According to the Global Firepower 2023 think tank report, Turkmenistan ranks 82nd in terms of military power in the world. It is third among the five Central Asian countries, after Uzbekistan in 62nd place and Kazakhstan in 63rd. Kyrgyzstan is 107th and Tajikistan is 120th.
Turkmenistan, with a population of just over 5.6mn, has 35,000 troops. Uzbekistan, with 31.1 million, has an army of 65,000 and Kazakhstan, with 19.3mn, has 77,000.
Kazakhstan leads Central Asia in current military spending with $2.6bn, followed by Uzbekistan with $692.5mn and Turkmenistan with $407mn. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which have Russian military bases on their territories, spend about $116mn and about $90mn respectively.
Reportedly, Turkmenistan has maintained its status of positive neutrality since 1995 and is therefore not a member of any military-political blocs in the world.
On land, Turkmenistan shares borders with Afghanistan (800 kilometres), Iran (1,148 kilometres), Kazakhstan (458 kilometres) and Uzbekistan (1,650 kilometres). In the Caspian Sea, the country borders Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia. The total length of Turkmenistan's maritime border is about 600 kilometres.
Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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