What is the capital of Turkmenistan?

What is the capital of Turkmenistan? Ashgabat is the answer.

Ashgabat is Turkmenistan's capital and largest city. It lies in Central Asia near the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains and roughly 50 kilometres from the border with Iran. The city sits beside the Karakum Desert, a setting that has shaped both its climate and its strategic importance.

The modern city was founded in 1881 as a Russian military settlement. It became the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924, when it was known as Poltoratsk. The original name returned in 1927, and Ashgabat has been the capital of independent Turkmenistan since the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

A devastating earthquake struck Ashgabat in 1948, destroying much of the city and killing tens of thousands of people. Later redevelopment gave the capital its famous “White City” appearance, with broad avenues and many monumental buildings clad in white marble. Tashkent, Dushanbe and Bishkek are nearby Central Asian capitals, but they belong to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan respectively.