Cities of Turkmenistan


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 or a geňeşlik. In some cases, a şäher may include towns or villages 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 intitutions and are administered jointly. Those cities are headed by a geňeş, an elected council chaired by an arçyn 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.
CityPopulation DistrictProvinceNote
Änew28,653Ak bugdaýAhal province
Altyn asyr13,660Altyn asyrAhal province
Arkadag567ArkadagAhal provinceCity with 2 internal districts.
Babadaýhan13,440BabadaýhanAhal province
Bäherden37,588BäherdenAhal province
Gökdepe33,381GökdepeAhal province
Kaka33,315KakaAhal province
Sarahs31,269SarahsAhal province
Tejen67,488TejenAhal province
Aşgabat1,030,063noneAşgabatNational capital and a province-equivalent city with 4 internal districts.
Balkanabat123,190BalkanabatBalkan province
Bereket23,697BereketBalkan province
Esenguly12,918EsengulyBalkan province
Etrek12,508EtrekBalkan province
Garabogaz7,877TürkmenbaşyBalkan provinceNot the administrative center of its district.
Gyzylarbat48,558GyzylarbatBalkan province
Magtymguly15,386MagtymgulyBalkan province
[Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan|Türkmenbaşy District|Türkmenbaşy]91,745TürkmenbaşyBalkan provinceCity with an internal district.
Akdepe28,045AkdepeDaşoguz province
Andalyp36,594GaraşsyzlykDaşoguz province
Boldumsaz39,532BoldumsazDaşoguz province
Daşoguz201,142DaşoguzDaşoguz province
Görogly26,770GöroglyDaşoguz province
Gubadag18,950GubadagDaşoguz province
Köneürgenç37,176KöneürgençDaşoguz province
Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy20,720Saparmyrat TürkmenbaşyDaşoguz provinceThe full name is "Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy adyndaky."
Şabat19,392ŞabatDaşoguz province
Dänew15,409DänewLebap province
Darganata13,777DarganataLebap province
Dostluk13,655KöýtendagLebap province
Farap20,547FarapLebap province
Garabekewül15,135GarabekewülLebap province
Gazojak21,035DarganataLebap province
Halaç20,778HalaçLebap province
Hojambaz13,485HojambazLebap province
Kerki32,489KerkiLebap province
Köýtendag18,816KöýtendagLebap province
Magdanly44,508KöýtendagLebap province
Sakar12,769SaýatLebap province
Saýat21,619SaýatLebap province
Seýdi29,670DänewLebap province
Türkmenabat230,861TürkmenabatLebap province
Baýramaly70,376BaýramalyMary province
Mary167,027MaryMary province
Murgap14,822MurgapMary province
Sakarçäge11,891SakarçägeMary province
Serhetabat16,038TagtabazarMary province
Şatlyk7,725SakarçägeMary province
Türkmengala16,696TürkmengalaMary province
Ýolöten30,709ÝolötenMary 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.