ABSTRACT
The population at the end of 1998 was 4.7 million. In 1989 the ethnic composition of the population was as follows: Turkmens, 68.4 per
cent; Russians, 12.6 per cent; Uzbeks, 8.5 per cent; Kazakhs, 2.9 per cent; other, 7.6 per cent (Economic Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific, 1991, vol. XLII, nos 1 and 2, p. 2). In 1992 Turkmens accounted for 72 per cent of the population, Uzbeks 13 per cent and Russians 12.6 per cent (FEER, Asia 1994 Yearbook, 1994, p. 111). A more recent figure for Russians is 9 per cent (Anthony Hyman, The World Today, November 1993, p. 206).
