Tourism in Turkmenistan
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Tourism is a small industry in
World Heritage Sites, museums, and natural sites. Many of its Central Asian cities were main points of trade on the Silk Road, linking Eastern and Western civilizations. Many neighboring countries (including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Iran) promote their countries based on their location along the Great Silk Road. Tourists from abroad are deterred by the restrictive visa policy regime with all countries of the world. Tourism is regulated by the Tourism Committee of Turkmenistan
.
Historical sites
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There are three World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan.
Parthian kings
, although it has not been established that the fortress at Nisa was either a royal residence or a mausoleum.
Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana, was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of culture and politics at a site of major strategic value. It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century.[1]
Khwarezm. Since 2005, the ruins of Old Urgench have been protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.[2] (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan
)
Nature tourism
Near
Derweze village in the middle of the Karakum Desert is a natural gas deposit. While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas.[3] The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, creating the Darvaza gas crater, a large hole with a diameter of 70 metres (230 ft) at 40°15′10″N 58°26′22″E / 40.25264°N 58.43941°E. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided the best solution was to burn it off.[4][unreliable source] Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas is still burning today. Locals have dubbed the cavern the "Door to Hell".[5][unreliable source
]
Museums
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Most museums in Turkmenistan are located in the major cities of Ashgabat, Türkmenbaşy, Balkanabat, Mary and Daşoguz. Some of these include:
- Ashgabat National Museum of History
- Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex
- Mary Museum
- The State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan
- Turkmen Carpet Museum
- Turkmen Museum of Fine Arts
The city of
Serdar features a fine local history museum, and the city of Bereket
a railroad museum.
Visitor statistics
In 2016, approximately 9,000 tourists visited Turkmenistan,[6] and in 2019, there were approximately 14,438 tourists.[7]
In 2011, the following countries had the most tourists travel to Turkmenistan:[8]
Iran: 3,874
Germany: 1,143
United States: 531
See also
References
- ^ "Largest Cities Through History". About.com Geography. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ "Kunya-Urgench". UNESCO World Heritage Center. UNESCO. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Turkmenistan's "Door to Hell" - Gadling". Gadling. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ "Darvaz: The Door to Hell - English Russia". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ steve. "The Burning Gas Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan". You're Not From Around Here, Are You?. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ^ "О ситуации в сфере туризма Туркменистана. Письмо читателя" (in Russian). Альтернативные Новости Туркменистана. 31 October 2017.
- ^ Türkmenistanyň Ýyllyk Statistik Neşiri 2019 Ýyl (in Turkmen, Russian, and English). Ashgabat: State Committee of Statistics of Turkmenistan. 2020.
- ^ "Statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
External links
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Turkmenistan.
- (in English, Russian, and Turkmen) Official state web-site of the Tourism Committee of Turkmenistan [Website disabled as of 5/5/2022]
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