	ashgabat.gov.tm

Ashgabat or Asgabat (Turkmen: Aşgabat, [ɑʃʁɑˈbɑt];^[3] Persian: عشق‌آباد, romanized: ‘Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk (Russian: Полтора́цк, IPA: [pəltɐˈratsk]) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, near the Iran-Turkmenistan border.

The city was founded in 1881 on the basis of an Ahal Teke tribal village, and made the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. Much of the city was destroyed by the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, but has since been extensively rebuilt under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov’s «White City» urban renewal project,^[4] resulting in monumental projects sheathed in costly white marble.^[5] The Soviet-era Karakum Canal runs through the city, carrying waters from the Amu Darya from east to west.^[6] Since 2019, the city has been recognized as having one of the highest costs of living in the world largely due to Turkmenistan’s inflation and import issues.^[7][8][9]

Etymology[edit]

Ashgabat is called Aşgabat in Turkmen, (Russian: Ашхабад, romanized: Ashkhabad) in Russian from 1925 to 1991, and عشق‌آباد (‘Ešqābād) in Persian. Before 1991, the city was usually spelled Ashkhabad in English, a transliteration of the Russian form. It has also been variously spelled Ashkhabat and Ashgabad. From 1919 until 1927, the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary, Pavel Gerasimovich Poltoratskiy.^[10]

Although the name literally means «city of love» or «city of devotion» in modern Persian, the name might be modified through folk etymology. Turkmen historian Ovez Gundogdiyev believes that the name goes back to the Parthian era, 3rd century BC, deriving from the name of the founder of the Parthian Empire, Arsaces I of Parthia, in Persian Ashk-Abad (the city of Ashk/Arsaces).^[11]

Geography[edit]

Ashgabat is very close to the border with Iran.^[12] It occupies a highly seismically active oasis plain bounded on the south by the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains (Turkmen: Köpetdag) and on the north by the Karakum Desert. It is surrounded by, but not part of, Ahal Province (Turkmen: Ahal welaýaty). The highest point in the city is the 401 metres (1,316 ft) high sandhill upon which the Yyldyz Hotel was built, but most of the city lies between 200 and 255 metres (656 and 837 ft) of elevation. The Karakum Canal runs through the city.^[13][14][15]

Like the rest of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat’s soil is primarily sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the Paratethys Ocean. The Kopet Dag mountains emerged toward the end of the Cretaceous Period.^[16]

Urban layout[edit]

1881 to 1929[edit]

Prior to 1881 any buildings other than yurts were made solely from adobe and were limited to one story in height due to the seismic risk.^[17] As of 1900 only one building in the city was two stories tall, the municipal museum.^[18] City planning began following the Russian conquest, with «very simple planning schemes.» The basic layout of downtown streets «has been preserved to this day and defined the unique character of the city structure combining linear and radial types of layout of blocks.» The Russian writer Vasily Yan, who lived in Askhabad from 1901 to 1904, described the city as «a little tidy town consisting of numerous clay houses, surrounded by fruit gardens with straight streets, planted with slim cottonwood, chestnut, and white acacia planned by the hand of military engineers.»^[19] Another description noted,

The fortress was the center of the bureaucratic part of the city. Here stood especially sturdy thick-walled houses, with strong window grates and corner buttresses. Earthquakes were less frightening in such houses, and behind the thick walls even in the hottest months some measure of indoor coolness was retained. Each house had a garden around it, on maintenance of which residents spared neither expenditures nor water…Nearer the rail station lived the railroad workers and craftsmen. Here the houses were shorter and more densely spaced, gardens smaller, and dust on the streets greater…

Gradually a third center of Ashkhabad started to emerge, of the merchants. Roughly equidistant from the rail station and the fortress was laid out a sad marketplace, becoming not only a center of stores and stalls, but a center of gravity for merchants’ residence.^[20]

1930 to 1948[edit]

In 1930, asphalt was used for the first time to pave Ashgabat’s streets.^[21] The water supply was increased by piping water from springs in neighboring Gämi and Bagyr.^[21]

The first master plan for Ashgabat, developed between 1935 and 1937 at the Moscow Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Imagery, and Cartography, envisioned expansion to the west, including irrigation and greening of the Bikrova canyon (today Bekrewe).^[15] The city architect’s office was created in 1936 but was unable to implement the new master plan «as it implied significant demolition of the existing buildings.»^[22] A description of Ashgabat published in 1948 just before the earthquake noted, «In Ashgabat there are nearly no tall buildings, thus every two-story building is visible from above…», i.e., from the foothills. The tallest structures were the clock tower of the textile mill, the «round smokestack of the glass factory», two «exceptionally thin minarets» of the «former mosque», and «two splendid towers over the long building of the main city hotel.»^[20]

Impact of the 1948 earthquake[edit]

During the 1948 earthquake, since the bulk of Ashgabat at that time was built of either adobe or fired brick, all but a very few buildings collapsed or were damaged beyond repair (the reinforced concrete grain elevator, Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, and Kärz Bank were among the structures that survived).^[23][24] According to Turkmenistan’s official news agency,

Nearly all one-story residential buildings in the city made of mud brick were destroyed, 95 percent of all one-story buildings made of fired brick, and the remaining structures were damaged beyond repair. The number of inhabitable buildings was in single digits, and at that, only after capital renovation.^[22]

A new general plan was hastily developed by July 1949. The city was divided into four zones: central, northern, eastern, and southwestern. Reconstruction of the city began in that year.^[15][22] Thus from the early 1950s through 1991 Ashgabat’s skyline was dominated by the Brutalist Style favored by post-Stalin Soviet architects.^[25] The city’s central avenue, Magtymguly (former Kuropatkin, Freedom, and Stalin Prospect), featured «monotonous and primarily two-story construction of administrative and residential buildings.» This reconstruction «preserved the existing network of city streets as it was economically unjustified to redesign them.»^[22] The city was described as «…a Communist-era backwater, rebuilt into a typically drab provincial Soviet city…»^[26] The plan was updated in 1959.^[27]

Among the buildings erected in the 1950s and 1960s were the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Turkmenistan Communist Party, the Council of Ministers Building, the Mollanepes Academic Drama Theater, the former Ashkhabad Hotel (now renamed Paytagt), the Academy of Sciences complex, and the downtown library building. On then-Karl Marx Square stood a monument to the Soviet «fighters for victory of Soviet power in Turkmenistan».^[15]

The 1960s master plan[edit]

The Turkmen State Project Institute undertook a feasibility study in the mid-1960s to forecast Ashgabat’s development to the year 2000, and on that basis to develop a new master plan. Up until then the city had largely expanded to the east, but now the plan called for development to the south and west. This plan was used for about 20 years, and led to construction of the city’s first four-story apartment buildings in the Howdan (Russian: Гаудан) microdistricts, formerly the site of the Ashgabat-South aerodrome, as well as annexation of three collective farms in the near suburbs and their conversion into residential neighborhoods, one of which, Leningrad kolkhoz, to this day is referred to informally by its former name.^[22][28] The plan was reworked in 1974, and this resulted in relocation of several industrial plants away from the city center, and thus creation of the industrial zones to the northwest, south, southeast, and northeast.^[15]

Between 1961 and 1987 the city architect was Abdulla Ahmedov, who introduced Soviet modernism to Ashgabat.^[29] Ahmedov’s greatest architectural accomplishment during this period is considered the Ashgabat Hotel (today renamed Paytagt Hotel), built between 1964 and 1970, «a harmonious synthesis of architecture and monumental art.»^[29]

Growth[edit]

In 1948 Ashgabat was described before the earthquake as lying «on a sloping plain of the Kopet-Dag foothills, stretching seven kilometers from west to east and five kilometers from the railroad right-of-way to the south, in the direction of the mountains.»^[20] Through the mid-1970s, Ashgabat was a compact city, as shown by the 1974 Soviet military’s General Staff map J-40-081.^[30] The village of Köşi, collective farm «Leningrad», airport, and suburbs to the north were outside the city limits.

Beginning in the 1970s, Ashgabat’s boundaries shifted outward, with the aforementioned municipalities annexed, the aerodrome at Howdan redeveloped, and creation of the Parahat (Russian: Mir) neighborhoods to the south and industrial parks to the east. In 2013, Ashgabat annexed a portion of the then-Ruhabat district of Ahal Province as well as the city of Abadan (previously named Büzmeýin, and renamed that as a neighborhood) plus all land and villages in between. The southern boundary of Ashgabat was extended southward to the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains. Overall, Ashgabat’s land area rose by 37,654 hectares. The following municipalities were abolished due to their incorporation into the city of Ashgabat: city of Abadan, towns of Jülge and Ruhabat, villages of Gökje, Gypjak, Birleşik, Magaryf, Herrikgala, Ýalkym, Gurtly, Hellewler, Ylmy-Tejribe bazasy, Ýasmansalyk, Köne Gurtly, Gulantäzekli, Serdar ýoly, Gaňtar, Gyzyljagala, Inerçýage, Tarhan, Topurly, and Ussagulla.^[31][32][33] A further expansion occurred January 5, 2018, when additional land to the north was annexed, incorporating the Gurtly Reservoir and two greenfield residential construction projects, known today as Täze Zaman. This statute also established the current four boroughs of Ashgabat.^[34][35]

Climate[edit]

Ashgabat
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D 20 9 0 24 11 1 41 17 6 32 24 12 21 30 17 6 36 22 3 38 24 2 37 22 3 32 16 10 24 10 19 17 5 20 10 1 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: pogoda.ru.net[36]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D 0.8 47 31 0.9 52 34 1.6 62 42 1.3 75 53 0.8 86 62 0.2 97 71 0.1 101 75 0.1 99 71 0.1 89 61 0.4 76 50 0.7 62 41 0.8 51 34 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

The Kopet Dag mountain range is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south, and Ashgabat’s northern boundary touches the Kara-Kum desert. Because of this Ashgabat has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWk, bordering from BWh) with very hot, dry summers and cool, short winters. The average high temperature in July is 38.3 °C (100.9 °F). Nighttimes in the summer are warm, with an average minimum temperature in July of 23.8 °C (75 °F). The average January high temperature is 8.6 °C (47.5 °F), and the average low temperature is −0.4 °C (31.3 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ashgabat is 47.2 °C (117 °F), recorded in June 2015.^[36] A low temperature of −24.1 °C (−11 °F) was recorded in January 1969.^[36] Snow is infrequent in the area. Annual precipitation is only 201 millimetres (7.91 in); March and April are the wettest months, and June to September are the driest months. In May 2022, 338 millimetres (13.31 in), 1,352% of the monthly normal, was reported.^[37]

History[edit]

Ashgabat grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, first mentioned as a wine-producing village in the 1st-2nd century BC and leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC. Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century. After that it survived as a small village until Russians took over in the 19th century.^[40][41]

The near suburb of Köşi, until 2013 a separate village but in that year annexed by Ashgabat, may have been site of a Parthian fortress constructed to protect the capital city, Nisa, based on discoveries of pottery and other artifacts in the 1970s and as recently as 2020. Other artifacts indicating settlement during the Parthian period were reportedly discovered during laying of telephone cables on the site of the Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar in downtown Ashgabat.^[42]

According to Muradov, the first mention of the settlement in modern times is found in Khiva chronicles of 1811.^[43]

British Lieutenant Colonel H.C. Stuart reported in 1881 that the Ahal branch of the Teke tribe of the Turkmen ethnic group arrived in the area around 1830 and established several semi-nomadic villages (auls) between what are now the city of Serdar and village of Gäwers, inclusive. One of these villages was named Askhabad.^[44] The first Russian reference to Ashgabat dates to 1850, in a document kept in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives listing 43 Ahal fortresses, «Ishkhabad» among them.^[19] It was described as a «typical Turkmen aul«.^[20]

It was formally part of Persia but de facto autonomous under Turkoman tribal control until Russian forces defeated the Teke army at the Battle of Geok Tepe in January 1881. Persia ceded Askhabad to the Russian Empire in September 1881 under the terms of the Akhal Treaty.

