Ashgabat, also spelled Asgabat, formerly named Poltoratsk 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 has a population of 1,030,063.
Image: Independence Square, Ashgabat
Image: Ashgabat mosque IMG 5756 (26111145635)
Image: Ashgabat from Sofitel IMG 5360 (25508536483)
Image: Ashgabat, new avenue panoramio
Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population of 6.5 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.
Turkmen helmet (15th century)
City of Çärjew in Russian Turkestan, 1890
A Turkmen man of Central Asia in traditional clothes. Photo by Prokudin-Gorsky between 1905 and 1915.
Golden statue of Saparmurat Niyazov in Ashgabat
