土库曼(Turkmenistan)
亚洲中西部的共和国。面积488,100平方公里。人口约5,462,000（2001）。首都︰阿什哈巴德。土库曼人逾总人口的70%，其次是俄罗斯人、乌兹别克人、哈萨克人、鞑靼人、乌克兰人和亚美尼亚人。语言︰土库曼语（官方语）。宗教︰伊斯兰教。货币︰马纳特（manat）。虽然散布着丘陵和低山，该国近9/10的地区是沙漠地区，主要是卡拉库姆沙漠。主要河流有阿姆河和穆尔加布河。建有许多灌溉沟渠和水库，如卡拉库姆运河，该运河全长1,400公里，连接阿姆河和里海。土库曼主要生产石油和天然气、棉花、丝、地毯、渔产和水果。政府形式是共和国，一院制。国家元首暨政府首脑是总统，由人民议会辅佐。
在土库曼发现了中亚地区最早的人类定居迹象，可追溯到旧石器时代。游牧部落的土库曼人可能是在11世纪进入这个地区的。1880年代初被俄国人斯征服，该地区成为俄罗斯土库曼的一部分。1924年组成土库曼苏维埃社会主义共和国，1925年成为苏联的组成共和国。1991年脱离苏联而完全独立，国名土库曼。接下来的十年中遭遇了经济困难。
English version：
Turkmenistan
Republic, western central Asia. Area: 188,500 sq mi (488,100 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 4,695,000. Capital: Ashgabat. Turkmen make up more than 70% of the population, followed by Russians, Uzbeks, Kazaks, Tatars, Ukrainians, and Armenians. Language: Turkmen (official). Religion: Islam. Currency: Turkmen manat. Though there are some hills and low mountains, about nine-tenths of Turkmenistan is desert, chiefly the Karakum. The main rivers are the Amu Darya and Murgab. Many irrigation canals and reservoirs have been built, including the Karakum Canal, which runs 870 mi (1,400 km) between the Amu Darya and the Caspian Sea. The country's chief products are oil and natural gas, cotton, silk, carpets, fish, and fruit. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the People's Council. The earliest traces of human settlement in central Asia, dating back to Paleolithic times, have been found in Turkmenistan. The nomadic, tribal Turkmen probably entered the area in the 11th century AD. They were conquered by the Russians in the early 1880s and the region became part of Russian Turkestan. It was organized as the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 and became a constituent republic of the U.S.S.R. in 1925. The country gained full independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 under the name Turkmenistan. The next decade was marked by economic struggles.