Russian Empire[edit]

The city was officially founded January 18, 1881, as a fortified garrison and was named after the Turkmen village on that site.^{[20][45][15][46]} Russian military engineers platted the garrison settlement «on the western edge of the aul (village) of Askhabad on the Gaudan (Howdan) road leading to Persia. The fortress stood on a hill 12 meters high, on which was constructed a citadel-redoubt, and below [it], the residential area, surrounded by walls and a moat.»^[15] Sixty-seven Turkmen families were compensated for the land confiscated from them for this construction.^[46]

Russia developed the area due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia. In 1882 a wagon road was built through the mountains to Quchan, Iran, which led to increased trade as well as settlement of Persian and Armeno-Turkmen merchants in Askhabad.^[46] The Trans-Caspian railway reached Askhabad in 1885. The population grew from 2,500 in 1881 to 10,000 in 1886 and 19,428 (of whom one third were Persian) by 1897.^[46][47] The Transcaspian Public Library was established in 1885, boys and girls high schools were founded in 1886, and the Kuropatkin School of Horticulture and Viticulture appeared in 1890. The first telephone station was installed in 1900.^[46]

The city was regarded as a pleasant municipality with European-style buildings, shops, and hotels. Several streets were named after Russian military figures, reflecting its status as a garrison town, including the main square, named in honor of General Mikhail Skobelev, commander of Russian forces during the 1880–1881 Trans-Caspian military campaign. These included as well the western boundary avenue, named in honor of General Nikolai Grodekov, and the city’s central avenue, renamed in the 1890s to honor General and Trans-Caspian Governor-General Aleksey Kuropatkin, both of whom had served in the Trans-Caspian campaign under Skobolev’s command.^[48]

In 1908, the first Bahá’í House of Worship was built in Askhabad. It was badly damaged in the 1948 earthquake and finally demolished in 1963.^[49][50] The community of the Bahá’í Faith in Turkmenistan was largely based in Askhabad.

By 1915 Askhabad featured branches of the Russian State Bank, Persian Accounting Loan Bank, Russian-Asian Bank, Société Générale, and Askhabat Mutual Credit Union.^[19]

Soviet period[edit]

Soviet rule was established in Ashgabat in December 1917. However, in July 1918, a coalition of Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, and Tsarist former officers of the Imperial Russian Army revolted against the Bolshevik rule emanating from Tashkent and established the Ashkhabad Executive Committee. After receiving some support (but even more promises) from General Malleson, the British withdrew in April 1919 and the Tashkent Soviet resumed control of the city.

In 1919, the city was renamed Poltoratsk (Russian: Полторацк), after Pavel Poltoratskiy, the Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.^[45][51] When the Turkmen SSR was established in 1924, Poltoratsk became its capital. The original name but in the form of «Ashkhabad» rather than «Askhabad» was restored in 1927.^[45] In keeping with standard Soviet practice, Imperial Russian street names were changed to honor prominent Communists, Russians, or socialist ideals. For example, Skobolev Square became Karl Marx Square, Grodekov Street became Ostrovskiy Street, and Kuropatkin Prospect became Freedom Prospect (and from 1953 to 1961, following Joseph Stalin’s death, Stalin Prospect).^[52][53] In 1927 a statue of Vladimir Lenin designed by A.A. Karelin and Ye.R. Tripolskaya was erected.^[15]

During World War II Ashgabat became a refuge for both institutions, including Moscow State University and the Kiev film studio, and individuals. Roughly 8,000 refugees were quartered in private homes during the war.^[21] Among the outsiders who escaped to Ashgabat during the war were Andrei Sakharov and author Yury Olesha. In 1944 Ukrainian motion picture director Mark Donskoy filmed Rainbow (Ukrainian: Веселка , Russian: Радуга) in Ashgabat, which was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film.^[21]

From this period onward, the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 6, 1948. An estimated 7.3 on the Richter scale, the earthquake killed 110–176,000^{[54][55][56][57]} (⅔ of the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000.^[58]

Independence[edit]

In July 2003, street names in Ashgabat were replaced by serial numbers except for nine major highways, some named after Saparmurat Niyazov, his father, and his mother. The Presidential Palace Square was designated 2000 to symbolize the beginning of the 21st century. The rest of the streets were assigned larger or smaller four-digit numerical names. Following Niyazov’s death in 2006, Soviet-era street names were restored, though in the years since, many of them have been replaced with names honoring Turkmen scholars, poets, military heroes, and figures from art and culture, as well as celebrating the nation’s independence. For example, Karl Marx Square became Garaşsyzlyk (Independence) Square, Ostrovskiy Street became Abba Annaýew (in honor of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s great-uncle), and Freedom Prospect became Magtymguly.^{[52][53][59][60]}

In 2013, the city was included in the Guinness Book of Records as possessing the world’s highest concentration of white marble buildings.^[61]

Ashgabat’s «11th Line» project was dedicated on June 29, 2012, including 17 high-rise apartment buildings along 10 ýyl Abadançylyk şaýoly, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a fire station, and a health clinic.^[62] The «12th Line» project was completed October 1, 2014, consisting of a straightening and widening of Atamyrat Nyýazow şaýoly plus construction of 13 high-rise apartment buildings, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a new headquarters building for the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Telekeçi shopping center, and the Development Bank. On that same date, the new Cabinet of Ministers building was also opened.^[63]

In preparation for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the city spent $5 billion on residential construction. December 4, 2014, the president issued a decree calling for construction of 60 9-story apartment buildings in the Parahat-7 microdistrict, a greenfield project in the southeast quadrant of the city.^[64] On November 10, 2015, the «13th Line» was dedicated, a complete reconstruction of buildings along Oguzhan köçesi west of Garaşsyzlyk şaýoly.^[65] Projects included demolition and redevelopment of the Leningrad kolkhoz neighborhood as the «14th Line», and the Gazha and Vosmushka neighborhoods as the «15th Line».^{[52][66][67][68][69]}

Subsequent to conclusion of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the «16th Line» project, a redevelopment of the Köşi neighborhood and extension of Magtymguly Prospect to the west, was begun in 2018.^[70][71] The «16th Line» was dedicated on November 10, 2020; it includes 16 high-rise apartment buildings, the Gül zemin shopping center, and a monument to the Alabay sheepdog.^[72] In addition, the Gurtly and Choganly housing complexes, both greenfield projects, were constructed.^[73][74][75] In May 2021 the government announced plans for the «17th Line», consisting of a resort complex encircling Golden Lake (Turkmen: Altyn köl), the former Gurtly Reservoir, to include 268 vacation cottages plus buildings for public services and amenities.^[76]

The largest current residential project is construction of «Ashgabat-City» (Turkmen: Aşgabat-siti) north of the Choganly residential neighborhood, which is planned to include over 200 buildings on 744 hectares, and for the first time in the city’s history to feature some buildings as tall as 35 stories.^{[77][78][79][80][81]} These will include 180 12- to 35-story residential buildings containing 17,836 apartments intended to house over 107,000 occupants.^[82][83][84]

Ashgabat milestones:^[85]

• 1882–1918 – administrative center of Russia’s Transcaspian Region
• 1918–1925 – administrative center of the Turkmen Oblast in the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
• since February 1925 – capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
• since October 1991 – capital of independent Turkmenistan

Districts[edit]

Boroughs[edit]

See also Map of the Boroughs of Ashgabat

As of January 5, 2018, Ashgabat includes four boroughs (uly etraplar), each with a presidentially appointed mayor (Turkmen: häkim):^{[1][86][87][88][89][90][91]}

1. Bagtyýarlyk etraby (formerly President Niyazov, Lenin District, expanded to include former Ruhabat District plus new territory)
2. Berkararlyk etraby (formerly Azatlyk, Sovetskiy District)
3. Büzmeýin etraby (formerly Abadan District, expanded to include former Arçabil and Çandybil Districts)
4. Köpetdag etraby (formerly Proletarskiy District)

This is a reduction from the previous number of boroughs. Arçabil and Çandybil boroughs were merged on February 4, 2015, and the new etrap, named Arçabil, was in turn renamed Büzmeýin in January 2018. At that time the Abadan borough of Ashgabat, created in 2013 by annexing the town of Abadan and surrounding villages to Abadan’s south, was abolished and its territory was merged into the newly renamed Büzmeýin borough. The former Ruhabat borough was abolished at the same time and its territory absorbed by Bagtyýarlyk borough.^[92]

On 15 June 2020, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced intention to create a fifth borough of Ashgabat, to be called Altyn etraby, centered on the new resort zone created on the shores of the former Gurtly Water Reservoir, recently renamed «Golden Lake» (Altyn köl).^[93]

Microdistricts[edit]

Ashgabat’s boroughs are subdivided into microdistricts (Russian: микрорайоны, singular микрорайон, Turkmen: etrapçalar, singular etrapça). These are administrative units that possess no independent governance structures. They are used for management of utilities and publicly owned housing. Ashgabat includes the following microdistricts:

• 1 through 11 Etrapça
• 30 Etrapça
• Howdan A
• Howdan B
• Howdan W
• Parahat 1 through 8^[94][95][96]

Demographics[edit]

In 1871 a Russian visitor named Strebnitskiy counted over four thousand «nomad tents» (yurts), implying a population of 16 to 20 thousand Ahal Teke Turkmen, many of whom were killed or dispersed in the 1881 Battle of Geok Tepe. The population was 2,500 in 1881, virtually all Russian.^[47] By 1886 Askhabad’s population was about 10,000, mainly ethnic Russians.^[15][19] Construction of the Trans-Caspian Railway stimulated an influx of migrants seeking employment, particularly from the Caucasus, Volga Valley, and Iran, and Askhabad’s subsequent population growth was as follows:

