🇹🇲 Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is one of the world's most isolated and eccentric countries — a Central Asian nation of 6.3 million with a GDP of about $45 billion, ruled by President Serdar Berdimuhamedow (who succeeded his father in 2022). The country has the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves but most of the population sees little benefit. Ashgabat, the capital, holds the Guinness record for the most marble-clad buildings in the world — the city is a surreal showcase of white marble towers, gold statues, and empty boulevards. The Darvaza Gas Crater (the "Door to Hell") has been burning continuously since 1971 when Soviet engineers set it on fire.

Natural gas is everything — it accounts for about 80% of exports. China is virtually the only customer, buying gas through the Central Asia-China pipeline. Cotton is the second-largest export. The state controls the economy almost entirely, and reliable economic data is scarce. The government provides free gas, electricity, water, and salt to citizens (though some subsidies have been reduced). The manat's official exchange rate bears little relation to the black market rate.

The Darvaza Gas Crater is a 70-meter-wide burning pit in the desert that's become an unlikely tourist attraction — the government has repeatedly announced plans to extinguish it but never followed through. Turkmenistan's Akhal-Teke horses are considered the world's most beautiful breed — they have a metallic sheen to their coat and are a national symbol. The country's former president, Saparmurat Niyazov, renamed the months of the year after himself and his mother.

Turkmenistan is a gas-rich hermit state with no political freedom and no economic diversification. The China gas dependency is total. Without political change, the country will remain one of the world's most opaque and underperforming economies.