Turkmenistan, situated in Central Asia, is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, and Iran to the south. Turkmenistan is landlocked but borders the Caspian Sea. Its area is 488,100 square kilometers (188,400 square miles).

As of 2004 Turkmenistan's population was estimated at 4.9 million. The prominent ethnicities are Turkmen (85%) and Uzbek (5%). The prominent religions are Islam (89%) and the Russian Orthodox church (9%).

Turkmenistan was conquered by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and annexed by Russia in the late nineteenth century. It gained independence in 1916 after a rebellion that lasted until 1919. In 1924 the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as a component of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Turkmenistan declared full independence in October 1991.

Turkmenistan moved from a communist Soviet republic to an authoritarian regime centered on President Saparmurat Niyazov (b. 1940). Niyazov first came to power in 1985 as first secretary of the Communist...