39°0′N 63°0′E / 39.000°N 63.000°E / 39.000; 63.000

Lebap
Lebap welaýaty
Region
From the top, Entrance to Dayahatyn, Lebap Region Palace of Spirituality, Türkmenabat
Lebap region in Turkmenistan
Lebap region in Turkmenistan
Country Turkmenistan
CapitalTürkmenabat
Area
 • Total93,727 km2 (36,188 sq mi)
Population
 (2021 (official)[1])
 • Total1,353,000
 • Density14/km2 (37/sq mi)
Websitelebap.gov.tm

Lebap Region (Turkmen: Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian لب آب Lab-e āb) is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya. Its administrative centre is Türkmenabat (formerly named Çärjew). It has an area of 93,727 square kilometers, and a population of 1,334,500 people (2005 est.).[2]

The name Lebap is a Turkmenized form of the Persian Lab-e āb (Persian: لب آب), which means "riverside" and has long been used to designate the middle reaches of the Amu Darya.[3]

It contains the Repetek Nature Reserveas well as the Köýtendag Nature Reserve, which includes Turkmenistan's highest mountain, Aýrybaba (3137 meters).[4] Lebap is also home to the Dayahatyn caravansaray.

The region is located along the Amu Darya. The Kyzylkum Desert is located on the east side of the river and Karakum Desert is located on the west side of the river. About three-quarters of the region's land area is in the Karakum Desert.[5] The region's sunny weather and abundance of water resources help produce high-quality long-staple cotton.

History

Dinosaur Plateau in Koytendag District

The region of present-day Lebap once occupied a spot along the Silk Road. The 9th-10th century caravansaray of Dayahatyn is located within Lebap.[6]

Bukhara and Khiva khanates

Prior to the Russian Revolution, much of today's Lebap Region was part of either the Khanate of Bukhara[7] or the Khanate of Khiva.[8] The last khan of Bukhara, Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan, nominally submitted to Soviet authority, but in reality joined the Basmachi movement and rebelled against the Bolsheviks. He fled in 1920, and the area was declared a people's republic until Soviet power was firmly established in 1924. In that same year, the settlements at Çärjew and Kerki were formally assigned to the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, along with the western parts of the Khiva khanate along the Amu Darya.[8]

Recent history

On April 27, 2020, the region was hit by a severe windstorm.[9] RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty alleged that the storm disrupted much of the region's electrical grid, public water supplies, natural gas connections, cell service, and internet connection.[9] A local human rights website, Turkmen.news, reported that many people were admitted to the regional hospital in Türkmenabat after suffering injuries.[9] They also alleged that there was sporadic looting in the storm's aftermath and that food prices in the region rose as a result of the storm.[9] Local Turkmen media reported 10 deaths resulting from the storm, while Turkmen.news suggested that the true death toll was likely in the dozens, and dozens remained unaccounted for in the storm's aftermath.[9] The rights group Human Rights Watch condemned what it perceived as "censorship" by local officials following the storm, noting that one group alleged that local police were watching out for people filming the storm's damage, and another group reported that dozens of people were detained for allegedly sending videos "abroad".[10]

In December 2020, RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty reported that regional officials threatened to cut off the region's population from subsidized food if they were not up to date on their utility bills.[11] The agency reported that many in the region received seasonal income from farming, and often did not earn money in the winter, and such matters were complicated by a decrease in remittances to the region as a result of the economic fallout from COVID-19.[11]

Administrative divisions

As of 2021, according to the official website of the regional government, Lebap Region included one city with status equivalent to a district, 10 districts, 14 cities "in the district" (Turkmen: etrapdaky), 24 towns, 105 rural councils, and 429 villages.[1]

Districts

As of 9 November 2022 Lebap Region (Turkmen: Lebap welaýaty) is subdivided into eight districts (etrap, plural etraplar):[12][13][14][15]

In November 2017 four districts, (Beýik Türkmenbaşy, Garaşsyzlyk, Garabekwül, and Sakar), were abolished and their territories absorbed by other districts.[15] In November 2022 another two districts, Döwletli and Farap, were similarly abolished.[12]

Municipalities

As of January 1, 2017, the region included 15 cities (Turkmen: şäherler, Russian: города), 23 towns (Turkmen: şäherçeler, Russian: посёлки), 106 rural or village councils (Turkmen: geňeşlikler, Russian: сельские советы), and 430 villages (Turkmen: obalar, Russian: сёла, or Russian: сельские населенные пункты).[13][14]

In the list below, the lone city with "district status" is bolded:

Economy

Agriculture

Crop production in Lebap is heavily dependent on irrigation from the Amu Darya. Fields are cultivated when one-and-a-half to two meters above the floodplains of the river, primarily cereal grains and cotton.[16]

Lebap Region: area and production of selected crops, 2017-2019[17]
area, thousand hectares production, thousand tonnes
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
Cereals and legumes 191.1 172.5 174.5 428.0 274.9 428.7
Cotton 120.0 120.0 120.0 302.3 301.6 307.4
Vegetables 13.0 13.8 14.9 183.3 193.4 211.3

Extraction industries

Lebap is rich in various natural resources, most notably, natural gas. The region is home to the Malai Gas Field and the Bagtyýarlyk Gas Field, which both serve as major suppliers of natural gas to China.[18][19]

The Garlyk Mining and Enrichment Amalgamate in Köýtendag District produces potash fertilizer, and the Seýdi Oil Refinery is one of two petroleum refineries in Turkmenistan.

