TURKMENISTAN

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TURKMENISTAN

• By
• Mark Rasmusson

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(No Transcript)
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Land Climate

• Slightly larger in size
• than California
• 80 of Turkmenistans area is desert
• Average Mean Temp in July 90 degrees F.
• Only 3.4 of land is suitable for crops

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The People

• Population 4,688,963
• Close to Minnesotas

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The People

• Remarkable 98 literacy rate of those over
  15
• Majority Sunni Muslim
  (non-fundamentalist)
• 56
  Rural/44 Urban
  
  

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The Economy

• OIL GAS
• COTTON
• RUGS
• CARPET

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Trivial Pursuits

• Yes, there are camels.
• In 1948 the capital city of
• Ashgabat was destroyed
• by an earthquake.

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• Water is a Turkmens Life,
• a Horse is His Wings
• and a Carpet is His Soul.

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The Turkmen Big Three

• WATER
• HORSES
• CARPET

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Water is a Turkmens Life

• What does cotton have to do with water?

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WATER

• Turkmenistan receives very little precipitation
• 80 of Turkmenistans area is desert.
• Cotton requires lots of moisture to grow.
• Turkmen were a nomadic lot until just the past
  couple of
• generations, any settlements were near an oasis.
• --------------------------------------------------
  -------
• - The Water has to come from somewhere -

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The Amu Darya River

• Flows along most of northern border
• Source for 90 of countrys water demand
• Eventually flows into the Aral Sea

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The Kara Kum Waterway

• Kara Kum is man-made
• Nearly 500 miles long
• Supplies capital

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The Amu Darya Kara Kum
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Environmental Disaster !The Aral Sea

• The flow from the two main rivers that replenish
  it have slowed to nearly a trickle.
• Some extremely dry years no water even reaches
  the Aral Sea.
• Overuse from irrigation for agricultural crops,
  primarily cotton is the culprit.

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The Aral Sea Demise

1977
1995
1999
2000
2001
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The Dying Sea
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a Horse is His Wings
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Horses The Akhalteke Breed
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Turkmen Horse History

• Nomadic nature, the horse helps to escape enemies
• Horse could cover vast distances in harsh
  conditions
• Able to travel at night
• Fast gallopers

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More History

• Government has declared horse breeding an art
  form
• Lean graceful, evolved from stocky ancestors
• Traditionally, breeding secrets passed from
  father to son

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Pride in Their Horse

• After 1917, the Communists made horses community
  property.
• Rather than give up their horses, many Turkmen
  escaped to the desert or fled on horseback to
  Afghanistan.

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Horse Lore

• Buccephalus A Turkmen horse was Alexander the
  Greats favorite
• ______________________________
• Great Britains Princess Anne purchased several
  Turkmen Akhaltekes
• _______________________________
• In 1956 former Soviet Union leader Nikita
  Khrushchev gave a gift of a Turkmen horse to
  Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain

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Present-Day Uses

• Being the Turkmen are less nomadic, horses are
  now often used in racing and other equestrian
  events

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and a Carpet is His Soul.
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CARPET

• If horse breeding is
• traditionally passed on
• from father to son, then carpet weaving is the
• piece of Turkmen culture
• passed on from Turkmen
• mother to Turkmen
• daughter

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History

• While nomads, carpets were used as covers for
  wagon floors or lodging walls could be rolled
  up and moved quickly
• A skilled eye can even determine the weavers
  tribe and region

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Yarn

• The yarn for rugs carpets come from the wool of
  the native Sarajin sheep

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Pride

• In their carpets, the weavers, reflect their
  feelings and dreams, joy and grief, their hopes
  and wishes.
• Carpets are as significant to Turkmen as the
  Pyramids are to Egyptians

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Bazaar

• After applying their skill, to further their
  familys income, many weavers sell their wares at
  the Bazaar

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Carpet Rug Samples

• Red is obviously the predominant color, but
  never found the reason why.

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• More Samples

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Factories

• More and more carpet is being made in factories
• Presently, 15 carpet and rug-making factories
• Claim to still use traditional Turkmen wool and
  colorings

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Turkmens Identity

• 1. Water 2. Horses
  3. Carpet
• ________________________________________

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Summary

• Water is a Turkmens Life,
• a Horse is His Wings
• and a Carpet is His Soul.

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The End