1897: 19,426
1908: 39,867
1911: 45,384

Ethnic Russians dominated the population after 1881, with about 20 percent admixture of Caucasus-origin migrants (mainly Armeno-Turkmen).^[15][20] One source indicates that pre-revolutionary Askhabad had no Turkmen residents at all, and that they lived in nearby auls.^[20] This began to change in the 1920s, following imposition of Soviet power, which brought with it forced collectivization. In 1926 Ashkhabad’s population of 51,593 included 52.4% Russians, 13.53% Armeno-Turkmen, 4.3% Persians, , and 29.8% «other». By 1939, Ashkhabad counted 126,500 residents, including 11.7% Armeno-Turkmen. The 1959 census recorded a population of 169,900, which grew to 338,000 by 1983, including 105 nationalities, of which ethnic Armeno-Turkmen constituted 40 percent.^[15]

According to estimates of the 2012 Turkmen census the Turkmens form 78.5% of the city’s population. Russians form 10% of the population, followed by Turks (1.1%), Uzbeks (1.1%), and Azeris (1%).^[97]

Architecture[edit]

Post-1991[edit]

Following independence in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov began hiring foreign architectural and construction firms, most prominently Bouygues of France and the Turkish firms Polimeks and Gap Inşaat, the latter a subsidiary of Çalık Holding. These firms blended Persian-style domes, which Niyazov favored, with Greco-Roman architectural elements such as pillars.^{[98][99][100][101][102]}

Following Niyazov’s death, domes began to go out of fashion for buildings other than mosques, and public buildings began to take on more modernist characteristics, often with a motif reflecting the structure’s intended occupant. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building is topped by a globe of the Earth, inside which is a conference center; the Development Bank building is topped by a giant coin; the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry building is shaped like a stylized caduceus, the dental hospital is shaped like a molar and the international terminal of Ashgabat International Airport is shaped like a falcon.^[103] The dominant characteristic of new construction since 1991 has been nearly universal facing with white marble.^[104][17] Another recurring motif is the eight-pointed star of Oguz Han, the largest of which is on the television tower and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.^{[105][106][107]} The official Turkmen government guide book to Ashgabat refers to the star of Oguz Khan as «…the basic dominant of the whole architectural-art decor…»^[19]

After independence, the city architect’s office ordered construction of many high-rise (generally 12-story) residential buildings. Modern construction techniques allow high-rise development with good seismic safety. Primarily consisting of residential towers, the first floor is typically used as retail space and for building maintenance.^[17]

Monuments and statues[edit]

Ashgabat features many sculptures honoring Turkmen, Turkic, and other Islamic poets and heroes. Four statues, of Lenin, Alexander Pushkin, Taras Shevchenko, and Magtymguly, date to the Soviet period, as do a statue and a bust of Turkmen composer Nury Halmammedov. Since then, however, much new sculpture has appeared. In Ylham (Inspiration) Park are found numerous busts and statues. Additional statues can be seen in the VDNH Park. A monumental statue of the current president was dedicated in May 2015 near Ashgabat Stadium. One also finds statues of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Alp Arslan. In addition to the statue of former President Niyazov atop the Neutrality Monument, a gilded statue of him stands before the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a gilded seated statue of him graces the entry to the Turkmen Agricultural University.

Since independence in 1991, several monuments to features of Turkmenistan’s governance have been erected: to neutrality, to the constitution, to the renaissance of Turkmenistan, to independence, as well as a special monument to former President Saparmurat Niyazov’s magnum opus, Ruhnama.

The memorial complex in Bekrewe includes a statue of a bull with the Earth balanced on its horns, symbolizing the 1948 earthquake, and a statue of two traditionally dressed Turkmen warriors guarding a widow grieving the death of her husband in World War II. The exterior wall of the museum features bas reliefs depicting events in Turkmenistan’s history.

In advance of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in September 2017, roughly one billion dollars was spent on widening and upgrading Ashgabat’s major thoroughfares.^[52] Several traffic circles were created, in which were placed mainly abstract monuments. As of 2020 the most recent addition to these are the Bicycle Monument (Turkmen: Welosiped binasy), which President Berdimuhamedov dedicated on June 3, 2020, and the Turkmen Alabay monument, dedicated on November 10, 2020.^[108][109]

Controversies[edit]

Much of the urban renewal since 1991 has involved demolition of traditional single-family residential housing, commonly with allegedly forced eviction of residents, and often without compensation to the homeowners. In particular, private homes rebuilt in neighborhoods flattened by the 1948 earthquake, many of which were never formally registered with the government, were subject to confiscation and demolition without compensation, as were former dacha communities like Ruhabat, Berzengi, and Choganly, which in nearly all cases lacked formal ownership documents.^{[110][111][112][113][114][115]}

First Baha’i Temple in the world[edit]

When Ashgabat was under Russian rule, the number of Bahá’ís in the city rose to over 1,000, and a Bahá’í community was established, with its own schools, medical facilities and cemetery. The community elected one of the first Bahá’í local administrative institutions. In 1908 the Bahá’í community completed the construction of the first Bahá’í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of mašriqu-l-‘aḏkār (Arabic: مشرق اﻻذكار),^[116] where people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions.^[117] The building was designed under the guidance of `Abdu’l-Bahá by Ustad’ Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi who also wrote a history of the Baha’is in Ashgabat.^[118][119]

The House of Worship itself was surrounded by gardens, with four buildings at the four corners of the gardens: a school, a hostel where travelling Bahá’ís were entertained, a small hospital, and a building for groundskeepers.^[119]

Under the Soviet policy towards religion, the Bahá’ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned these properties in 1928.^[120] For the decade from 1938 to 1948, when it was seriously damaged by the earthquake, it was an art gallery. It was demolished in 1963.^[117]

Other notable structures[edit]

The Arch of Neutrality was dismantled and re-erected in its original form in the south of the capital.

Turkmenistan Tower, the television and radio broadcasting tower, at a height of 211 meters is the tallest structure in the country. It was dedicated on October 17, 2011.^[17]

The administrative center of Ashgabat as the national capital is on the Archabil highway, where several ministries and agencies, as well as educational, research, and cultural centers, are found.^[121] The former Novofiryuzenskoye shosse (New Firyuza Highway) was rebuilt by Gap Inşaat in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Economy[edit]

The principal industries are cotton textiles and metal working. It is a major stop on the Trans-Caspian railway. A large percentage of the employment in Ashgabat is provided by the state institutions; such as the ministries, undersecretariats, and other administrative bodies of the Turkmenistan government. There are also many foreign citizens working as diplomats or clerks in the embassies of their respective countries. Ashgabat lends its name to the Ashgabat agreement, signed by India, Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.^[122]

In 2019 and 2020, Ashgabat was the most expensive city in the world for foreign expatriates in ECA International’s Cost of Living Survey.^[7][9][123] It was also listed as the second most expensive city in the world overall by the 2020 Mercer Cost of Living Survey.^[8] Its high cost of living for foreigners has been attributed to severe inflation and rising import costs.^[7][8][124]

Industry[edit]

Between 1881 and 1921, little industry existed in Ashgabat. Muradov relates that in 1915 the city featured «68 enterprises, mainly semi-handicrafts, with a total of 200-300 workers.»^[18] Another source relates that as of 1911 roughly half the workforce of somewhat more than 400 «workers» was employed at the railroad depot, engaged in locomotive and railcar maintenance and repair, with the rest occupied in cotton ginning, cottonseed oil extraction, flour milling, and leather-, brick-, glass-, and iron production.^[15] By 1915 the city boasted as well three printing houses, an electrical power station, three cotton gins, a creamery, a tannery, and 35 brickyards.^[19]

In 1921 Soviet authorities built a new glass plant plus a wine and spirits factory. In the years following several more factories were added, including the «Red Metalworker» iron-working plant (1925), the silk spinning plant (1928), a cotton spinning plant and textile plant (1929), candy factory (1930), garment factory (1933), shoe factory (1934), and a meat cannery (1938).^[15] As of 1948, Ashgabat boasted «about twenty large factory-plant enterprises, which produce fabrics, glass, footwear, garments, meat products, dredges, agricultural implement parts and much else.»^[20][125]

Annexation of the former city of Buzmeyin (Turkmen: Büzmeýin), which from 2002 to 2018 was known as Abadan,^[91] brought into Ashgabat’s city limits its major industrial suburb. Today’s Buzmeyin neighborhood features the Buzmeyin State Electrical Power Plant, and factories for production of reinforced concrete, cement, asbestos roofing, pipes, and concrete blocks, as well as a carpet-weaving factory and soft-drink bottling plant.^[15]

Today more than 43 large and 128 medium-sized industrial enterprises along with over 1,700 small industrial facilities are located in Ashgabat and its suburbs.^[126] The most important are Ashneftemash, Turkmenkabel, and Turkmenbashy Textile Complex.^[127]

Electrical power generation[edit]

The Abadan State Power Plant (now Büzmeýin State Power Plant), commissioned in 1957, was the first large power plant in Turkmenistan. Two gas turbine plants with a capacity of 123 MW each currently generate electricity in this plant.^[128] The Ashgabat State Power Plant, located in the southern part of city, began operating in 2006. It is equipped with gas turbine generators with a total capacity of 254.2 megawatts.^[128]

Ashgabat also draws power from the Ahal State Power Plant, located outside the city in Ahal Province. It began operating in 2010 with two gas turbines producing 254.2 MW. Three small gas turbines were added in 2013 and two more gas turbines in 2014, bringing capacity to 648.1 MW.^[128]

Shopping[edit]

Altyn Asyr Bazaar in Choganly, also known as «Tolkuchka», features manufactured items including traditional fabrics and hand-woven carpets, as well as livestock and used automobiles. Modern shopping areas are found mostly in central streets, including the modern Berkarar Mall and the Paýtagt and Aşgabat shopping centres, as well as the 15 Years of Independence Shopping Centre (Turkmen: 15 ýyl Garaşsyzlyk söwda merkezi), colloquially known as the «Wholesale Market» (Russian: Optovyy rynok).^{[129][130][131]}

Local residents tend to shop at traditional bazaars: Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar, Teke Bazaar, Daşoguz Bazaar, Paytagt (Mir) Bazaar, and Jennet Bazaar. The Turkish-owned Yimpaş department store closed as of December 2016.^[132]

Transportation[edit]

The city is served by the Ashgabat International Airport, expansion of which cost $2.3 billion and which has a design capacity of 14,000,000 passengers per year.^{[133][134][135]} Turkmenistan Airlines is headquartered at the airport.^[136] Ashgabat offers air service to and from all the major cities of the Turkmenistan. Since March 2020, in order to prevent the import and spread of coronavirus infection, all planes arriving in Turkmenistan from abroad are redirected to the Turkmenabat International Airport .^[137]

On 18 October 2006, the Ashgabat Cable Car opened, connecting the city with the foothills of the Kopetdag.^[138]

Ashgabat Monorail commenced service in 2016, becoming the first monorail in the Central Asia region.^{[139][140][141]} It is a loop 5.2 kilometers long and circulates exclusively on the territory of the Olympic Village (Turkmen: Olimpiýa şäherçesi).^[140][141]

In January 2018, it was reported that black cars had been impounded for weeks in Ashgabat, a result of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s conviction that black cars bring bad luck.^[142]

The Ukrainian construction firm Interbudmontazh has proposed construction of a subway (metropolitan) line, to connect the Ashgabat-Siti residential area in the northern suburbs to downtown Ashgabat.^[143]

Railway[edit]

Ashgabat has a single central railway station. In May 2009 the restoration of the Ashgabat railway station was completed. The railway station is made in Soviet-style architecture with its long point on the building roof.

