Central Asia is a subregion of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. The region consists of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is also colloquially referred to as "The -Stans" as the countries all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan", meaning "land of".
Turkmenistan, also known as Turkmenia, is a landlocked 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 of the country. The population of the country is about 6 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. Turkmenistan is one of the most sparsely populated nations in Asia. Citizens of Turkmenistan are known as Turkmenistanis, Turkmenians or Turkmens.
Magtymguly Pyragy, born Magtymguly, was a Turkmen spiritual leader, philosophical poet, Sufi and traveller who is considered to be the most famous figure in Turkmen literary history.
The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad, are the 15 sovereign states that were union republics of the Soviet Union; that emerged and re-emerged from the Soviet Union following its dissolution in 1991.
The European Scout Region is one of six geographical subdivisions of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a satellite office in Brussels, Belgium.
The coeducational Organization of the Scout Movement of Kazakhstan was officially founded in 1992, and received World Organization of the Scout Movement recognition on January 16, 2008. In 2011, it had 1,223 members.
Scouting in Kyrgyzstan was founded in November 1994 and is not yet a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, but is working toward WOSM recognition. Kyrgyzstan has multiple Scout associations, several of which are members of Kyrgyz Respublikasynyn Skaut Kengesh, the Kyrgyz Republic Scouting Union.
The Eurasian Scout Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Kyiv, formerly located at Gurzuf near Yalta-Krasnokamianka, Ukraine, with a branch office in Moscow. All the formerly communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Soviet Union have developed or are developing Scouting in the wake of the renaissance in the region. These include most of the successor states to the Soviet Union, in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The 1996/99 Triennial Report of the World Scout Committee/World Organization of the Scout Movement shows that WOSM is aggressively pursuing the organization of Scouting activities in the countries of the former Soviet Union, according to its own vision.
Scouting in Uzbekistan was founded in 1995, and is working toward World Organization of the Scout Movement recognition. In 1998, Scouting was limited to two Scout troops with a total of 15 members. Since the increasing presence of the United States military in the region after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Scouting is beginning to develop more thoroughly, and the fledgling organization, Kidirib Topubchi O'zbekiston, the Uzbekistan Union of Scout-Explorers, has issued insignia, considered to be a large step for nascent Scout organizations.
Scouting and Guiding Federation of Turkey is the national Scouting and Guiding federation of Turkey. It serves 33,974 Scouts and 2,883 Guides. The federation is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement since 1950, and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts since 1987.
Soviet Central Asia was the part of Central Asia administered by the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared independence. It is nearly synonymous with Russian Turkestan in the Russian Empire. Soviet Central Asia went through many territorial divisions before the current borders were created in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Humanitarian Association of World Turkmens or GATM is the organization meant to bring together Turkmen people in Turkmenistan and other parts of the world.
The Central Asian Union (CAU), later called the Central Asian Economic Union, was an intergovernmental organisation for economic integration between the Central Asian post-Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan between 1994 and 2004. Tajikistan joined the Union in 1996 as an observer. Several proposals to restore the Union have been put forward since its dissolution.
The Turkmen of Turkmenistan, like their kin in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran are predominantly Muslims. According the U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2019,
According to U.S. government estimates, the country is 89 percent Muslim, 9 percent Eastern Orthodox, and 2 percent other. There are small communities of Jehovah's Witnesses, Shia Muslims, Baha’is, Roman Catholics, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and evangelical Christians, including Baptists and Pentecostals. Most ethnic Russians and Armenians identify as Orthodox Christian and generally are members of the Russian Orthodox Church or Armenian Apostolic Church. Some ethnic Russians and Armenians are also members of smaller Protestant groups. There are small pockets of Shia Muslims, consisting largely of ethnic Iranians, Azeris, and Kurds, some located in Ashgabat, with others along the border with Iran and in the western city of Turkmenbashy.
The Turkmen Carpet Museum or the National Carpet Museum is a national museum, situated on 5 Gorogly Street in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Turkmenistan.
The Cinema of Central Asia usually refers to the cinema of five Central Asian countries. Central Asian cinema can further be divided into three historical periods, Soviet Central Asian film (1919–1987), a New Wave of Central Asian film (1988–1992), and the modern period of film of the independent Central Asian countries (1992–present).
Armenians in Central Asian states: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, were mainly settled there during the Soviet era for various reasons.
The Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan border is 413 kilometres (257 mi) in length and runs from the Caspian Sea to the tripoint with Uzbekistan. It is the shortest international boundary of both states.
The Turkmenistan–Uzbekistan border is the border between the countries of the Republic of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. At 1,793 km (1,114m), it is Turkmenistan's longest border and Uzbekistan's second longest. The border runs from the tripoint with Kazakhstan to the tripoint with Afghanistan.
