duction: 9.484 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.96%
hydro: 0.04%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 7.134 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 2.7 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 350 million kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: cotton, grain; livestock

Exports: $689 million (1997 est.)

Exports--commodities: natural gas, cotton, petroleum products,
textiles, electricity, carpets

Exports--partners: FSU, Hong Kong, Switzerland, US, Germany,
Turkey (1996)

Imports: $1.1 billion (1997 est.)

Imports--commodities: machinery and parts, grain and food,
plastics and rubber, consumer durables, textiles

Imports--partners: FSU, US, Turkey, Germany, Cyprus (1996)

Debt--external: $1.7 billion (1998 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $27.2 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Turkmen manat (TMM) = 100 tenesi

Exchange rates: manats per US$1--5,350 (January 1999), 4,070
(January 1997), 2,400 (January 1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

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: 3 (much programming relayed from
Russia and Turkey) (1997)

Televisions: NA

Transportation

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

Highways:
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km (note--these roads are said to be hard-surfaced,
meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced)
unpaved: 4,512 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway

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

Ports and harbors: Turkmenbashy

Merchant marine:
total: 1 oil tanker (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,896 GRT/3,389 DWT
(1998 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 unpave