TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and Caspian Sea to the west and largely covered by the Karakum Desert. Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. During Bronze age (2500 BC), Gonur Tepe was famous for its large palace and Zoroastrian temples. In medieval times, Merv was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road, a caravan route used for trade with China until the mid-15th century. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became independent upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ashgabat, the capital, was rebuilt in Soviet style in the mid-20th century.