Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Turkmenistan has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. In medieval times, Merv was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road, a caravan route used for trade with China until the mid-15th century. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. . . . Turkmenistan possesses the world's sixth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert. From 1993 to 2017, citizens received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge. . . . According to Human Rights Watch, 'Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries.'" [Wikipedia] "During the days of Soviet control, communist planners initiated work on a massive project—the Garagum (Kara Kum) Canal designed to transfer water from Turkestan’s eastern mountains into the heart of the desert. Today the canal is 1100 kilometers (700 mi) long, and it has enabled the cultivation of more than one million hectares (2.5 million acres) of cotton, vegetables, and fruits." [Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, 17th Edition, p. 226]