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Where you could be born / Asia / Central Asia

Born in Turkmenistan

About 1 in 825 people born in 2023 started life in Turkmenistan. A boy can expect to live 67 years and a girl 73, up from 44 and 53 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 825
odds of being born here
160,100 births · Ranked 95th of 230
67 / 73
years of life, boys / girls
Was 44 / 53 in 1950
$8,025
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 85th of 203 · extrapolated
47%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 22 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 217 in every 1,000 births to 40.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth66.9 years for boys, 72.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 539.5 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year43,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year41 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.3 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.7.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.69UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 48 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 1998
6%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
48%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $8,025 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth48% / 6% (1998)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming22% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed32% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment103% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Ashgabat, with 1.0 million people.

47%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Ashgabat1.0 million
Türkmenabat230,861
Daşoguz201,142
Mary167,027
Türkmenbaşy91,745
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Turkmen70%
Russian12%
Uzbek9%
Turkmen is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Ashgabat1.0 million
Dasoguz379,492
Lebap368,172
Mary325,036
Balkan313,951
Ahal305,348

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 4.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Turkey119,955
Kazakhstan117,117
Russia87,585
Residents born abroad2.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostTurkey (119,955), Kazakhstan (117,117), Russia (87,585)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $4.4 million a year (1996)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

77% of older people receive a pension.

77%
of older people receive a pension (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 2000, killed about 11 people (magnitude 7)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Turkmenistan, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Turkmenistan

Elsewhere in Asia

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences