A şäher, translated as "city," is the most important form of third-level administrative division of Turkmenistan. In theory, a şäher should be more populated than a şäherçe ("town") or a geňeşlik ("rural councils"). In some cases, a şäher may include towns or villages ("oba" / pl. "obalar") within its boudaries.
In Turkmenistan, municipalities with a city status are established by law. Cities fall into three categories:
Cities equivalent to a province, a status claimed by Aşgabat only. Cities with a district status, "etrap hukukly." Those cities must have a population over 30,000 and fulfill an administrative, an economic or a cultural role within its province. There are 7 of them. Cities within a district. Those cities must have a population over 8,000 and possess some of the following actors or structures: Industrial enterprises, construction and transport organizations, utilities, municipally-owned housing stock, socio-cultural institutions, trade and social services. There are 44 of them.
Cities with district status, along with regular districts, are headed by a presidentially appointed häkim, translated as "governor" or "mayor" in the case of a city. Three cities in Turkmenistan, Aşgabat, Arkadag, and Turkmenbaşy, are further subdivided into boroughs with district status, each of them having its own häkim. Cities within a district are subordinated to the district's institutions and are administered jointly. Those cities are headed by a geňeş, an elected council chaired by an arçyn ("elder") who serves as both chairman and mayor.
List Municipalities designated as cities
Here is a list of the 51 municipalities designated as cities by law in Turkmenistan arranged by administrative divisions and alphabetical order as of December 20, 2022. Cities with district status are bolded.
City Population (2022) DistrictProvinceNoteÄnew28,653Ak bugdaýAhal provinceAltyn asyr13,660Altyn asyrAhal provinceArkadag64,086ArkadagAhal provinceCity with 2 internal districts (boroughs).Babadaýhanformerly Kirovsk13,440BabadaýhanAhal provinceBäherden37,588BäherdenAhal provinceGökdepe33,381GökdepeAhal provinceKaka33,315KakaAhal provinceSarahs31,269SarahsAhal provinceTejen67,488TejenAhal provinceAşgabat1,030,063noneAşgabatNational capital and a province-equivalent city with 4 internal districts.Balkanabat123,190BalkanabatBalkan provinceBereketformerly Gazanjyk or Gazandzhyk23,697BereketBalkan provinceEsenguly12,918 EsengulyBalkan provinceEtrekformerly Gyzyletrek12,508EtrekBalkan provinceGarabogazformerly Bekdash7,877TürkmenbaşyBalkan provinceNot the administrative center of its district.Gyzylarbatfrom 1999 to 2022 Serdar48,558GyzylarbatBalkan provinceMagtymgulyformerly Garrygala15,386MagtymgulyBalkan provinceTürkmenbaşyformerly Krasnovodsk91,745TürkmenbaşyBalkan provinceCity with an internal district.Akdepe28,045AkdepeDaşoguz provinceAndalypformerly Gurbansoltan eje adyndaky, Ýylanly36,594GaraşsyzlykDaşoguz provinceBoldumsaz39,532BoldumsazDaşoguz provinceDaşoguz201,142DaşoguzDaşoguz provinceGörogly26,770GöroglyDaşoguz provinceGubadag18,950GubadagDaşoguz provinceKöneürgenç37,176KöneürgençDaşoguz provinceSaparmyrat Türkmenbaşyformerly Oktyabrsk20,720Saparmyrat TürkmenbaşyDaşoguz provinceThe full name is "Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy adyndaky." ("in the name of Turkmenbaşy Saparmyrat")Şabatformerly Nyýazow, Täzebazar19,392ŞabatDaşoguz provinceDänewformerly Galkynyş15,409DänewLebap province Darganataformerly Birata13,777DarganataLebap province Dostlukformerly Yuzhnyy13,655DöwletliLebap province Farap20,547FarapLebap province Garabekewülformerly Karabekaul15,135GarabekewülLebap province Gazojak21,035DarganataLebap province Halaç20,778HalaçLebap province Hojambaz13,485HojambazLebap province Kerkiformerly Atamyrat32,489KerkiLebap province Köýtendagformerly Çarşaňňy18,816KöýtendagLebap province Magdanlyformerly Gowurdak44,508KöýtendagLebap province Sakar12,769SaýatLebap province Saýat21,619SaýatLebap province Seýdi29,670DänewLebap province Türkmenabatformerly Çärjew230,861TürkmenabatLebap province Baýramaly70,376BaýramalyMary provinceMary167,027MaryMary provinceMurgap14,822 MurgapMary provinceSakarçäge11,891SakarçägeMary provinceSerhetabatformerly Guşgy16,038 TagtabazarMary provinceŞatlyk7,725 OguzhanMary provinceTürkmengala16,696TürkmengalaMary provinceÝolöten30,709 ÝolötenMary province
Changes in 2022 The former cities of Gumdag and Hazar were downgraded to town status in November 2022, and thus have been removed from this list. The cities previously named Gurbansoltan Eje adyndaky, Nyýazow, and Serdar were renamed Andalyp, Şabat, and Gyzylarbat respectively. The new city of Arkadag was formally incorporated on 20 December 2022 by act of the Turkmen parliament.
See also Districts of Turkmenistan Towns of Turkmenistan List of renamed cities in Turkmenistan List of cities, towns and villages in Turkmenistan OpenStreetMap: Turkmenistan Geoname Changes OpenStreetMap: Districts in Turkmenistan (authoritative list of all municipal structures as of 5 January 2018)
Notes and references
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