Lebap Region (, ) is one of the five regions of Turkmenistan. It borders Afghanistan and Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya river. Its administrative centre is Türkmenabat (formerly Çärjew). Lebap covers an area of , and it has a population of 1,447,298 as of the 2022 census.
The name Lebap is derived from Persian ( ) 'riverside', and has long been used to designate the middle reaches of the Amu Darya.
It contains the Repetek Nature Reserve as well as the Köýtendag Nature Reserve, which includes Turkmenistan's highest mountain, Aýrybaba. The region's sunny weather and abundance of water resources help produce high-quality long-staple cotton.
History
thumb|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.
Bukhara and Khiva khanates
Prior to the Russian Revolution, much of today's Lebap Region was part of either the Khanate of Bukhara or the Khanate of Khiva. 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. 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.
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. 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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnicity
! colspan="2" | Total
! colspan="2" | Urban
! colspan="2" | Rural
|-
! Population
! %
! Population
! %
! Population
! %
|-
| Turkmens
| 1,292,180 || 89.28%
| 555,200 || 84.63%
| 736,980 || 93.14%
|-
| Uzbeks
| 136,499 || 9.43%
| 83,556 || 12.74%
| 52,943 || 6.69%
|-
| Russians
| 11,791 || 0.82%
| 11,604 || 1.77%
| 187 || 0.03%
|-
| Kazakhs
| 1,793 || 0.12%
| 956 || 0.14%
| 837 || 0.11%
|-
| Tatars
| 1,653 || 0.12%
| 1,616 || 0.25%
| 37 || 0.00%
|-
| Azerbaijanis
| 938 || 0.06%
| 773 || 0.12%
| 165 || 0.02%
|-
| Balochi
| 500 || 0.03%
| 494 || 0.07%
| 6 || 0.00%
|-
| Armenians
| 397 || 0.03%
| 386 || 0.06%
| 11 || 0.00%
|-
| Ukrainians
| 297 || 0.02%
| 286 || 0.04%
| 11 || 0.00%
|-
| Koreans
| 168 || 0.01%
| 164 || 0.02%
| 4 || 0.00%
|-
| Persians
| 131 || 0.01%
| 107 || 0.02%
| 24 || 0.00%
|-
| Lezgins
| 102 || 0.01%
| 102 || 0.02%
| − || −
|-
| Afghans
| 99 || 0.01%
| 99 || 0.02%
| − || −
|-
| Karakalpaks
| 15 || 0.00%
| 13 || 0.00%
| 2 || 0.00%
|-
| Kurds
| 12 || 0.00%
| 10 || 0.00%
| 2 || 0.00%
|-
| other nationalities
| 723 || 0.05%
| 655 || 0.10%
| 68 || 0.01%
|- class="sortbottom"
! Total
! 1,446,282 || 100%
! 1,292,024 || 100%
! 154,258 || 100%
|}
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" (), 24 towns, 105 rural councils, and 429 villages.
Districts
As of 9 November 2022 Lebap Region () is subdivided into eight districts (etrap, plural etraplar):
:* Çarjew (formerly Serdarabat)
:* Darganata (formerly Birata)
:* Dänew (formerly Galkynyş)
:* Halaç
:* Hojambaz
:* Kerki (formerly Atamyrat)
:* Köýtendag (formerly Çarşaňňy)
:* Saýat
In November 2017 four districts, (Beýik Türkmenbaşy, Garaşsyzlyk, Garabekwül, and Sakar), were abolished and their territories absorbed by other districts.
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="7" align="center"|Lebap Region: area and production of selected crops, 2017-2019
|-
|
| colspan="3" |area, thousand hectares
| colspan="3" |production, thousand tonnes
|-
|
| align="center" |2017
| align="center" |2018
| align="center" |2019
| align="center" |2017
| align="center" |2018
| align="center" |2019
|-
|Cereals and legumes
| align="right" |191.1
| align="right" |172.5
| align="right" |174.5
| align="right" |428.0
| align="right" |274.9
| align="right" |428.7
|-
|Cotton
| align="right" |120.0
| align="right" |120.0
| align="right" |120.0
| align="right" |302.3
| align="right" |301.6
| align="right" |307.4
|-
|Vegetables
| align="right" |13.0
| align="right" |13.8
| align="right" |14.9
| align="right" |183.3
| align="right" |193.4
| align="right" |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.
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. During the Soviet period, a lead mine was dug and the town of Svintsovyy Rudnik was founded.
Construction materials
The Lebap Cement Plant in Turkmenabat has a design capacity of one million tons per year. Polimeks built it in 2012. In 2020, construction of a second plant, in Köýtendag District, also with a design capacity of one million tons, got underway.
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 (), delivered via a 125-km high-pressure pipeline.
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="4" align="center"|Lebap Region: Production of selected industrial and processed goods, 2017-2019
|-
|
| align="center" |2017
| align="center" |2018
| align="center" |2019
|-
|Electricity, million kwh
| align="right" |2,144.1
| align="right" |2,003.9
| align="right" |1,820.7
|-
|Natural gas, billion m<sup>3</sup>
| align="right" |27.8
| align="right" |24.8
| align="right" |23.0
|-
|Oil (including gas condensate), thousand tonnes
| align="right" |595.9
| align="right" |567.8
| align="right" |581.9
|-
|Gasoline, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |215.0
| align="right" |218.5
| align="right" |221.8
|-
|Diesel fuel, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |173
| align="right" |190
| align="right" |162
|-
|Bunker oil, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |76
| align="right" |<nowiki>-</nowiki>
| align="right" |90
|-
|Mineral fertilizers, NPK basis, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |30.2
| align="right" |46.1
| align="right" |51.1
|-
|Cement, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |861.9
| align="right" |935.6
| align="right" |857.3
|-
|Bricks, million
| align="right" |217.3
| align="right" |256.0
| align="right" |269.9
|-
|Cotton lint, thousand tonnes
| align="right" |86.2
| align="right" |41.0
| align="right" |107.1
|-
|Raw silk, tonnes
| align="right" |83
| align="right" |74
| align="right" |81
|-
|Cotton yarn. thousand tonnes
| align="right" |21.8
| align="right" |22.4
| align="right" |22.7
|-
|Silk textiles, million m<sup>2</sup>
| align="right" |0.5
| align="right" |0.4
| align="right" |0.4
|-
|Cotton textiles, million m<sup>2</sup>
| align="right" |8.5
| align="right" |8.3
| align="right" |11.6
|-
|Unwoven fabric, thousand m<sup>2</sup>
| align="right" |9,173
| align="right" |<nowiki>-</nowiki>
| align="right" |<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|}
Nature preserves and reservations
- Amudarya State Nature Reserve
- Köýtendag Nature Reserve
- Repetek Biosphere State Reserve
Tourist attractions
- Aýrybaba
- Dayahatyn caravansaray (in use 9th to 16th centuries)
- Dinosaur Plateau
See also
- OpenStreetMap Wiki: Lebap Province
- OpenStreetMap Wiki: Districts in Turkmenistan
References
External links
- Official website