Ashgabat

Ashgabat is called Aşgabat (transliterated as "Ashgabat") in Turkmen, Russian: Ашхабад, romanized: Ashkhabad in Russian from 1925 to 1991, and عشق‌آباد ('Ešqābād) in Persian. Before 1991, the name was usually spelled Ashkhabad in English, a transliteration of the Russian form. It has also been variously spelled Ashkhabat and Ashgabad. From 1919 until 1927, the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary, Pavel Poltoratskiy. Although the name literally means "city of love" or "city of devotion" in modern Persian, the name might have been modified through folk etymology. Turkmen historian Ovez Gundogdiyev believes that the name goes back to the Parthian era, 3rd century BC, deriving from the name of the founder of the Parthian Empire, Arsaces I of Parthia, in Persian Ashk-Abad (the city of Ashk/Arsaces).

Ashgabat grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala, first mentioned as a wine-producing village in the 1st-2nd century BC and leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC. Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century. After that it survived as a small village until Russians took over in the 19th century. The near suburb of Köşi, until 2013 a separate village but in that year annexed by Ashgabat, may have been site of a Parthian fortress constructed to protect the capital city, Nisa, based on discoveries of pottery and other artifacts in the 1970s and as recently as 2020. Other artifacts indicating settlement during the Parthian period were reportedly discovered during laying of telephone cables on the site of the Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar in downtown Ashgabat. …

Ashgabat is in near proximity, approximately 50 km (30 mi), to the Iranian border. It occupies a highly seismically active oasis plain bounded on the south by the foothills of the Köpetdag mountains and on the north by the Karakum Desert. It is surrounded by, but not part of, Ahal Province. The highest point in the city is the 401 metres (1,316 ft) high sandhill upon which the Ýyldyz Hotel was built, but most of the city lies between 200 and 255 metres (656 and 837 ft) of elevation. The Karakum Canal runs through the city. Like the rest of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat's soil is primarily sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the Paratethys Ocean. The Kopet Dag mountains emerged toward the end of the Cretaceous Period. Prior to 1881 any buildings other than yurts were made solely from adobe and were limited to one story in height due to the seismic risk. …

Following independence in 1991, President Saparmyrat Nyýazow began hiring foreign architectural and construction firms, most prominently Bouygues of France and the Turkish firms Polimeks and Gap Inşaat, the latter a subsidiary of Çalık Holding. These firms blended Persian-style domes, which Nyýazow favored, with Greco-Roman architectural elements such as pillars. Following Nyýazow's death, domes began to go out of fashion for buildings other than mosques, and public buildings began to take on more modernist characteristics, often with a motif reflecting the structure's intended occupant. …

The principal industries are cotton textiles and metal working. It is a major stop on the Trans-Caspian railway. A large percentage of the employment in Ashgabat is provided by the state institutions; such as the ministries, undersecretariats, and other administrative bodies of the Turkmenistan government. There are also many foreign citizens working as diplomats or clerks in the embassies of their respective countries. Ashgabat lends its name to the Ashgabat Agreement, signed by India, Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. In 2019 and 2020, Ashgabat was the most expensive city in the world for foreign expatriates in ECA International's Cost of Living Survey. …

Ashgabat was home to the Arch of Neutrality, a 75 m (250 ft) tall tripod crowned by a golden statue of late president Saparmyrat Nyýazow (also known as Türkmenbaşy, or head of the Turkmen). The 15 m (50 ft) high statue, which rotated in order to always face the sun during daylight hours, was removed on August 26, 2010, after Nyýazow's successor, current President Berdimuhamedow, made clear earlier in the year that the statue was to be taken out of Ashgabat's Independence Square. In 2011 a Monument to the Constitution was built, its total height of 185 m (607 ft) makes it the second tallest structure in Turkmenistan. Alem Cultural and Entertainment Center was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest Ferris wheel in an enclosed space. The Ashgabat Flagpole is the fifth tallest free–standing flagpole in the world, standing at 436 ft (133 m) tall. …