Driving Directions Turkmenistan
TURKMENISTAN, a central Asian republic of the former USSR, declared itself a republic in 1991. It is bounded in the west by the Caspian Sea, in the northwest by Kazakhstan. In the north and northeast by Uzbekistan, in the southeast by Afghanistan, and the southwest by Iran.
All but about 20 percent of the land consists of the arid “black sands” of the Karakum Desert. In the country’s central and northern part lies the Adzhakya Basin, where the land descends to some 80 meters or 265 feet below sea level. Hills and the Köpet Dag Mountains rise in the south and east, and some peaks exceed 3,040 meters or 10,000 feet in height. These ranges extend for over 1,449 kilometers or 900 miles and straddle the border with Iran and Afghanistan.