Turkmenistan

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Turkmenistan fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇮🇹 Roman Republic and Empire53 BC to 217

   Rome and Parthia, whose homeland lies in the Kopet Dag, fight for nearly three centuries over Armenia and Mesopotamia. Parthian horse archers destroy a Roman army at Carrhae in 53 BC; the last war ends in 217 AD.

2. Hephthalite Huns484 to 560

   The Hephthalites press Persia's northeastern frontier at Merv. They kill the shah Peroz in battle in 484 and take tribute from Persia, until Sasanians and Turks together destroy them around 560.

3. Rashidun Caliphate651

   Arab armies reach Merv in 651, where the last Sasanian king has fled. The city submits and becomes the base for the Arab conquest of Central Asia.

4. 🇦🇫 Ghaznavid Empire1035 to 1040

   The Ghaznavid sultans try to stop the Oghuz Turks led by the Seljuk brothers from settling in Khorasan. At Dandanaqan, near Merv, in 1040, the Seljuks rout the Ghaznavid army and go on to found their empire.

5. 🇲🇳 Mongol Empire1221

   In 1221 Mongol armies under Tolui take Merv, then one of the largest cities in the world, and kill most of its people. Urgench and Nisa are also destroyed.

6. 🇺🇿 Khanate of Khiva1800 to 1873

   The khans of Khiva campaign again and again against the Turkmen tribes of the desert and oases. In 1855 Khan Muhammad Amin is killed fighting the Teke near Sarakhs, and Khiva's hold on the Turkmen fades until Russia conquers Khiva in 1873.

7. 🇮🇷 Qajar Persia1830 to 1881

   Turkmen horsemen raid Persian Khorasan for captives for decades. A large Qajar army sent against Merv is routed by the Teke around 1860, and a treaty between Russia and Persia in 1881 fixes the border.

8. 🇷🇺 Russian Empire1869 to 1885

   Russia lands at Krasnovodsk in 1869. Its first assault on the Teke fortress of Geok Tepe fails in 1879, but in 1881 General Skobelev storms it with heavy slaughter, and Merv submits in 1884.

9. 🇷🇺 Soviet Russia1918 to 1928

   Junaid Khan, a Yomut Turkmen leader who seizes Khiva in 1918, fights the Bolsheviks through the 1920s before fleeing abroad, while Soviet rule is imposed on the Turkmen tribes.

Today

Turkmenistan now

Present-day Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. Various Persian empires ruled the area in antiquity, and Alexander the Great, Muslim armies, the Mongols, Turkic warriors, and eventually the Russians conquered it. In medieval times, Merv (located in present-day Mary province) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road.

Capital

Ashgabat

Government

presidential republic; authoritarian

Head of government

Serdar Berdimuhamedow

Languages

Turkmen

Area

491,209 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population7.4 million2023 · 1.3 million in 1950
• Life expectancy70.1 years2023 · 48.1 years in 1950
• GDP per person$17,2342022
• Living in cities47%2025 · 43% in 1950
• Literacy100%2022
• Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending3.1% of GDP1999
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.