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Concept
Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan
Summary
Türkmenbaşy (Turkmen Cyrillic: Түркменбашы, Turkmen Arabic; توركمنباشی, also spelled Turkmenbashy and Turkmenbashi, the latter a back-formation of the Cyrillic Түркменбаши), formerly known as Krasnovodsk (Красноводск), Kyzyl-Su, and Shagadam (Şagadam), is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Türkmenbaşy Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It sits at an elevation of . The population (est 2004) was 86,800, mostly ethnic Turkmens but also Russian, Armenian and Azeri minorities. As the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway and site of a major seaport on the Caspian, it is an important transportation center. The city is also the site of Turkmenistan's largest oil refining complex.
This city should not be confused with the similarly named town of Türkmenbaşy (Türkmenbaşy şäherçesi), formerly called Janga (Джанга, Cyrillic Җанга), also in Balkan Province, or the city of Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy adyndaky in Daşoguz Province.
In 1717, Russian Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky landed and established a secret fortified settlement on this location, where the dry bed of a former mouth of the Amu-Darya River once emptied into the Caspian Sea. His intent was to march an army up this dry riverbed and conquer the Khanate of Khiva. The expedition failed, and the Russians abandoned the settlement for over 150 years.
In 1869, the Russians invaded a second time. Having captured the settlement, they named their fort Krasnovodsk (Красноводск), which is a Russian translation of the original name, Kyzyl-Su (Red Water). The fort, Krasnovodsk, served as Imperial Russia's base of operations against Khiva and Bukhara, as well as the semi-nomadic Turkmen tribes.
The railway had originally begun from Uzun-Ada on the Caspian Sea, but the terminus was shifted north to the harbour at Krasnovodsk.
It fell to the Red Army in February 1920.
On November 21, 1939, Krasnovodsk Oblast was formed with its administrative center in Krasnovodsk. The oblast was repeatedly liquidated and restored (January 23, 1947, liquidated; April 4, 1952, restored; December 9, 1955, liquidated; December 27, 1973, restored; August 25, 1988, eliminated).
Official source
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