The Trans-Caspian Railway (Türkmenbaşy–Balkanabat–Bereket–Ashgabat–Mary–Türkmenabat) runs through Ashgabat from east to west. Since 2006 there is also a train line from Ashgabat to the north, the Trans-Karakum Railway.^[144]

As of July 2021, the following railway routes are scheduled from and to Ashgabat:^{[145][146][147][148]}

• Ashgabat-Balkanabat
• Ashgabat-Türkmenbaşy
• Ashgabat-Dashoguz
• Ashgabat-Sarahs
• Ashgabat-Serhetabat
• Ashgabat-Amyderýa

City buses and trolleybus[edit]

Public transport in the city consists mainly of buses. More than 100 bus^[149][150] lines cover a total range of more than 2,230 kilometres (1,386 miles) with 700 buses running on urban routes. The city primarily uses Iran Khodro 0457 (Mercedes-Benz) and Hyundai New Super Aero City^[151] buses.^[152] Bus timetables and detailed schematic map of the route are at every stop. Distances between stops are about 300–500 meters.

Travel in the Ashgabat city public transport for the majority of the country’s population incurs a fee. Money is thrown into a box next to the driver. Large bills are given to the driver, he gives change. The fare for travel in city public transport is 50 Turkmen tenge (since 2017).^[153] Route taxi (marshrutka) is 1 manat.

Information about bus routes and stops in Ashgabat is available in the mobile application Duralga.^[154]

From November 1, 2017, the electronic system of payment for public transport came into full force in Ashgabat. Payment can be made using an electronic transport card. There are three types of electronic cards: school, for pensioners and general. When entering through the front door of the bus, the passenger must present the electronic card to the validator. The term of use of the transport electronic card is 4 years.^[155]

The new International Passenger Bus Terminal of Ashgabat was inaugurated on September 5, 2014.^[156][157] It offers intercity service to Bäherden, Türkmenbaşy, Dashoguz, Turkmenabat, Archman, Konye-Urgench, and Mollagara, as well as points in between.^[158] The main intracity bus terminals serving Ashgabat are near the Teke Bazaar and at the domestic airport terminal. Intercity lines are operated by Hyundai Universe Luxury, Iran Khodro SC 0457, Sahab Renault and Yutong ZK6129H.

Also, suburban communication has been established with Ýaşlyk, Geok Tepe, Gorjaw, Yzgant, Babarap, Bugdaýly, Annau, Gämi, Owadandepe, Watan, Khurmant, Onaldy, Gami Dacha, Kasamly Julge, Gäwers, Yashyldepe, Akdashayak, Niyazow, Suitchilik, Parahat. PAZ 32054 buses and Volkswagen minibuses operate on suburban routes.^[159]

From 19 October 1964 to 31 December 2011 the city also had the Ashgabat trolleybus system. At the beginning of the twentieth century a narrow-gauge steam railway connected the city with the suburb of Firyuza. As of 2011, there were 7 routes in the city. As of 2011, the Ashgabat trolleybus fleet had 47 trolleybuses (Škoda 14TrM) on its balance sheet. In 2000, the last obsolete trolleybuses of the JuMZ-T2 model were written off.

Taxi[edit]

In Ashgabat taxis are available at any time of the day or night.^[160] Awtomobil Ulag Hyzmat OJSC is the monopoly taxicab operator in the city.^[161] The fleet uses only new Toyota Corolla^[162] (white) and Hyundai Elantra (yellow) automobiles.^[163] Taxi fare is from 5 to 30 manats, depending on the distance from the city center and the results of negotiations with the driver.^[164]

Passengers may also hire taxicabs via mobile apps Onlaýn taksi and Taxi hyzmaty.^[165][166]

Telecommunication[edit]

As of 2021, Ashgabat has two mobile phone service providers:

• Altyn Asyr is a Turkmen national state company for the provision of communication services, established in 2004. In 2010, the company launched a 3G network of UMTS standard, covering all districts of Ashgabat and the Ashgabat International Airport . On September 18, 2013, the 4G network was put into operation using LTE technology.^[167]
• Ashgabat City Telephone Network provides CDMA communication services (over 55 thousand subscribers). The network was created and put into operation by the company for the first time in 2003.^[168]

In addition to the mobile network providers, Turkmentelecom provides internet services.

Turkmenpochta is the official national postal operator of Turkmenistan. Based in Ashgabat, it currently operates through 38 postal offices in city.^[169]

Media[edit]

Notable newspapers published in Ashgabat include the daily newspapers Türkmenistan and Neytralny Turkmenistan.^[170]

TV[edit]

The main offices of 7 television channels are located in Ashgabat: Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk, Miras, Turkmenistan Sport, Turkmen Owazy, Ashgabat and Turkmenistan TV.^[171]

Ashgabat TV is main city channel. The channel tells about the events of social, cultural, economic life, the activities of scientific and educational institutions of the Ashgabat.^[172][173]

Almost 136^[174] international TV channels are available in the IPTV playlist for subscribers of the Ashgabat City Telephone Network.^[175] Most of them are thematic channels: news, sports, scientific and educational, TV channels for children, channels of various genres of cinema, music.^[174]

Residents of Ashgabat also watch television via satellite dishes.^[176]

Radio[edit]

As of 2008, Ashgabat has 4 FM stations: Owaz, Char Tarapdan, Miras and Watan. These stations can additionally be streamed through Turkmentelecom’s website.^[177]

Science and education[edit]

Ashgabat is the most important educational center of Turkmenistan with several institutions of higher education. Magtymguly Turkmen State University was founded in 1950. The main university building is located on Beýik Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy şaýoly. Turkmen State Medical University is situated in Ashgabat as well. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Health and Pharmaceutical Industry of Turkmenistan. Other prominent institutions are the Turkmen State Institute of Economics and Management, a main business school founded in 1980, as well as the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, Turkmen Agricultural University, and The National Institute of Sports and Tourism of Turkmenistan. In 2016, the English- and Japanese-medium Oguz Khan University of Engineering Technologies was opened with support of the Japanese government. The International University of Humanities and Development is another English-medium institution of higher education. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ training ground is the Institute of International Relations.^[178][179]

Ashgabat is home to five military academies: the Military Institute, the Naval Institute, the Border Guards Institute, the Institute of National Security, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Institute. In 2020 the Military Institute began accepting applications from women.^[179][180]

Four international secondary schools operate in Ashgabat. The Russian Embassy sponsors the Russian-medium A.S. Pushkin Russo-Turkmen School, the French construction company Bouygues sponsors a French school for children of its Francophone employees, the Turkish Embassy sponsors the Turkish-medium Turgut Ozal Turkmen-Turkish School, and the American Embassy sponsors the English-medium Ashgabat International School.^{[181][182][183][184]}

Prior to establishment of Soviet authority in Turkmenistan, Ashgabat had only 11 schools and no scientific or research centers.^[15] By 1948 Ashgabat had three institutions of higher education, 20 technical schools, 60 libraries, «and approximately the same number of kindergartens.»^[20]

The Turkmen Academy of Sciences was founded June 29, 1951, and includes the unique Desert Institute among its 26 scientific research institutes, as well as the State Seismological Service, 17-degree-granting schools, two medical research centers, a library, and two print shops. The Academy of Sciences is the only institution in Turkmenistan accredited to award postgraduate degrees. In 2019, President Berdimuhamedov decreed that state funding of the Academy of Sciences would end within three years.^{[15][185][186][187][188]} Prior to founding of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences, local scientific-research institutes, all located in a single two-story building, were subordinate to the USSR Academy of Sciences.^[20]

Main sights[edit]

Museums include the Turkmen Fine Arts Museum and Turkmen Carpet Museum, noted for their impressive collection of woven carpets as well as a Turkmen history museum and the Ashgabat National Museum of History, which displays artifacts dating back to the Parthian and Persian civilizations. Ashgabat was also home to the Arch of Neutrality, a 75 m (250 ft) tall tripod crowned by a golden statue of late president Saparmurat Niyazov (also known as Turkmenbashy, or head Turkmen). The 15 m (50 ft) high statue, which rotated in order to always face the sun during daylight hours, was removed on August 26, 2010, after Niyazov’s successor, current President Berdimuhamedov, made clear earlier in the year that the statue was to be taken out of Ashgabat’s Independence Square.^[189] In 2011 a Monument to the Constitution was built, its total height of 185 m (607 ft) makes it the second tallest structure in Turkmenistan.^[190]

Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest Ferris wheel in an enclosed space.^[191] The Ashgabat Flagpole is the fifth tallest free–standing flagpole in the world, standing at 436 ft (133 m) tall. The Ashgabat Fountain has the world’s greatest number of fountain pools in a public place.^[192][193] Ashgabat also features Turkmenistan Tower which is the tallest tower in Turkmenistan, the decorative octagonal Star of Oguzkhan is recognized as the world’s largest architectural image of the star and entered in the Guinness World Records.^[194]

Palaces[edit]

• Oguzhan Presidential Palace, the official presidential headquarters.
• Ruhyýet Palace, a place for official state events, forums, meetings, inaugurations.
• Wedding Palace, a civil registry building.^[195]

Theatres[edit]

Ashgabat’s major theaters are:

• Alp Arslan National Drama Theatre
• Magtymguly National Musical and Drama Theatre
• Main Drama Theatre named by Saparmurat Turkmenbashi
• Mollanepes Students Theatre
• Mukams Palace
• Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre
• Theatre «Art Ist»
• Turkmen State Puppet Theatere
• Turkmen State Circus

Each of several former municipalities annexed by Ashgabat also features local a «house of culture» Turkmen: Medeniýet Öýi.

