%
other: 96.14% (2001)

Irrigated land:
17,500 sq km (2003 est.)

Natural hazards:
NA

Environment - current issues:
contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals,
pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation
methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the
flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's
inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of
the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which
occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau

People Turkmenistan

Population:
4,952,081 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 909,113/female 860,128)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 1,462,198/female 1,516,836)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 78,119/female 125,687) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 21.56 years
male: 20.68 years
female: 22.44 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.81% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
27.68 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 73.08 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 69.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 61.39 years
male: 58.02 years
female: 64.93 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
3.41 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
less than 200 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 100 (2004 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups:
Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)

Religions:
Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages:
Turkmen 72%, Russian