Regions of Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is divided into five regions, or welaýatlar (singular welaýat) and one capital city (şäher) with provincial legal status. They are Ahal, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary, plus the capital city of Ashgabat. Each province is divided into districts. As of 20 December 2022 there were 37 districts (Turkmen: etraplar, singular etrap), 49 cities (Turkmen: şäherler, singular şäher), including 7 cities with district status (Turkmen: etrap hukukly), 68 towns (Turkmen: şäherçeler, singular şäherçe), 469 rural councils (rural municipal units, Turkmen: geňeşlikler, singular geňeşlik) and 1690 villages (rural settlements Turkmen: oba ilatly ýerler) in Turkmenistan.^[1][2][3]

Capital city and Regions of Turkmenistan
Also known as: Province
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Category	Unitary state
Location	Turkmenistan
Number	5 Regions 1 Capital city
Populations	(Regions only): 569,100 (Balkan) - 1,519,000 (Mary)
Areas	(Regions only): 139,270 km2 (53,772 sq mi) (Balkan) – 97,160 km2 (37,513 sq mi) (Ahal)
Government	Region government, Government of Turkmenistan
Subdivisions	District

The regions are also translated as oblasts, which were also the administrative divisions of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, a republic of the Soviet Union, which retained the system after independence in 1991.

Capital city

Main article: Ashgabat

The capital city of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat, which is an administrative and territorial unit with provincial authorities.
See also Map of the Boroughs of Ashgabat

As of January 5, 2018, Ashgabat includes four boroughs (uly etraplar), each with a presidentially appointed mayor (Turkmen: häkim):^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

1. Bagtyýarlyk etraby (formerly President Niyazov, Lenin District, expanded to include former Ruhabat District plus new territory)
2. Berkararlyk etraby (formerly Azatlyk, Sovetskiy District)
3. Büzmeýin etraby (formerly Abadan District, expanded to include former Arçabil and Çandybil Districts)
4. Köpetdag etraby (formerly Proletarskiy District)

This is a reduction from the previous number of boroughs. Arçabil and Çandybil boroughs were merged on February 4, 2015, and the new etrap, named Arçabil, was in turn renamed Büzmeýin in January 2018. At that time the Abadan borough of Ashgabat, created in 2013 by annexing the town of Abadan and surrounding villages to Abadan's south, was abolished and its territory was merged into the newly renamed Büzmeýin borough. The former Ruhabat borough was abolished at the same time and its territory absorbed by Bagtyýarlyk borough.^[11]

On 15 June 2020, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow announced intention to create a fifth borough of Ashgabat, to be called Altyn etraby, centered on the new resort zone created on the shores of the former Gurtly Water Reservoir, recently renamed "Golden Lake" (Altyn köl).^[12]

List of regions

Overview of regions of Turkmenistan

Division	ISO 3166-2	Capital city	Governor[13]	Area[14]	Pop (2022)[15]	Key	Map
Ashgabat	TM-S	Ashgabat	Yaztagan Gylyjov	260 km2 (100 sq mi)	1,030,063	not on map
Ahal Region	TM-A	Arkadag	Yazmuhammet Gurbanov	97,260 km2 (37,550 sq mi)	886,845	1
Balkan Region	TM-B	Balkanabat	Tangryguly Atahallyev	139,300 km2 (53,800 sq mi)	529,895	2
Daşoguz Region	TM-D	Dashoguz	Nazarmyrat Nazarmyradov	73,400 km2 (28,300 sq mi)	1,550,354	3
Lebap Region	TM-L	Turkmenabat	Shohrat Amangeldiyev	93,700 km2 (36,200 sq mi)	1,447,298	4
Mary Region	TM-M	Mary	Dovranberdi Annaberdiyev	87,200 km2 (33,700 sq mi)	1,613,386	5

The heads of the regions (Turkmen: häkim, "the leader"), sometimes known as "governors", are appointed by the President of Turkmenistan (Constitution of Turkmenistan, Articles 80–81).

See also

• Districts of Turkmenistan
• ISO 3166-2:TM