Balkan Province
Encyclopedia
Provinces of Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is divided into five provinces or welayatlar and one capital city district .The heads of the provinces are appointed by the President of Turkmenistan .-References:...
of Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
. It is in the far west of the country, bordering Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Its capital is Balkanabat
Balkanabat
Balkanabat , formerly Nebit Dag, is a city in western Turkmenistan, and the capital of Balkan Province. It is located at , at an altitude of 17 meters, some 400 kilometers from Ashgabat. As of 2006, the city had an estimated population of 87,822. Balkanabat lies at the foot of the Balkan...
, formerly known as Nebit Dag. It has an area of 139,270 square kilometers and a population of approximately 553,500 people (2005 est.). Its population density of 3.3 persons per square kilometer is the lowest in Turkmenistan.
Other cities include: Türkmenbaşy
Türkmenbasy, Turkmenistan
Türkmenbaşy , formerly known as Krasnovodsk and, more properly, Kyzyl-Su, is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Krasnovodsk Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It is located at latitude 40.0231 North; longitude 52.9697 East, at an altitude of 27 meters. The population was 86,800, mostly...
, Gumdag
Gumdag
Gumdag is a city in south-western Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. It is south of Balkanabat....
, Serdar, Hazar
Hazar, Turkmenistan
Hazar is a city in Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea, part of the Balkan Province, formerly Çeleken, also written Cheleken.-Petroleum:This city and area is within a rich petroleum oil reserves. As far back as 1st century, the Greek philosopher Strabo said, "They say, diggers opened oily springs near...
, Gyzyletrek
Gyzyletrek
Gyzyletrek is a town in western Turkmenistan. It is located in Balkan Province on the Atrek River bordering on Iran. The name means "Red Atrek" and may be a reference to the silt load that the Atrek River carries at that point...
, Esenguly
Esenguly, Turkmenistan
Esenguly is a city in Turkmenistan, part of the Balkan Province.-References:...
.
Balkan Province has significant energy reserves, which account for 94% of Turkmenistan's natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
production and 12% of its petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
production. It also generates 18% of the country's electric power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
. Due to the very low water supply, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is negligible, and only 4.5% of Turkmenistan's arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
s are within the province.
Off its Caspian shores the Balkan Province includes the island of Ogurja Ada
Ogurja Ada
Ogurja Ada is the largest island in Turkmenistan and the longest in the Caspian Sea. Ogurja Island is also widely known by its Russian name Ogurchinskiy Island ....
, the most important island in Turkmenistan and one of the largest in the Caspian Sea.
Districts
Balkan Province is administratively divided into 6 districts (etraplar; singular: etrap) and 7 cities (il). Name changes since 1995 are shown in parentheses:- Districts
- Bereket DistrictBereket DistrictBereket District is a district of Balkan Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Bereket....
(formerly Gazanjyk) - Esenguly DistrictEsenguly DistrictEsenguly District is a district of Balkan Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Esenguly-References:...
- Etrek DistrictEtrek DistrictEtrek District is a district in Balkan Province, Turkmenistan. It has an area of 13,850 km² and an estimated population of 54,000 . Its capital is Gyzyletrek. The former name of the district was Gyzyletrek District....
(formerly Gyzyletrek) - Magtymguly DistrictMagtymguly DistrictMagtymguly District is a district of Balkan Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Garrygala.-References:...
(formerly GarrygalaGarrygalaGarrygala is a town in far south-western Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. It lies west of Aydere and is the administrative capital of Magtymguly District...
) - Serdar DistrictSerdar DistrictSerdar District is a district of Balkan Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Serdar .Serdar was the old Iranian district of Farava ....
(formerly Gyzylarbat) - Türkmenbaşy DistrictTürkmenbaşy DistrictTürkmenbaşy District is a district of Balkan Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Türkmenbaşy....
- Bereket District
- Cities
- BalkanabatBalkanabatBalkanabat , formerly Nebit Dag, is a city in western Turkmenistan, and the capital of Balkan Province. It is located at , at an altitude of 17 meters, some 400 kilometers from Ashgabat. As of 2006, the city had an estimated population of 87,822. Balkanabat lies at the foot of the Balkan...
- BereketBereketBereket is a city in south-western Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. It lies approximately equal distance from Gumdag and Gyzylarbat to the south-east....
(Gazanjyk) - GarabogazGarabogaz, TurkmenistanGarabogaz is a city in Turkmenistan, part of the Balkan Province. Until 2002 it was named Bekdaş [Bake-dash].Located on a ridge which divides the Garabogazköl lagoon from the Caspian Sea, the city is richly blessed by the abundant and varied mineral resources of the Garabogazköl...
(formerly Bekdaş) - GumdagGumdagGumdag is a city in south-western Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. It is south of Balkanabat....
- HazarHazar, TurkmenistanHazar is a city in Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea, part of the Balkan Province, formerly Çeleken, also written Cheleken.-Petroleum:This city and area is within a rich petroleum oil reserves. As far back as 1st century, the Greek philosopher Strabo said, "They say, diggers opened oily springs near...
(formerly Çeleken) - Serdar City (formerly Kyzyl-Arvat, Gyzylarbat) – granted etrap status on 3 February 2008
- Türkmenbaşy CityTürkmenbasy, TurkmenistanTürkmenbaşy , formerly known as Krasnovodsk and, more properly, Kyzyl-Su, is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Krasnovodsk Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It is located at latitude 40.0231 North; longitude 52.9697 East, at an altitude of 27 meters. The population was 86,800, mostly...
(formerly Krasnovodsk)
- Balkanabat