Turkmenistan: Flag and Facts
Turkmenistan's flag is green with a red vertical stripe near the left holding five carpet designs above crossed olive branches, plus a white crescent and five white stars in the top corner.
- Capital
- Ashgabat
- Region
- Central Asia
- Population
- 5.7 million (2024)
- Languages
- Russian, Turkmen
- Currency
- Turkmenistan manat
- Area
- 488,100 km² (188,456 sq mi)
- People
- Turkmen
- Calling code
- +993
- Highest point
- Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
- Independence
- 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
- National symbols
- Akhal-Teke horse
- Borders
- Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
About Turkmenistan
This land has sat where civilizations meet for centuries. Persian empires held it in ancient times. Later conquerors included Alexander the Great, the Mongols, Muslim and Turkic forces, and finally Russia. In medieval times the city of Merv ranked as a leading city of the Islamic world and served as a stop on the Silk Road. Russia annexed the region in the late 1800s.
Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924 and gained independence on 27 October 1991. Sand and dunes cover most of the country, giving way to mountains in the south and along the border with Iran, and the Caspian Sea lies to the west. About 5.7 million people live here, with about 902,000 in Ashgabat, the capital.
Did you know?
- The Akhal-Teke horse is Turkmenistan's national symbol.
- The lowest point, Vpadina Akchanaya, sits 81 meters below sea level.
- The guls on the flag are designs used in carpet making.
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Questions about Turkmenistan
What languages are spoken in Turkmenistan?
Turkmen and Russian. The currency is the manat.
What do the five stars on Turkmenistan's flag mean?
They stand for the country's regions. Green and the crescent represent Islam.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.