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 ...

is divided into five regions or ''welaýatlar'' (singular '' welaýat'') and one capital city (''şäher'') with provincial legal status. They are

Ahal Ahal may refer to: * Ahal Province, in Turkmenistan * Ahel, a city in Fars Province, Iran * FC Ahal Ahal Änew Football Club ( tk, Ahal Änew Futbol Kluby), or simply Ahal FC, is a Turkmen professional association football club based in the ...

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, Dashoguz,

Lebap Lebap Region ( tk, Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian ''Lab-e āb'') is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya. Its capital is T ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, plus the capital city of

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 lies ...

. Each province is divided into

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. As of 20 December 2022 there were 37 districts ( tk, etraplar, singular etrap), 49 cities ( tk, şäherler, singular şäher), including 7 cities with district status ( tk, etrap hukukly), 68 towns ( tk, şäherçeler, singular şäherçe), 469 rural councils (rural municipal units, tk, geňeşlikler, singular geňeşlik) and 1690 villages (rural settlements tk, oba ilatly ýerler) in Turkmenistan.

Capital city

The capital city of Turkmenistan is

, 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 ( tk, häkim): # Bagtyýarlyk etraby (formerly President Niyazov, Lenin District, expanded to include former Ruhabat District plus new territory) # Berkararlyk etraby (formerly Azatlyk, Sovetskiy District) # Büzmeýin etraby (formerly Abadan District, expanded to include former Arçabil and Çandybil Districts) # 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. On 15 June 2020, Turkmen President

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022. A dentist by profe ...

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).

List of regions

The heads of the regions ( tk, häkim, "the leader"), sometimes known as "governors", are appointed by the President of Turkmenistan (

Constitution of Turkmenistan The Constitution of Turkmenistan adopted on 18 May 1992 is the supreme law of Turkmenistan (Article 5). In its preamble, the Constitution emphasizes self-determination for the Turkmen people, as well as the rule of law and rights for citizens. ( ...

, Articles 80–81).

References

{{Turkmenistan topics Subdivisions of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 1 Turkmenistan 1 Regions, Turkmenistan Turkmenistan geography-related lists