Parks and squares[edit]

Ashgabat has many parks and open spaces, mainly established in the early years of the Independence and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: the Botanical Garden, Güneş, Turkmen-Turkish friendship, Independence. The oldest city park, Ashgabat, was founded in 1887 and is colloquially known as First Park.^[196] In the center of Ashgabat is the Inspiration Alley, an art-park complex which is a favorite place for many locals. The amusement park World of Turkmenbashi Tales is a local equivalent to Disneyland. Squares: 10 Years of Turkmenistan Independence, Magtymguly, Eternal Flame, Zelili, Chyrchyk, Garashsyzlyk, March 8, Gerogly, Dolphin, 15 years of Independence, Ruhyýet, 10 ýyl Abadançylyk, Ylham and Tashkent.

The Ashgabat Botanical Garden was founded on 1 October 1929, and is the oldest botanical garden in Central Asia.^{[197][198][199]} It covers a territory of approximately 18 hectares, and contains a live exhibition of more than 500 different species of plants coming from various parts of the world.^[200][201]

Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex[edit]

Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex was opened in 2014 in remembrance of those killed in the Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881, during World War II, and to commemorate of the victims of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake. It is located in the southwestern part of the city on Bekreve street.^[202][203]

Cinemas[edit]

Ashgabat has five cinemas. In 2011, Aşgabat Cinema, the first 3-D cinema in Turkmenistan, opened in Ashgabat.^[204] The Watan and Turkmenistan theaters were reconstructed. Additional cinemas are located in the Berkarar Mall and the Gül zemin Mall.

Mosques[edit]

Major mosques in Ashgabat include:

• Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque
• Ärtogrul Gazy Mosque, a gift from Turkey, was inaugurated in 1998 and resembles the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
• Hezreti Osman Mosque in the 8th microdistrict
• Hezreti Omar Mosque in the Parahat 7 microdistrict^[205]
• Azadi Mosque on Zarpçi köçesi
• Shehitler (Turkmen: Şehitler) mosque on Görogly köçesi
• Iranian mosque near the Iranian Embassy

There are also several mosques in former towns and villages annexed by Ashgabat and thus now neighborhoods within the city limits.

Churches[edit]

Ashgabat has five operating Christian churches. Four are Russian Orthodox churches:^[206]

• Saint Alexander Nevsky Church, founded in 1882 as parish church of the Russian military garrison, consecrated in 1900, located in the 30th Microdistrict (Russian: Храм святого благоверного великого князя Александра Невского)
• Temple of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, located inside the Khitrovka Cemetery (Russian: храм святителя и Чудотворца Николая)
• Temple of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, located near the Ruhnama School (Russian: храм Воскресения Христова)
• Temple of the Holy Equals to Apostles Cyril and Methodius, located in Büzmeýin (Russian: Храм святых равноапостольных Кирилла и Мефодия)

The Roman Catholic Chapel of the Transfiguration operates on the grounds of the Apostolic nunciature.

Other Christian denominations exist but as of 2019 only two were registered with the government and thus able to operate legally. The U.S. Department of State reported that Turkmen authorities «scrutinize or obstruct religious
groups attempting to purchase or lease buildings or land for religious purposes.»^[207]

Sports[edit]

The main sporting venues in Ashgabat are the Olympic Stadium, Ashgabat Stadium, the National Olympic ice rink, Sports complex for winter sports and the Olympic water sports complex.

Ashgabat was chosen as the host city of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games,^[208] and was also the first city in Central Asia to host the Asian Indoor Games. Between 2010 and 2017 an Olympic Village was built by the Turkish firm Polimeks south of the city center, at a cost of $5 billion.^[209][210]

In October 2017 a Jack Nicklaus Designs Signature 18-hole golf course opened in Ashgabat. It features 82 sand traps and covers 70 hectares.^{[211][212][213][214][215][216][217]}

Ashgabat was the host of the 2018 IWF World Weightlifting Championships.

The city’s professional football clubs Altyn Asyr FK, FC Aşgabat and FK Köpetdag Aşgabat play in the Ýokary Liga, the top league of Turkmenistan.

Inha Babakova, 1999 World High Jump champion, was born in Ashgabat.

Weightlifter Polina Guryeva captured Turkmenistan’s first Olympic medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, taking silver in the women’s 59 kg.

Twin towns – sister cities[edit]

Ashgabat is twinned with:^[218][219]

Partner cities[edit]

Ashgabat cooperates with:^[218]

See also[edit]

• Boroughs and landmarks of Ashgabat
  • Bagtyýarlyk District
  • Berkararlyk District
  • Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue
  • Büzmeýin (Abadan)
  • Büzmeýin District
  • Galkynysh Square, Ashgabat
  • Gypjak
  • Independence Square, Ashgabat
  • Kopetdag District
  • Magtymguly Avenue
  • Saparmurat Turkmenbashy Avenue
• List of cities in Turkmenistan
• OpenStreetMap wiki article on geography of Ashgabat
• Russian Turkestan

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). «Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь.» (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, «Русские словари», 1993.

External links[edit]

• Official website

Копетдагский этрабы (бывший Пролетарский район)>Это уменьшение количества районов по сравнению с предыдущим. Районы Арсабиль и Чандыбил были объединены 4 февраля 2015 года, а новый этрап, названный Арсабил, в свою очередь, был переименован в Бюзмейин в январе 2018 года. В то время район Абадан в Ашхабаде, созданный в 2013 году путем аннексии города Абадан и окрестных деревень. к югу от Абадана, был упразднен, а его территория была объединена в недавно переименованный район Бюзмейин. Бывший район Рухабат был упразднен, а его территория поглощена поселком Багтыярлык.

15 июня 2020 года президент Туркменистана Гурбангулы Бердымухамедов объявил о намерении создать пятый район Ашхабада, который будет называться Алтын этрабы с центром на новой курортной зоне, созданной на берегу бывшего Гуртлинского водохранилища, недавно переименованного в «Золотое озеро» (Алтын кёль).

Демография

В 1871 году русский посетитель по имени Стребницкий насчитал более четырех тысяч «кочевых палаток» (юрт), что подразумевает население от 16 до 20 тысяч ахалтекинских туркмен, многие из которых были убиты или рассеяны в 1881 г. битве при Геок-Тепе. В 1881 году население составляло 2500 человек, практически все русские. К 1886 году население Асхабада составляло около 10 000 человек, в основном русские. Строительство Транскаспийской железной дороги стимулировало приток мигрантов, ищущих работу, особенно с Кавказа, из долины Волги и из Ирана, и последующий прирост населения Асхабада был следующим:

1897 19,426. 1908 39,867. 1911 45 384.

Этнические русские преобладали в населении после 1881 года, около 20 процентов которых составляли мигранты кавказского происхождения (в основном армяне), но «очень мало» туркмен. Один источник указывает, что в дореволюционном Асхабаде туркменских жителей не было вообще, и что они жили в близлежащих аулах. Ситуация начала меняться в 1920-х годах после установления Советской власти, которая повлекла за собой насильственную коллективизацию. В 1926 году население Ашхабада, составлявшее 51 593 человека, составляло 52,4% русских, 11,3% армян, 4,3% персов, 2,2% туркмен и 29,8% «других». К 1939 году в Ашхабаде проживало 126 500 человек, в том числе 11,7% туркмен. По данным переписи 1959 года, население составляло 169 900 человек, а к 1983 году оно увеличилось до 338 000 человек, включая 105 национальностей, из которых 40 процентов составляли этнические туркмены.

Согласно оценкам туркменской переписи 2012 года туркмены составляют 77% населения города. русские составляют 10% населения, за ними следуют армяне (1,5%), турки (1,1%), узбеки (1,1%) и Азерис (1%).

Архитектура

До 1881 года любые постройки, кроме юрт, строились исключительно из самана и были ограничены высотой в один этаж из-за сейсмической опасности. Городское планирование началось после русского завоевания, с «очень простых схем планирования». Базовая планировка центральных улиц «сохранилась до наших дней и определила неповторимый характер городской структуры, сочетающей линейный и радиальный типы планировки кварталов». Русский писатель Василий Ян, живший в Асхабаде с 1901 по 1904 год, описывал город как «небольшой опрятный городок, состоящий из множества глиняных домов, окруженных фруктовыми садами с прямыми улицами, засаженными тонкими тополями, каштанами., и белая акация, задуманная руками военных инженеров ». В другом описании отмечается:

Крепость была центром бюрократической части города. Здесь стояли особо прочные толстостенные дома с крепкими оконными решетками и угловыми контрфорсами. Землетрясения в таких домах были менее страшными, и за толстыми стенами даже в самые жаркие месяцы сохранялась некоторая доля прохлады в помещениях. Вокруг каждого дома был разбит сад, на содержание которого жители не жалели ни трат, ни воды… Ближе к вокзалу жили железнодорожники и мастера. Здесь дома были короче и гуще, сады меньше, а пыль на улицах больше…

Постепенно стал образовываться третий центр Ашхабада, купеческий. Примерно на равном расстоянии от железнодорожного вокзала и крепости был разбит унылый рынок, ставший не только центром магазинов и ларьков, но и центром притяжения для купеческой резиденции.

В 1927 г. памятник Владимиру Ленину разработан AA Карелин и Е. Была возведена Трипольская.

1930-е годы

Первый генеральный план Ашхабада, разработанный между 1935 и 1937 годами в Московском институте геодезии, аэрофотосъемки и картографии, предусматривал расширение на запад, в том числе орошение и озеленение каньона Бикрова (ныне Бекреве). Бюро городского архитектора было создано в 1936 году, но не смогло реализовать новый генеральный план, «поскольку он предполагал значительный снос существующих зданий». В описании Ашхабада, опубликованном в 1948 году незадолго до землетрясения, отмечалось: «В Ашхабаде почти нет высотных зданий, поэтому каждое двухэтажное здание видно сверху…», то есть с предгорья. Самыми высокими сооружениями были башня с часами текстильной фабрики, «круглая труба стекольного завода», два «исключительно тонких минарета» «бывшей мечети» и «две великолепные башни над длинным зданием главной городской гостиницы». «

Воздействие землетрясения 1948 года

Во время землетрясения 1948 года, поскольку основная часть Ашхабада в то время была построена либо из самана, либо из обожженного кирпича, все здания, за исключением очень немногих, обрушились или были повреждены и не подлежали ремонту (железобетонный элеватор, церковь Святого Александра Невского и Kärz Bank были среди уцелевших построек). По сообщению официального информационного агентства Туркменистана,.

в городе были разрушены почти все одноэтажные жилые дома из сырцового кирпича, 95 процентов всех одноэтажных домов из обожженного кирпича, а остальные постройки были повреждены и не подлежали ремонту. Количество жилых построек исчислялось однозначными числами, причем только после капитального ремонта.

