Short answers, pulled from the story.
Turkmenistan occupies a landlocked position in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north. Afghanistan lies to the southeast while Iran borders the country to the south and southwest. The Caspian Sea forms the western boundary of this nation.
The city of Ashgabat was largely destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1948 that killed over 110,000 people. This disaster claimed two-thirds of the city's population at the time.
Saparmurat Niyazov declared himself President for Life in December 1999 through a parliament election featuring only hand-picked candidates. He maintained absolute control until his death in 2006.
Turkmenistan possesses the fourth largest reserves of natural gas globally according to available data with the Galkynysh Gas Field containing an estimated 21.2 trillion cubic meters of gas. China became the primary buyer purchasing over 30 billion cubic meters annually by 2019.
All satellite dishes were banned in April 2015 despite legal installation since 1995. Internet access filters block opposition news media and social platforms like Facebook.
Official data announced that 7,057,841 people were counted in the 2022 census though the last full census published occurred in 1995. Official data also stated that 91% identified as Turkmen while 3% were Uzbeks and 2% Russian.