Editing Ahal Region (section)

==Overview==
In 2000, Ahal Region accounted for 14% of Turkmenistan's population, 11% of the total number of employed, 23% of agricultural production (by value), and 31% of the country's total industrial production.<ref>''Social-economic situation of Turkmenistan in 2000'', National Institute of State Statistics and Information of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 2001, pp. 129-130 {{in lang|ru}}.</ref>

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 [[Hari (Afghanistan)|Tejen River]], which flows north from Afghanistan in the southeast corner of the province, passing through two large [[reservoir]]s 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 [[Bäherden]] underground warm lake (in the Kov Ata [[karst]] cave),<ref>[http://tourkz.com/eng/articles/desert.html Baharden warm lake] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121132310/http://tourkz.com/eng/articles/desert.html |date=November 21, 2008 }} in Kov Ata cave.</ref><ref>[http://www.economy.gov.tm/arhiw/GID/GID_eng.doc Turkmenistan: an official guide] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006025304/http://www.economy.gov.tm/arhiw/GID/GID_eng.doc |date=October 6, 2011 }} (downloadable Word file).</ref> both west of [[Ashgabat]].

The [[administrative centre]] of Ahal Province is [[Arkadag]], a $1.5 billion mostly greenfield development just west of the city limit of [[Ashgabat]], Turkmenistan's capital city.<ref name=decree20221220>{{cite news|url=https://turkmenistan.gov.tm/ru/post/68829/postanovlenie-medzhlisa-milli-gengesha-turkmenistana-ob-otnesenii-k-kategorii-goroda-novogo-sovremennogo-administrativnogo-centra-ahalskogo-velayata-i-prisvoenii-emu-naimenovaniya|title=Постановление Меджлиса Милли Генгеша Туркменистана об отнесении к категории города нового современного административного центра Ахалского велаята и присвоении ему наименования|date=21 December 2022|language=ru|publisher=Электронная газета «Золотой век»}}</ref><ref name=NT>{{cite news|title=В Масштабной Программе Развития Регионов--Приоритеты Социальной Политики|publisher=Нейтральный Туркменистан|date=1 November 2018}}</ref><ref name=ZV>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/?id=17441|title=Глава государства рассмотрел проект нового административного центра Ахалского велаята|date=31 October 2018|language=Russian|publisher=Государственное информационное агентство Туркменистана}}</ref><ref name=hronika>{{cite news|url=https://tm.hronikatm.com/2018/11/ahal-welayatynda-sebitin-asgabatdan-pes-oturmayan-taze-paytagty-gurlar/|title=Ahal welaýatynda sebitiň Aşgabatdan pes oturmaýan täze paýtagty gurlar|date=1 November 2018|publisher=Chronicles of Turkmenistan|language=Turkmen}}</ref><ref name=rfe20221225>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-arkadag-potemkin-city-berdymukhammedov/32192689.html |title=Turkmenistan Builds New $1.5 Billion City, Far Removed From Grinding Poverty |date= 25 December 2022 | first=Chris |last=Rickleton |publisher=[[RFE/RL]]}}</ref> The city was named in honor of former president [[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]], whose official nickname is Arkadag.<ref name=decree20221220 /><ref name=begench>{{cite news|url=https://metbugat.gov.tm/newspaper/download?id=9535 |title=Образец славного будущего страны |publisher=Нейтральный туркменистан |language=ru |date=26 December 2022 |first=Begenç |last=Meredow}}</ref> The capital until 20 December 2022 was [[Anau, Turkmenistan|Änew]] (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.