К июлю 1949 г. был спешно разработан новый генплан. Город был разделен на четыре зоны: центральную, северную, восточную и юго-западную. В этом году началась реконструкция города. Таким образом, с начала 1950-х до 1991 года на горизонте Ашхабада доминировал стиль брутализма, который предпочитали постсталинские советские архитекторы. На центральном проспекте города — Махтумгулы (бывший проспект Куропаткина, Свободы и Сталина) — «однообразная и преимущественно двухэтажная застройка административных и жилых домов». Эта реконструкция «сохранила существующую сеть городских улиц, так как их перепланировка была экономически неоправданной». Город описывался как «… затон коммунистической эпохи, перестроенный в типично унылый провинциальный советский город…»

Среди зданий, построенных в 1950-х и 1960-х годах, находилась штаб-квартира Центрального Комитета Российской Федерации. коммунист Туркменистана Party, здание Совета министров, Академический драматический театр имени Молланепеса, бывшая гостиница «Ашхабад» (ныне переименованная в Paytagt), комплекс Академии наук и здание библиотеки в центре города. На тогдашней площади Карла Маркса установлен памятник советским «борцам за победу Советской власти в Туркменистане».

Генеральный план 1960-х годов

Туркменский государственный проектный институт провел технико-экономическое обоснование в в середине 1960-х годов спрогнозировать развитие Ашхабада до 2000 года и на этой основе разработать новый генеральный план. До этого город в значительной степени расширялся на восток, но теперь план предусматривал развитие на юге и западе. Этот план использовался около 20 лет, и в результате были построены первые четырехэтажные жилые дома в микрорайонах Ховдан (Русский : Гаудан), ранее на месте аэродрома Ашхабад-Южный. как присоединение трех колхозов на окраинах и превращение их в жилые кварталы, один из которых, Ленинградский колхоз, до сих пор неофициально именуется своим прежним названием. План был переработан в 1974 году, что привело к перемещению нескольких промышленных предприятий из центра города и, таким образом, к созданию промышленных зон на северо-западе, юге, юго-востоке и северо-востоке.

Пост-1991

После обретения независимости в 1991 году президент Сапармурат Ниязов начал нанимать иностранные архитектурные и строительные фирмы, в первую очередь Bouygues из Франции и турецкие фирмы Polimeks и Gap Inşaat, последняя дочерняя компания Çalık Holding. Эти фирмы смешали купола в персидском стиле, которые предпочитал Ниязов, с греко-римскими архитектурными элементами, такими как столбы.

. После смерти Ниязова купола начали выходить из моды для других зданий, кроме мечетей, и общественные здания начали уступать место. на более модернистских характеристиках, часто с мотивом, отражающим предполагаемого обитателя конструкции. Например, здание Министерства иностранных дел венчает земной шар, внутри которого находится конференц-центр; здание Банка развития увенчано гигантской монетой; здание Министерства здравоохранения и медицинской промышленности имеет форму стилизованного кадуцея, стоматологическая больница имеет форму моляра и международный терминал международного аэропорта Ашхабада имеет форму сокола. Доминирующей чертой новостроек с 1991 года является практически повсеместная облицовка белым мрамором. Другой повторяющийся мотив — восьмиконечная звезда Огуз хан, самая большая из которых находится на телебашне и занесена в Книгу рекордов Гиннеса. В официальном путеводителе туркменского правительства по Ашхабаду звезда Огуз-хана упоминается как «… основная доминанта всего архитектурно-художественного декора…»

После обретения независимости городское архитектурное бюро распорядилось о строительстве много многоэтажных (как правило, 12-этажных) жилых домов. Современные технологии строительства позволяют осуществлять многоэтажное строительство с хорошей сейсмической безопасностью. В основном состоящий из жилых башен, первый этаж обычно используется в качестве торговых площадей и для обслуживания зданий.

В рамках подготовки к Азиатским играм в закрытых помещениях и по боевым искусствам в 2017 году город потратил 6 миллиардов долларов на жилищное строительство. 4 декабря 2014 года президент издал указ о строительстве 60 9-этажных многоквартирных домов в микрорайоне Парахат-7 — новом проекте в юго-восточном квадранте города. 10 ноября 2015 года была посвящена «13-я линия», полная реконструкция зданий вдоль Огужан кочеси к западу от Гарашсызлык şaýoly. Проекты включали снос и реконструкцию Ленинградского колхозного квартала как «14-й линии», а также кварталов Гажа и Восьмушка как «15-й линии».

После завершения Азиатских игр в закрытых помещениях и по боевым искусствам » Проект «16-я линия», реконструкция квартала Кёши и расширение проспекта Магтымгулы на запад, был начат в 2018 году. Кроме того, были построены жилые комплексы Гуртлы и Чоганлы, оба проекта с нуля.

Самый крупный Текущий жилой проект — строительство «Ашхабад-Сити» (туркмен : Ашхабад-сити) к северу от жилого квартала Чоганлы, в который планируется включить более 200 зданий на 744 га, и впервые в мире. в истории города представлены здания высотой до 35 этажей.

Памятники и статуи

В Ашхабаде есть множество скульптур, посвященных туркменским, тюркским и другим исламским поэтам и героям. Четыре статуи Ленина, Александра Пушкина, Тараса Шевченко и Магтымгулы относятся к советскому периоду, а также статуя и бюст туркменского композитора Нуры Халмаммедов. Однако с тех пор появилось много новой скульптуры. В парке Илхам (Вдохновение) найдены многочисленные бюсты и статуи. Дополнительные статуи можно увидеть в парке ВДНХ. Монументальный памятник действующему президенту был освящен в мае 2015 года возле стадиона «Ашхабад». Также найдены статуи Мустафы Кемаля Ататюрка и Алп Арслана. Помимо статуи бывшего президента Ниязова на вершине монумента нейтралитета, перед Министерством внутренних дел стоит его позолоченная статуя, а его позолоченная статуя сидящего украшает вход в Туркменский сельскохозяйственный университет.

С момента обретения независимости в 1991 году было воздвигнуто несколько памятников особенностям государственного управления Туркменистана: нейтралитету, конституции, возрождению Туркменистана, независимости, а также специальный памятник бывшему президенту Магнум opus Сапармурата Ниязова, Рухнама.

Мемориальный комплекс в Бекреве включает статую быка с балансирующей на рогах Землей, символизирующую землетрясение 1948 года, и статуя двух традиционно одетых туркменских воинов, охраняющих вдову, оплакивающую смерть своего мужа во Второй мировой войне. На внешней стене музея расположены барельефы, отражающие события истории Туркменистана.

В преддверии V Азиатских игр в закрытых помещениях и по боевым искусствам, прошедших в сентябре 2017 года, около миллиарда долларов было потрачено на расширение и модернизацию основных транспортных магистралей Ашхабада. Было создано несколько транспортных развязок, в которых были размещены в основном абстрактные памятники. По состоянию на 2020 год самым последним дополнением к ним является памятник велосипедистам (туркменский : Welosiped binasy), который президент Бердымухамедов посвятил 3 июня 2020 года.

Споры

Многое Реконструкция города с 1991 г. включала снос традиционных жилых домов на одну семью, как правило, с предположительно принудительным выселением жителей и часто без компенсации домовладельцам. В частности, частные дома, восстановленные в кварталах, разрушенных землетрясением 1948 года, многие из которых никогда не были официально зарегистрированы правительством, подлежали конфискации и сносу без компенсации, как и бывшие дачные поселения, такие как Рухабат, Берзенги и Чоганлы, которые почти во всех случаях не было официальных документов о собственности.

Первый храм бахаи в мире

Первый Дом Поклонения Бахаи 1908

Когда Ашхабад находился под Правлением России, число бахаи в городе выросло до более чем 1000, и была создана община бахаи со своими школами, медицинскими учреждениями и кладбищем. Община избрала один из первых бахаи местных административных институтов. В 1908 году община бахаи завершила строительство первого Дома поклонения бахаи, иногда называемого арабским названием машрику-л-‘aḏkār (арабское : مشرق اﻻذكار), где люди всех религий могут поклоняться Богу без деноминационных ограничений. Здание было спроектировано под руководством Абдул-Баха Устадом Али-Акбаром Банной Язди, который также написал историю бахаи в Ашхабаде.

Дом Бахаи Само богослужение было окружено садами, с четырьмя зданиями по четырем углам садов: школой, общежитием, где принимали странствующих бахаи, небольшой больницей и зданием для садоводов.

Под Советская политика в отношении религии, бахаи, строго придерживаясь своего принципа подчинения законному правительству, покинули эту собственность в 1928 году. В течение десятилетия с 1938 по 1948 год, когда она была серьезно повреждена землетрясением, она была картинной галереей. Он был снесен в 1963 году.

Другие известные сооружения

Арка нейтралитета была демонтирована и восстановлена ​​в первоначальном виде на юге столицы.

Башня Туркменистана, телерадиовышка, высотой 211 метров, является самым высоким сооружением в стране. Он был посвящен 17 октября 2011 года.

Административный центр Ашхабада как столицы страны находится на Арчабильском шоссе, где расположены несколько министерств и ведомств, а также образовательные, исследовательские и культурные центры. Бывшее Новофирюзенское шоссе было реконструировано компанией Gap Inşaat в 2004 году.

Панорама Ашхабада

Экономика

Основными отраслями промышленности являются хлопок текстильная промышленность и металлообработка. Это главная остановка на Транскаспийской железной дороге. Большой процент занятости в Ашхабаде обеспечивается государственными учреждениями; такие как министерства, заместители секретариата и другие административные органы правительства Туркменистана. Есть также много иностранных граждан, работающих дипломатами или клерками в посольствах своих стран. Ашхабад дает свое название Ашхабадскому соглашению, подписанному Индией, Оманом, Ираном, Туркменистаном, Узбекистан и Казахстан, за создание международного транспортного и транзитного коридора, облегчающего транспортировку товаров между Средней Азией и Персидским заливом.

В 2019 и 2020 годах Ашхабад был самым дорогой город в мире для иностранных экспатриантов в исследовании стоимости жизни ECA International. Он также был назван вторым самым дорогим городом в мире в целом по результатам обзора стоимости жизни Mercer 2020 года. Высокая стоимость жизни иностранцев объясняется сильной инфляцией и ростом стоимости импорта.

Промышленность

Между 1881 и 1921 годами в Ашхабаде не существовало никакой промышленности. По состоянию на 1911 год примерно половина рабочей силы из более чем 400 «рабочих» была занята в железнодорожном депо, занимавшимся обслуживанием и ремонтом локомотивов и вагонов, а остальная часть занималась хлопкоочисткой, добычей хлопкового масла, мукомольным и кожевенным производством. производство кирпича, стекла и железа. К 1915 году в городе также были три типографии, электростанция, три хлопкоочистительных завода, маслозавод, кожевенный завод и 35 кирпичных заводов.

