Like to know a little more about the capital cities of the world? Take a look at these 18 facts about Ashgabat!
- Ashgabat is the capital city of Turkmenistan.
- Wondering how to say the name of this wonderful city? It’s pronounced Aash-gah-bat.
- The total land area of Ashgabat is 170 square miles (440 square kilometres)…
- …that’s roughly 3 times the size of Sunderland.
- Ashgabat’s population was 1,032,000 in 2012…
- …that’s almost 4 times the population of Sunderland…
- …and gives it a population density of around 6,071 residents per square mile.
- Ashgabat is located 719 ft above sea level.
- Residents of Ashgabat are known as Turkmen.
- Turkmen living in Ashgabat enjoy an arid climate with cool, short winters followed by hot, dry summers, large temperature variations and an average annual temperature of 17.1°C.
- Looking to fly yourself to Ashgabat? You’ll need the coordinates of 37.5700° N, 58.2259° E.
- Make sure you visit ‘The Door to Hell’ if you’re in Ashgabat; it’s an underground natural gas crater which was ignited by soviet drilling in 1971 and still continues to burn!
- The city of Ashgabat was unfortunately destroyed in 1948 by an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale. Luckily, the city has been rebuilt and is a beautiful and thriving place to visit.
- The official language of Ashgabat is Turkmen.
- Turkmenistan Manat is the official currency here.
- The name Ashgabat is said to translate to ‘the city of love’ in Arabic – how wonderful!
- Turkmenistan welcomed 8,000 tourists into the country in 2007, many of whom visited Ashgabat for its beautiful modern architecture, incredible statues and excellent nightlife.
- Do you know someone lucky enough to live in Ashgabat? You can make cheap calls to Ashgabat with Cherry Call – don’t forget, you’ll also need to use the international dialling code of 00993.
To keep up-to-date with what’s going on in Ashgabat, head over to the Turkmenistan News website.