Serhetabat (formerly Gushgy) (Turkmen: Guşgy; Russian: Кушка, Kushka) is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, Turkmenistan.[2] Serhetabat lies in the valley of the Kushk River. The population was 5,200 in 1991. It is immediately opposite Torghundi, Afghanistan, with which it is connected by a road and a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) gauge railway.
Serhetabat
Gushgy (1885–1999) | |
|---|---|
  Serhetabat Location in Turkmenistan  Serhetabat Serhetabat (South Asia) | |
| Coordinates: 35°17′N 62°21′E / 35.283°N 62.350°E | |
| Country |  Turkmenistan |
| Province | Mary Province |
| District | Tagtabazar District |
| Elevation | 747 m (2,454 ft) |
| Population (1991) | |
| • Total | 5,200 (approximate) |
| Time zone | UTC 5 (TMT) |
Etymology
editThe name of the city is a Turkmen borrowing from Persian سرحدآباد, consisting of two words: سرحد (sarhadd) meaning "border" and آباد (ābād) meaning "inhabited place" (commonly used as a Persian suffix for naming places, such as Khorramabad, a city in Iran, and Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan). The name of the city corresponds to its geographic location on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border. A historical part of the Iranian city Karaj shares the same name, Sarhadabad. Gushgy is a Turkmenized form of the Persian word kushk (کوشک), a term referring to mountain forts. In 1885 after taking the Panjdeh oasis Russian troops constructed a fort on the site of present-day Serhetabat and named it for the village of Kush in Afghanistan.[3] The Turkmenistan government changed the name to Serhetabat on 29 December 1999 by Parliamentary Resolution HM-67.[4]
Overview
edit
In 1885, Serhetabat and the surrounding region were seized from Afghanistan by Russian forces as a result of the Panjdeh incident (also referred to as the Battle of Kushka), in which about 600 Afghan soldiers were overwhelmed by over 2500 Russian troops.[5]
The settlement was founded in 1890 as a Russian military outpost. A local rail-line branching from Merv (now Mary) on the Central Asian Railway was inaugurated on 1 March 1901, causing some degree of international excitement.[6]
A point south of the city is the southernmost point of Turkmenistan and used to be the southernmost point of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.[7] A 10-metre stone cross, installed to commemorate the tercentenary of the House of Romanov in 1913, memorialises this fact. This cross was one of four erected in 1913, but is the only one still remaining.
In 1988, Afghan mujahideen attacked and successfully captured this town and held it for several days.
Transport
editThe broad gauge railway crosses into Afghanistan at the station, Torghundi being the railhead station on the other side. It was built in 1960.[citation needed] In February 2018, the existing rail line between Serhetabat and Torghundi was restored to service.[8][9] This line is planned to be extended to Herat, where it could potentially connect to a rail line under construction from Khaf, Iran.[10] Serhetabat is the southern end of Turkmenistan highway A-388, which connects the city to Ýolöten, Murgap, and Mary. The nearest airport is at Galaýmor.
Climate
editSerhetabat has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk), with cool winters and very hot summers. Rainfall is moderate in winter and spring, but summer is extremely dry.
| Climate data for Serhetabat (1991-2020, extremes 1904-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 27.1 (80.8) |
31.0 (87.8) |
37.6 (99.7) |
37.8 (100.0) |
42.3 (108.1) |
47.6 (117.7) |
45.3 (113.5) |
43.5 (110.3) |
43.4 (110.1) |
38.8 (101.8) |
34.2 (93.6) |
31.5 (88.7) |
47.6 (117.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) |
11.7 (53.1) |
17.2 (63.0) |
23.6 (74.5) |
30.5 (86.9) |
35.5 (95.9) |
37.3 (99.1) |
35.5 (95.9) |
30.8 (87.4) |
24.3 (75.7) |
16.9 (62.4) |
11.7 (53.1) |
23.8 (74.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.1 (39.4) |
5.6 (42.1) |
10.6 (51.1) |
16.4 (61.5) |
22.6 (72.7) |
27.6 (81.7) |
29.7 (85.5) |
27.4 (81.3) |
21.8 (71.2) |
15.3 (59.5) |
9.4 (48.9) |
5.4 (41.7) |
16.3 (61.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
5.2 (41.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
14.5 (58.1) |
18.5 (65.3) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.9 (64.2) |
12.6 (54.7) |
7.3 (45.1) |
3.4 (38.1) |
0.6 (33.1) |
9.2 (48.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −33.8 (−28.8) |
−27.7 (−17.9) |
−19.6 (−3.3) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
4.1 (39.4) |
9.7 (49.5) |
5.5 (41.9) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−19.0 (−2.2) |
−27.1 (−16.8) |
−33.8 (−28.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 48 (1.9) |
58 (2.3) |
70 (2.8) |
40 (1.6) |
20 (0.8) |
0.8 (0.03) |
0.7 (0.03) |
0.7 (0.03) |
0.4 (0.02) |
5 (0.2) |
26 (1.0) |
44 (1.7) |
314 (12.4) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 2 (0.8) |
1 (0.4) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.4) |
2 (0.8) |
| Average rainy days | 7 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 52 |
| Average snowy days | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 74 | 73 | 71 | 62 | 43 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 43 | 58 | 71 | 50 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 126.5 | 128.5 | 166.6 | 230.2 | 320.9 | 360.3 | 388.7 | 366.5 | 319.2 | 263.0 | 163.9 | 137.9 | 2,972.1 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net[11] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA[12] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Kushka, Turkmenistan". Falling Rain Global Gazetteer. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ "Постановление Меджлиса Милли Генгеша Туркменистана" (in Russian). Электронная газета «Золотой век». 10 November 2022.
- ^ Atanyýazow, Soltanşa (1980). Түркменистаның Географик Атларының Дүшүндиришли Сөзлүги [Explanatory Dictionary of Geographic Names in Turkmenistan]. Ashgabat: Ылым. p. 122.
- ^ Turkmenistan Geoname Changes
- ^ Clements, Frank. Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia. pp 198. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
- ^ "Russia's secret railroad: Unknown to the world, 220 miles of rails have been laid". The Deseret News. 1899-04-08.
- ^ USSR A Reference Book of Facts and Figures. London: Farleigh Press Ltd. 1956. p. 5 – via Internet Archive.
T he extreme points on the mainland area as follows:{...}South: 35° 08' N. Lat. (south of Kushka)
- ^ "TRAIN SERVICE OPENS ON NEW TURKMEN-AFGHAN RAILWAY: SERHETABAT–TORGHUNDI". Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. February 24, 2018.
- ^ "Torghundi and the railway from Turkmenistan". Andrew Grantham.
- ^ Cuenca, Oliver (December 9, 2020). "Iran – Afghanistan railway ready for traffic". International Railway Journal.
- ^ "Weather and Climate-The Climate of Serhetabat" (in Russian). Weather and Climate (Погода и климат). Retrieved 18 March 2016.
- ^ "Climate Normals for Kuska". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 1 February 2023.