40°0′N 55°0′E / 40.000°N 55.000°E
Balkan
Balkan welaýat | |
|---|---|
 Balkan region in Turkmenistan | |
| Country |  Turkmenistan |
| Capital | Balkanabat |
| Area | |
| • Total | 139,270 km2 (53,770 sq mi) |
| Population (2022 census) | |
| • Total | 529,895 |
| • Density | 3.8/km2 (9.9/sq mi) |
| Website | balkan |
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Balkan Region (Turkmen: Balkan welaýaty, Балкан велаяты) is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and the Caspian Sea (west). The capital city is Balkanabat, formerly known as Nebit Dag. The region's boundaries are identical to those of the former Krasnovodsk Oblast', a Soviet-era province of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in the city of Krasnovodsk. This oblast was liquidated and restored repeatedly in the 20th century, concluding with its abolition in 1988. However, the administrative boundaries of the region were restored in 1991 when Balkan Region was established with its capital being moved to Nebit Dag which was later renamed Balkanabat.
The province covers 139,270 square kilometers and counts 529,895 residents (2022 estimate).[1] A large minority of these are nomadic herding families.[2] Its population density of 3.8 persons per square kilometer is the lowest in Turkmenistan.
Other cities include: Bereket, Türkmenbaşy, Gumdag, Serdar, Hazar, Etrek, and Esenguly.
Balkan Region has significant hydrocarbon reserves, which in 2019 accounted for 13.9% of Turkmenistan's natural gas production and 93.1% of its petroleum production.[3] It also generated 15.4% of the country's electric power.[3] Due to the very low water supply, agriculture is negligible, and only 4.5% of Turkmenistan's arable lands are within the province.
Off its Caspian shores, the Balkan Region includes the island of Ogurja Ada, the most important island in Turkmenistan and one of the largest in the Caspian Sea.
- ^ "Turkmenistan: Regions, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Statistical Yearbook of Turkmenistan 2000-2004, National Institute of State Statistics and Information of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 2005.
- ^ a b Türkmenistanyň Ýyllyk Statistik Neşiri 2019 Ýyl (in Turkmen, Russian, and English). Ashgabat: State Committee of Statistics of Turkmenistan. 2020. p. 42.