В 1921 году советские власти построили новый стекольный завод, а также винодельческий завод. завод. В последующие годы были добавлены еще несколько фабрик, в том числе шелкопрядильная фабрика (1928), хлопкопрядильная и текстильная фабрики (1929), кондитерская фабрика (1930), швейная фабрика (1933), обувная фабрика (1934) и мясоконсервный завод (1938). По состоянию на 1948 год в Ашхабаде было «около двадцати крупных фабрично-заводских предприятий, производивших ткани, стекло, одежду, одежду, мясные продукты, земснаряды, детали сельскохозяйственных орудий и многое другое».

Присоединение бывшего города Бузмейин (туркмен : Büzmeýin), который с 2002 по 2013 год назывался Абадан, перенес в Ашхабад его главный промышленный пригород. В сегодняшнем районе Бузмеин находится Бузмейинская государственная электрическая электростанция, заводы по производству железобетона, цемента, асбестовой кровли, труб и бетонных блоков, а также ковроткацкая фабрика и завод по розливу безалкогольных напитков.

Сегодня в Ашхабаде и его окрестностях расположено более 43 крупных и 128 средних промышленных предприятий, а также более 1700 малых промышленных предприятий. Наиболее важными из них являются Ашнефтемаш, Туркменкабель и Туркменбашинский Текстильный Комплекс.

Покупки

Туркменские ковры в Базар Алтын Асыр

Базар Алтын Асыр в Чоганлы, также известный как В «Толкучке» представлены изделия промышленного производства, в том числе традиционные ткани и ковры ручной работы, а также скот и подержанные автомобили. Современные торговые центры расположены в основном на центральных улицах, в том числе в современном торговом центре Berkarar и торговых центрах Paýtagt и Aşgabat, а также в торговом центре 15 Years of Independence (туркменский : 15 ýyl Garaşsyzlyk söwda merkezi), в просторечии известный как «Оптовый рынок» (русский : Оптовый рынок).

Местные жители склонны делать покупки на традиционных базарах: Гюлистанский (русский) базар, Теке-базар, Дашогузский базар, Пайтагт (Мир) базар и Дженнет-базар. Турецкий универмаг Yimpaş закрыт с декабря 2016 года.

Транспорт

Форма сокола международного терминала международного аэропорта Ашхабада Внутри международного терминала международного аэропорта Ашхабада

Город обслуживается международным аэропортом Ашхабад, расширение которого обошлось в 2,3 миллиарда долларов и проектная пропускная способность составляет 14 миллионов пассажиров в год. «Туркменские авиалинии » со штаб-квартирой в аэропорту. Ашхабад предлагает воздушное сообщение со всеми крупными городами Туркменистана, а также некоторыми пунктами назначения в Азии и Европе. Ашхабад обслуживают следующие иностранные авиакомпании: Белавиа, Turkish Airlines, S7 Airlines, flydubai, China Southern Airlines, cargolux.

Транскаспийская железная дорога (Туркменбаши — Балканабат — Берекет -Ашхабад– Мары — Тюркменабат ) проходит через Ашхабад с востока на запад. С 2006 года также существует железнодорожная ветка из Ашхабада на север, Транскаракумская железная дорога. В мае 2009 года завершена реставрация железнодорожной станции Ашхабад.

Новый Международный пассажирский автовокзал Ашхабада был открыт 5 сентября 2014 года. Он предлагает междугородние перевозки в Туркменбаши, Дашогуз, Туркменабат, Арчман, Конье-Ургенч и Моллагара, а также точки между ними. Основные внутригородские автовокзалы, обслуживающие Ашхабад, находятся рядом с Теке базаром и у терминала внутреннего аэропорта.

Общественный транспорт в городе состоит в основном из автобусов. Более 60 автобусных линий покрывают общую протяженность более 2230 километров (1386 миль), при этом 700 автобусов курсируют по городским маршрутам. В городе в основном используются автобусы Mercedes-Benz и Hyundai. Расписание автобусов и подробная схема маршрута есть на каждой остановке. Расстояния между остановками около 300–500 метров. С 19 октября 1964 года по 31 декабря 2011 года в городе также действовала троллейбусная сеть Ашхабада. В начале ХХ века узкоколейная паровая железная дорога связала город с окраиной о.

18 октября 2006 года открылась Ашхабадская канатная дорога, соединившая город с предгорьями Копетдага.

Ашхабадская монорельсовая дорога, которая начала движение в 2016 году, став первая монорельсовая дорога в регионе Средней Азии. Он распространяется исключительно на территории Олимпийской деревни (туркменский язык: Olimpiýa şäherçesi).

В январе 2018 года сообщалось, что черные автомобили в течение нескольких недель конфисковывались в Ашхабаде в результате убеждения президента Гурбангулы Бердымухамедова в том, что черные автомобили приносят несчастье.

Наука и образование

Ашхабад — важнейший образовательный центр Туркменистана с большим количеством высших учебных заведений. Магтымгулы Туркменский государственный университет основан в 1950 году. Главный корпус университета находится на улице Бейик Сапармурат Türkmenbaşy şaýoly. Туркменский государственный медицинский университет также находится в Ашхабаде. Он находится в подчинении Министерства здравоохранения и фармацевтической промышленности Туркменистана. Другими известными учреждениями являются Туркменский государственный институт экономики и управления, основная бизнес-школа, основанная в 1980 году, а также Туркменский государственный архитектурно-строительный институт и Национальный институт спорта и туризма Туркменистана. В 2016 году при поддержке правительства Японии были открыты англоязычные и японские СМИ. Международный университет гуманитарных наук и развития — еще одно англоязычное высшее учебное заведение. Учебным полигоном Министерства иностранных дел является Институт международных отношений.

В Ашхабаде расположены пять военных академий: Военный институт, Военно-морской институт, Пограничный институт, Институт Нацбезопасности, и институт МВД. В 2020 году в Военный институт начал прием заявок от женщин.

В Ашхабаде действуют четыре международные средние школы. Посольство России является спонсором русскоязычного издания А.С. Пушкинская русско-туркменская школа, французская строительная компания Bouygues спонсирует французскую школу для детей своих франкоязычных сотрудников, посольство Турции спонсирует туркмено-турецкую школу Turgut Ozal, говорящую на турецком языке, и посольство США спонсирует англоязычную Ашхабадскую международную школу.

До установления советской власти в Туркменистане в Ашхабаде было всего 11 школ и не было научно-исследовательских центров. К 1948 году в Ашхабаде было три высших учебных заведения, 20 техникумов, 60 библиотек и «примерно столько же детских садов».

Туркменская академия наук была основана 29 июня 1951 года., и включает уникальный Институт пустыни среди 26 научно-исследовательских институтов, а также Государственную сейсмологическую службу, 17 школ, присуждающих ученые степени, два медицинских исследовательских центра, библиотеку и две типографии. Академия наук — единственное учреждение в Туркменистане, аккредитованное для присуждения ученых степеней. В 2019 году президент Бердымухамедов постановил, что государственное финансирование Академии наук прекратится в течение трех лет. До основания Туркменской академии наук местные научно-исследовательские институты, все они располагались в одном двухэтажном здании, находились в подчинении Академии наук СССР.

География

Ашхабад — это очень близко к границе с Ираном. Он занимает высокосейсмически активную оазисную равнину, ограниченную с юга предгорьями Копетдага гор (Туркмен : Кёпетдаг) и с севера пустыней Каракум. Он окружен, но не является частью Ахалского велаята (туркмен : Ahal welaýaty). Самая высокая точка города — 401-метровая песчаная горка, на которой был построен отель «Йылдыз», но большая часть города находится на высоте от 200 до 255 метров над уровнем моря. Каракумский канал проходит через город.

Как и на остальной территории Туркменистана, почва Ашхабада в основном представляет собой отложения, скопившиеся на дне океана Тетис. Горы Копетдага возникли к концу мелового периода.

Щелкните по этой ссылке, чтобы открыть карту Ашхабада OpenStreetMap.

Климат

Горный массив Копетдаг находится примерно в 25 километрах к югу, а северная граница Ашхабада касается пустыни Кара-Кум. Из-за этого в Ашхабаде холодный пустынный климат (климатическая классификация Кеппена : BWk, граничит с BWh) с очень жарким сухим летом и прохладной короткой зимой. Средняя максимальная температура в июле составляет 38,3 ° C (100,9 ° F). Ночные часы летом теплые, со средней минимальной температурой в июле 23,8 ° C (75 ° F). Средняя январская высокая температура Температура составляет 8,6 ° C (47,5 ° F), а средняя низкая температура составляет -0,4 ° C (31,3 ° F). Самая высокая температура, когда-либо зарегистрированная в Ашхабаде, составляла 47,2 ° C (117 ° F) и была зафиксирована в июне 2015 года. Низкая температура в -24,1 ° C (-11 ° F) была зафиксирована в январе 1969 года. Снег в этом районе бывает нечастым. Годовое количество осадков составляет всего 201 миллиметр (7,91 дюйма); Март и апрель — самые влажные месяцы, а летняя засуха с конца июня по сентябрь практически абсолютна.

Ашхабад
Климатическая карта (пояснение )
J F M A M J J A S O N D 2090 24111 41176 322412 213017 63622 33824 23722 33216 102410 19175 20101 Средние максимальные и минимальные температуры в ° C Сумма осадков в мм Источник: pogoda.ru.net
Имперская конвертация J F M A M J J A S O N D 0,8 4731 0,9 5234 1,6 6242 1,3 7553 0,8 8662 0,2 9771 0,1 101 75 0,1 9971 0,1 8961 0,4 ​​7650 0,7 6241 0,8 5134 Средняя максимальная и минимальная температура в ° F Сумма осадков в дюймах

