Portal:Turkmenistan/Selected article/1

Pictured left: Panorama of Ashgabat

Ashgabat (Turkmen: Aşgabat, pronounced [aʃʁaˈbat]^{[citation needed]}; Persian: عشق‌آباد; Russian: Ашхаба́д, tr. Ashkhabad, IPA: [ɐʂxɐˈbat]), known as Poltoratsk (Russian: Полтора́цк, IPA: [pəltɐˈratsk]) between 1919 and 1927, is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan in Central Asia, situated between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range. The 2001 census estimated a population of 695,300, while the 2009 census estimated a population of 1 million, primarily Turkmen people, with ethnic minorities of Russians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis.

The Karakum Canal runs through the city, carrying waters from the Amu Darya from east to west. (Full article...)