Ashgabat edit
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Ashgabat edit
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| Ashgabat Aşgabat Ashkhabad, Poltoratsk (1919-1927) |
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  Ashgabat
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country |  Turkmenistan |
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| Province | Ahal Province |
| founded | 1818 |
| Population (2001) | |
| - Total | 695,300 |
Ashgabat (Turkmen: Aşgabat, also Ashkhabad in transliteration from Russian or formerly Poltoratsk between 1919-1927) is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia. It has a population of 695,300 (2001 census estimate) and is situated between the Kara Kum desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range. Ashgabat has a primarily Turkmen population, with minorities of ethnic Russians, Armenians, and Azeris. It is 250 km from the second largest city in Iran, Mashhad.
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Ashgabat is Aşgabat in Turkmen, Ашхабад (Ashkhabad) in Russian, and عشقآباد (UniPers: Ešq-âbâd) in Persian. From 1919 until 1927, the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary. Before 1991, the city was usually spelled Ashkhabad in English, a transliteration of the Russian form, which was itself from the original Persian form. It has also been variously spelled Ashkhabat and Ashgabad.
Ashgabat derives from the Persian Ashk (=Arsaces) and ābād (="inhabited place" or "city"), which overall means "the City of Arsaces". A folk etymology suggests that the name is a dialect version of the Arabic-derived Persian word of عشق (eshq meaning "love") and Persian آباد (ābād meaning "inhabited place" or "city", etymologically "abode"), and hence loosely translates as "the city of love" or "the city that love built".1
Ashgabat is a relatively young city, growing out of a village of the same name established by Russians in 1818. It is not far from the site of Nisa, the ancient capital of the Parthians, and it grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, which was first mentioned as a wine-producing village in 2nd century BCE and was leveled by an earthquake in 1st century BCE (a precursor of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake). Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century CE. After that it survived as a small village until the Russians took over in the 19th century.23
In 1869, Russian soldiers built a fortress on a hill near the village, and this added security soon attracted merchants and craftsmen to the area. Ashgabat remained a part of Persia until 1881, when it was ceded to Tsarist Russia under the terms of Akhal Treaty. Russia chose to develop Ashgabat as a regional center due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia. It was regarded as a pleasant town with European style buildings, shops and hotels. In 1908, the first Bahá'í House of Worship was built in Ashgabat. It was badly damaged in the 1948 earthquake and finally demolished in 1963.4
Soviet rule was established in Ashgabat in December 1917, lost to a coalition of British and White Russian forces in July 1918, and regained a year later in July 1919, when the city was renamed Poltoratsk (Полторацк) after a local revolutionary.5 The name Ashgabat was restored in 1927 after the establishment of Turkmen SSR as a Soviet republic, though it was usually known by the Russian form Ashkhabad (Russian: Ашхабад). From this period onward, the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although this was severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 6, 1948. An estimated 7.3 on the Richter scale, the earthquake killed 110-176,000678 (2/3 the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000.9
Ashgabat milestones:10
Ashgabat is primarily a government and administrative center. The principal industries are cotton textiles and metal working. It is a major stop on the Trans-Caspian railway.
The city is served by Ashgabat Airport.
The Kopet-Dag mountain range is about 25 km to the south, and Ashgabat's northern boundary touches the Kara-Kum desert. Because of this location, Ashgabat has an arid climate with hot and dry summers and mild and short winters. The average high temperature in July is 38 °C (100 °F) for long periods of time. The highest temperature on record is 45 °C (113 °F). Nighttime temperatures in the summer are warm, with an average minimum temperature in the summer of 22 °C (71 °F). Average winter high temperatures range from 10 to 12 °C (49 to 53 °F), and average lows in the winter of -1 to 1 °C (31 to 34 °F); temperatures as low as -16 °C (3 °F) have been recorded in December. Snow is rare. Annual precipitation is only 193 mm (7.6 in.); March and April are the wettest months.11
Museums include the Turkmen Fine Arts Museum, noted for its impressive collection of woven carpets, and a Turkmen history museum Ashgabat National Museum of History which has artifacts dating back to the Parthian and Persian civilisations. The Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan is an important institute of higher learning. Large mosques include the Azadi Mosque (which resembles the Blue Mosque in Istanbul), the Khezrety Omar Mosque, and the futuristic Iranian Mosque. Ashgabat is also home to the Arch of Neutrality, which is a large tripod on which there is a golden statue of former President Saparmurat Niyazov (also known and generally referred to as Turkmenbashi, or leader of the Turkmens). This statue rotates in order to always face the sun during daylight hours. It is said to be made of pure gold. The statue of former President Saparmurat Niyazov has been moved to the outskirts of Ashgabat by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow in December 2008.12
 Independence and Peace Monument |
Türkmenbaşy Palace |
 Ashgabat Exhibition Center |
 Ak Bugdaý (White Wheat) Museum, Anau |
 Ruhyýet Palace |
 Music and Drama Theater |
 Assembly building |
 Ashgabat: satellite photo |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ashgabat |
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