Климатические данные для Ашхабада
Месяц	Янв	Фев	мар	апр	май	июн	июл	авг	сен	Октябрь	Ноябрь	Дек	Год
Рекордно высокий ° C (° F)	28,7. (83,7)	32,6. (90,7)	38,6. (101,5)	39,4. (102,9)	44,5. (112,1)	47,2. (117,0)	46,0. (114,8)	45,7. (114,3)	45,6. (114,1)	40,1. (104,2)	37,0. (98,6)	33,1. (91,6)	47,2. (117,0)
Средняя высокая ° C (° F)	8,6. (47,5)	11,2. (52,2)	16,5. (61,7)	24,1. (75,4)	30,1. (86,2)	36,0. (96,8)	38,3. (100,9)	37,2. (99,0)	31,7. (89,1)	24,3. (75,7)	16,8. (62,2)	10,4. (50,7)	23,8. (74,8)
Среднесуточное значение ° C (° F)	3,5. (38,3)	5,5. (41,9)	10,4. (50,7)	17,4. (63,3)	23,3. (73,9)	29,0. (84,2)	31,3. (88,3)	29,6. (85,3)	23,6. (74,5)	16,5. (61,7)	10,2. (50,4)	5,1. (41,2)	17,1. (62,8)
Средняя низкая ° C (° F)	-0,4. (31,3)	1,0. (33,8)	5,5. (41,9)	11,6. (52,9)	16,6. (61,9)	21,5. (70,7)	23,8. (74,8)	21,7. (71,1)	16,1. (61,0)	10,1. (50,2)	5,2. (41,4)	1. 2. (34,2)	11,2. (52,2)
Запись низких ° C (° F)	-24,1. (-11,4)	-20,8. (-5,4)	-13,3. (8,1)	-0,8. (30,6)	1,3. ( 34,3)	9,2. (48,6)	13,8. (56,8)	9,5. (49,1)	2,0. (35,6)	−5,1. (22,8)	−13,1. (8,4)	−16. (3)	-24,1. (-11,4)
Среднее количество осадков мм (дюймов)	20. (0,8)	24. (0,9)	41. (1,6)	32. (1,3)	21. (0,8)	6. (0,2)	3. (0,1)	2. (0,1)	3. (0,1)	10. (0,4)	19. (0,7)	20. (0,8)	201. (7,9)
Среднее количество дождливых дней	9	9	13	12	10	5	3	2	3	6	8	10	90
Среднее снежные дни	5	5	1	0,03	0	0	0	0	0	0,1	1	3	15
Средняя относительная влажность (%)	78	72	66	58	47	35	34	34	40	54	68	77	55
Среднемесячные солнечные часы	112,7	119,4	146,2	194,4	275,1	335,5	353,8	348,1	289,2	216,8	157,2	104,4	2 652,8
Источник 1: Pogoda.ru.net
Источник 2: NOAA (вс, 1961–1990)

Основные достопримечательности

Скачки в Международном конно-спортивном комплексе

Среди музеев: Музей изобразительных искусств Туркменистана и Музей туркменского ковра, известный своей впечатляющей коллекцией тканых ковров, а также музеем истории Туркменистана и Ашхабадским национальным историческим музеем, в котором представлены артефакты, относящиеся к парфянскому и персидские цивилизации. Ашхабад также был домом для Арки нейтралитета, треноги высотой 75 м (250 футов), увенчанной золотой статуей покойного президента Сапармурата Ниязова (также известного как Туркменбаши, или глава туркменского государства).). Статуя высотой 15 м (50 футов), которая вращалась, чтобы всегда смотреть на солнце в светлое время суток, была удалена 26 августа 2010 года после того, как преемник Ниязова, нынешний президент Бердымухамедов, ранее в этом году дал понять, что статуя должна быть вынесенным с площади Независимости Ашхабада. В 2011 году был построен памятник Конституции, его общая высота составляет 185 м (607 футов), что делает его вторым по высоте сооружением в Туркменистане.

Культурно-развлекательный центр «Алем» был признан Книга рекордов Гиннеса как самое высокое колесо обозрения в мире в замкнутом пространстве. Ашхабадский флагшток — четвертый по высоте отдельно стоящий флагшток в мире, его высота составляет 436 футов (133 м). Фонтан «Ашхабад» имеет самое большое в мире количество бассейнов с фонтаном в общественных местах. В Ашхабаде также есть Башня Туркменистана, самая высокая башня в Туркменистане, декоративная восьмиугольная Звезда Огузхана признана крупнейшим архитектурным изображением звезды в мире и занесена в Книгу рекордов Гиннеса.

Дворцы

• Президентский дворец Огузхан, официальная резиденция президента.
• Дворец Рухыет, место официальных государственных мероприятий, форумов, встреч, инаугураций.
• Дворец бракосочетания, здание ЗАГС.

Театры

Основные театры Ашхабада:

• Алп-Арслан Туркменский национальный театр молодежи
• Музыкально-драматический театр им. Махтумкули
• Главный драматический театр
• Туркменский драматический театр имени Молланепеса
• Пушкина Государственный русский драматический театр
• Туркменский : Şapak Medeniýet Merkezi
• Туркменский государственный театр кукол
• Туркменский государственный цирк

В каждом из нескольких бывших муниципалитетов, аннексированных Ашхабадом, также есть местный «дом культуры» туркмен : Medeniýet Öýi.

Парки и скверы

В Ашхабаде много парков и открытых пространств, которые были созданы в основном в первые годы независимости, а затем ухожены и расширены. Наиболее важные из этих парков: Ботанический сад, Гюнеш, Туркмено-турецкая дружба, Независимость. Самый старый городской парк, Ашхабад, был основан в 1887 году и в просторечии известен как Первый парк. В центре Ашхабада находится Аллея вдохновения, комплекс арт-парка, который является излюбленным местом многих местных жителей. Парк развлечений Мир сказок Туркменбаши является местным эквивалентом Диснейленда. Площади: 10 лет Независимости Туркменистана, Магтымгулы, Вечный огонь, Зелили, Чирчик, Гарашсызлык, 8 марта, Героглы, Дельфин, 15 лет Независимости, Рухыет, 10 ýyl Abadançylyk.

Ашхабадский ботанический сад был основан 1 октября 1929 года и является старейшим ботаническим садом в Средней Азии. Он занимает территорию около 18 гектаров и содержит живую выставку более 500 различных видов растений, происходящих из разных уголков мира.

Мемориальный комплекс Халк Хакидасы

Мемориальный комплекс Халк Хакидасы был открыт в 2014 году в память о погибших в битве при Геок Тепе в 1881 году, во время Второй мировой войны, а также в память о жертвах землетрясения в Ашхабаде 1948 года. Он расположен в юго-западной части города на улице Бекреве кёчеси.

Кинотеатры

В Ашхабаде четыре кинотеатра. В 2011 году в Ашхабаде открылся Aşgabat Cinema, первый в Туркменистане 3-D кинотеатр. Реконструированы театры Ватан и Туркменистан. Еще один кинотеатр находится в ТРЦ Беркарар.

Мечети

Основные мечети в центре Ашхабада:

Мечеть Туркменбаши Рухи

• Мечеть Туркменбаши Рухи
• Мечеть Эртогрул Газы, подаренная Турцией, была открыта в 1998 г. и напоминает Голубую мечеть в Стамбуле.
• старую мечеть Хезрети Омар в 8-м микрорайоне
• новую Мечеть Хезрети Омар в микрорайоне Парахат 7
• Мечеть Азади на Зарпчи кочеси
• Мечеть Шехитлера (туркмен : Шехитлер) на Гёроглы кочеси
• Иранская мечеть возле посольства Ирана

Есть также несколько мечетей в бывших городах и деревнях, аннексированных Ашхабадом, и, следовательно, теперь кварталы в черте города.

Церкви

В Ашхабаде пять действующих христианских церквей. Четыре из них — Русские Православные церкви:

• Церковь Святого Александра Невского, основанная в 1882 г. как приходская церковь русского военного гарнизона, освященная в 1900 г., расположена в 30-м микрорайоне (Русский : Храм святого благоверного великого князя Александра Невского)
• Храм святителя Николая Чудотворца, расположенный внутри Хитровского кладбища (русский : храм святителя и Чудотворца Николая)
• Храм Воскресения Иисуса Христа, расположенный недалеко от школы Рухнама (русский : храм Воскресения Христова)
• Храм Святых Равноапостольных Кирилла и Мефодия, расположенный в Büzmeýin (русский : Храм святых равноапостольных Кирилла и Мефодия)

Римско-католическая Часовня Преображения Господня действует на территории Апостольской нунциатуры.

Существуют и другие христианские конфессии, но по состоянию на 2019 год только два были зарегистрированы в правительстве и, таким образом, могли действовать на законных основаниях. Госдепартамент США сообщил, что туркменские власти «внимательно следят за религиозными группами, пытающимися приобрести или арендовать здания или землю для религиозных целей, или воспрепятствовать им».

Спорт

Олимпийский стадион в Ашхабаде

Основными спортивными объектами Ашхабада являются Олимпийский стадион, Ашхабадский стадион, Национальный Олимпийский лед. каток, Спортивный комплекс зимних видов спорта и Олимпийский водно-спортивный комплекс.

Ашхабад был выбран в качестве принимающего города V Азиатских игр в закрытых помещениях и по боевым искусствам, а также был первым городом в Центральной Азии, где прошли Азиатские игры в закрытых помещениях. В период с 2010 по 2017 год турецкая фирма «Полимекс» построила олимпийскую деревню к югу от центра города за 5 миллиардов долларов.

В октябре 2017 года в Ашхабаде открылось 18-луночное поле для гольфа Jack Nicklaus Designs Signature. Он имеет 82 песколовки и занимает площадь 70 га.

Ашхабад принимал Чемпионат мира по тяжелой атлетике IWF 2018.

Профессиональные футбольные клубы города Алтын Асыр ФК, FC Aşgabat и FK Köpetdag Aşgabat играют в okary Liga, высшей лиге Туркменистана.

Инха Бабакова, чемпионка мира по прыжкам в высоту 1999 года, родилась в Ашхабаде.

Международные отношения

Города-побратимы и города-побратимы

Ашхабад побратим с:

• MLI Бамако, Мали (с 1974 года)
• Альбукерке, США (с 1990 года)
• Анкара, Турция
• Нур-Султан, Казахстан
• Атырау, Казахстан
• Киев, Украина
• Ланьчжоу, Китай
• Ташкент, Узбекистан (с 2017 г.)
• Душанбе, Таджикистан (с 2017 г.)
• Бишкек, Кыргызстан (с 2018 г.)

Партнерства:

• Ереван, Армения (с 2014 г.)

См. Также

• Список городов Туркменистана
• Вики-статья OpenStreetMap о географии Ашхабада
• Русский Туркестан

Список литературы

Примечания

Источники

• Е. М. Поспелов (Е. М. Поспелов). «Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь.» (Названия городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь.) Москва, «Русские словари», 1993.

Внешние ссылки

На Викискладе есть материалы, связанные с Ашхабад.

В Wikivoyage есть путеводитель по Ашхабаду.

• Официальный сайт
• Фотогалерея Ашхабада
• впечатления от Ашхабада (на немецком языке)
• Город из белого мрамора
• Фото Ашхабада Галерея. Фотографии современного Ашхабада.
• Страница современного Ашхабада
• Фото Дома Поклонения Бахаи в Ашхабаде до 1948 года
• www.ashgabatairport.com — Международный аэропорт Ашхабада неофициальный сайт (англ.)
• Туризм в Ашхабаде
• Путешествие в Ашхабад от «Абассайох»

Толковый словарь русского языка. Поиск по слову, типу, синониму, антониму и описанию. Словарь ударений.

ашхабад

ашхабадец

ашхабадский

ашхабадцы