996)
note: government established a unified rate in mid-January 1996

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Turkmenistan:Communications

Telephones: NA

Telephone system: poorly developed
domestic: NA
international : linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS
republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow
international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to
Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches
international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth
stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations: 1 state-owned radio broadcast station of NA
type

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 1 state-run

Televisions: NA

@Turkmenistan:Transportation

Railways:
total: 2,187 km
broad gauge: 2,187 km 1.520-m gauge (1996 est.)

Highways:
total: 23,000 km
paved: 18,300 km (note - these roads are said to be hard-surfaced,
meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced
unpaved: 4,700 km (1990 est.)

Waterways: the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway

Pipelines: crude oil 250 km; natural gas 4,400 km

Ports and harbors: Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnowodsk)

Merchant marine:
total: 1 oil tanker ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,896 GRT/3,389
DWT (1996 est.)

Airports: 64 (1994 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 22
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m : 8
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1994 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total : 42
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 35 (1994 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, Air and Air Defense, Republic Security Forces
(internal and border troops), National Guard

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,052,184 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 856,380 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males : 42,948 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: 4.5 billion manats (1995); note
- conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current
exchange rate could produce misleading results

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3% (1995)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet
determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

Illicit drugs: limited illicit cultivator of opium poppy, mostly for
domestic consumption; li