From antiquity, local residents quarried sulfur, zinc and lead in the Köýtendag (Kungitang) foothills for domestic needs, including casting of bullets.[20] During the Soviet period, a lead mine was dug and the town of Svintsovyy Rudnik[21] was founded.[20][22]

Construction materials

The Lebap Cement Plant in Turkmenabat has a design capacity of one million tons per year. Polimeks built it in 2012.[23] In 2020, construction of a second plant, in Köýtendag District, also with a design capacity of one million tons, got underway.[24][25]

Power generation

The Zerger power plant under construction by Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Rönesans Holding in Çärjew District will have a design capacity of 432 megawatts. It is primarily intended for export of electricity. The Zerger plant will use natural gas from the Üçajy Gas Field (Russian: Учаджинскоe газодобывающеe месторождениe), delivered via a 125-km high-pressure pipeline.[26]

Lebap Region: Production of selected industrial and processed goods, 2017-2019[27]
2017 2018 2019
Electricity, million kwh 2,144.1 2,003.9 1,820.7
Natural gas, billion m3 27.8 24.8 23.0
Oil (including gas condensate), thousand tonnes 595.9 567.8 581.9
Gasoline, thousand tonnes 215.0 218.5 221.8
Diesel fuel, thousand tonnes 173    190    162   
Bunker oil, thousand tonnes 76    -    90   
Mineral fertilizers, NPK basis, thousand tonnes 30.2 46.1 51.1
Cement, thousand tonnes 861.9 935.6 857.3
Bricks, million 217.3 256.0 269.9
Cotton lint, thousand tonnes 86.2 41.0 107.1
Raw silk, tonnes 83    74    81   
Cotton yarn. thousand tonnes 21.8 22.4 22.7
Silk textiles, million m2 0.5 0.4 0.4
Cotton textiles, million m2 8.5 8.3 11.6
Unwoven fabric, thousand m2 9,173    -    -   

Nature preserves and reservations

Tourist attractions

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Lebap Region official website". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Statistical Yearbook of Turkmenistan 2000-2004, National Institute of State Statistics and Information of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 2005.
  3. ↑ UNESCO., Ahmad Hasan Dani, and V. M. Masson. 1992. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. V. Paris: Unesco. p.128
  4. 1 2 "Всё о Койтендаге: Айрыбаба, Ходжапиль, Плато динозавров, Карлюкские пещеры…" (in Russian). Alpagama. 7 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Çaryýew, B.; Ilamanow, Ýa. (2010). TÜRKMENISTANYŇ GEOGRAFIÝASY (in Turkmen). Ashgabat: Ministry of Education. p. 296.
  6. ↑ "Ambassador Mustard Travels to Lebap Province". U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan. United States Department of State. 2015-06-04. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  7. ↑ Skosyrev, P. (1948). Туркменистан (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. p. 192.
  8. 1 2 Skosyrev, P. (1948). Туркменистан (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. p. 194.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Turkmen Province 'In Chaos' After Deadly Windstorms". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. U.S. Agency for Global Media. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  10. ↑ "Turkmenistan Government's Deafening Silence After Hurricane". Human Rights Watch. 2020-05-04. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  11. 1 2 Najibullah, Farangis (2020-12-25). "Grim Choice: Turkmen Warned Of Food Cutoffs Over Unpaid Utility Bills". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  12. 1 2 "Постановление Меджлиса Милли Генгеша Туркменистана" (in Russian). Электронная газета «Золотой век». 10 November 2022.
  13. 1 2 Türkmenistanyň Mejlisi (2010–2018). "Türkmenistanyň dolandyryş-çäk birlikleriniň Sanawy". Türkmenistanyş Mejlisiniň Karary. Ashgabat.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) This document is reproduced online at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Districts_in_Turkmenistan.
  14. 1 2 Административно-территориальное деление Туркменистана по регионам по состоянию на 1 января 2017 года (in Russian). State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  15. 1 2 Внесены изменения в административно-территориальное деление Лебапского велаята. turkmenistan.gov.tm (in Russian). 2017-11-27. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  16. ↑ Skosyrev, P. (1948). Туркменистан (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. pp. 201–202.
  17. ↑ Türkmenistanyň Ýyllyk Statistik Neşiri 2019 Ýyl (in Turkmen, Russian, and English). Ashgabat: State Committee of Statistics of Turkmenistan. 2020. p. 67.
  18. ↑ "Turkmenistan to up gas supply to China". AzerNews. 2016-04-25. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  19. ↑ "Turkmenistan supplied 125BCM of gas to China". Natural Gas Europe. Natural Gas World. 2015-09-28. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  20. 1 2 Skosyrev, P. (1948). Туркменистан (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. p. 203.
  21. ↑ "lead ore mine" in English; today called Gurşun Magdan Käni şäherçesi, "town of lead ore mine"
  22. ↑ Way: Gurshun Magdan Kani (531255297)
  23. ↑ "Лебапский цементный завод Туркменабад – 2012" (in Russian, English, and Turkish). Polimeks. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  24. ↑ "В Лебапском велаяте началось строительство 2-й очереди цементного завода" (in Russian). Arzuw. 15 July 2020.
  25. ↑ "В Койтендагском этрапе начнется строительство второй очереди цементного завода «Лебап»" (in Russian). Turkmenportal. 3 July 2020.
  26. ↑ "Новости Лебапа: производство шелковичных коконов и строительство магистрального газопровода" (in Russian). «Туркменистан: золотой век». 9 April 2021.
  27. ↑ Türkmenistanyň Ýyllyk Statistik Neşiri 2019 Ýyl (in Turkmen, Russian, and English). Ashgabat: State Committee of Statistics of Turkmenistan. 2020. pp. 44–49.
  28. ↑ Bushmakin, A. (4 February 2012). "Следы динозавров в Койтендаге" (in Russian). Alpagama.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.