Erbent (also known as Yerbent or Ýerbent) is a village in Ahal Province in central

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. The village is located in the

Karakum Desert The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum ( tk, Garagum, ; rus, Караку́мы, Karakumy, kərɐˈkumɨ), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : " ...

. It is the largest settlement on the road between

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lie ...

and Daşoguz, which are located near the southern and northern border of the country respectively.

Overview

The village-scape primarily consists of single-story buildings with adjacent

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ...

s. A pastoral economy has resulted in the desertification of surrounding areas. The village remains a popular destination aimed at providing tourists with an "authentic experience" of life in the

. A Soviet-era monument in the village center—featuring a Turkmen lady with a hung head—commemorates the death of 11 men who fell during the 1931 Basmachi Revolt in their quest of ensuring the "triumph of socialism, realization of dictatorship of the proletariat, and collectivization of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

Climate

Like most of Turkmenistan, Erbent has a continental

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWk'' according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

) with cold winters and very hot and sunny summers. The village has an annual average temperature of . July is the hottest month, with a daily mean of and an average high of . January is the coldest month, with a daily mean of and an average low of . Erbent's location in the middle of the

means it is very dry throughout the year, although winter and spring are slightly wetter and summer is especially dry. Erbent receives of precipitation in total, spread out over an average of 42 days per year. Erbent is also sunny year-round, receiving over 3000 hours of sunshine annually on average, with July being the sunniest month and summer being the sunniest season. Humidity is lower in the summer than in the winter, dropping as low as 25% in August. However, it rises to 74% in December.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Ahal Region

Overview

Climate

See also

References