This past week St. Louis had some visitors from a place that most people haven’t ever even heard of, Turkmenistan.  Four government officials from the country visited our region to visit with various elected and government officials. While they were visiting St. Louis, they had a chance to meet with Alderwoman Phyllis Young to dicuss to St. Louis City government and former State Senator Harry Kennedy to gather some insights in the Missouri state government.

The four visitors included: Mrs. Gunara Muraddurdyyevna Babayeva, principal at a secondary school; Mr. Gulgelda Gulgeldiyev, principal at a vocational school; Mr. Orazgeldi Khummedov, Member of Committee of the International and Inter-parliamentary Connections Parliament and Mr. Orazmyrat Babayevich Orazklychev; a Member of the  Turkmenistan Parliament and Committee of Education, Science and Culture.

So where exactly in the world is Turkmenistan? As you can see from the map above, this country is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. For a frame of reference, it is slightly larger than California.

Turkmen is the official language of Turkmenistan although Russian still is widely spoken in cities as a “language of inter-ethnic communication.” Turkmen is spoken by 72% of the population, followed by Russian at 12%, Uzbek 9%, and other languages are spoken by 7% of the population.

The population of Turkmenistan is approximately 4,884,887 and over 80% of the country is covered by the Karkum Desert. The climate is a mostly arid subtropical desert, with little rainfall. Winters are mild and dry, with the most precipitation falling between January and May.

The four visitors were assisted on their trip from St. Louis area host families as well as assistance from the World Affairs Council of St. Louis. During their conversations with local elected officials, the Turkmenistan visitors mentioned how friendly everyone is and emphasized that St. Louis is a beautiful City that has many cultural attractions. We of course have to agree. It is hoped that by having these exchanges, people from other countries learn about the United States and St. Louis in particular and that such interactions develop respect of and educational opportunities for cultural advancement that will last into the future.