Ahal

Ahal Region is one of five provinces of Turkmenistan. It is in the south-center of the country, bordering Iran and Afghanistan along the Kopet Dag Range. Its area is 97,160 km2 (37,510 sq mi) and population 939,700.Ahal’s agriculture is irrigated by the Karakum Canal, which stretches all the way across the province from east to west, tracking Turkmenistan’s southern border. Another water source is the Tejen River, which flows north from Afghanistan in the south-east corner of the province, passing through two large reservoirs south of the city of Tejen.

Ahal is known for the Battle of Geok Tepe of 1881, today the site of the imposing Saparmurat Hajji Mosque, and for the Baherden underground warm lake (in the Kov Ata karst cave) both west of Ashgabat.The capital of Ahal Province is Anew (or Anau), a city on the south-eastern outskirts of Ashgabat. One other notable city is Tejen in the south-east near the border with Mary Province. Turkmenistan’s largest city, Ashgabat, is surrounded by Ahal Province, but as the national capital it enjoys status equal to that of a province and is outside Ahal Province’s jurisdiction. A new $1.5 billion administrative center for Ahal Province, to be located east of Gökdepe, is under construction.When complete, it will become the capital of Ahal Province, and Anew will lose that status.