Turkmenistan - Operation World 11/27TurkmenistanAsiaGeographyArea: 488,100 sq kmTwo populated strips of irrigated land on its northern and southern borders, separated by the barren Kara-KumDesert. Only 1% of the country is irrigated, arable land; 80% is desert.Population: 5,176,502 Annual Growth: 1.34%Capital: AshgabatUrbanites: 49.5%HDI Rank: 109 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)PeoplesPeoples: 42 (52% unreached)Official language: Turkmen using Latin script as in Turkey since 1994; previously Cyrillic script Languages: 9 Largest Religion: MuslimChristians 94,730 Evangelicals 1,718 Muslim 4,977,724 Answer to PrayerThe atmosphere of the country is experiencing positive change. Turkmen citizens can travel abroad and within the country much more easily. Two Protestant churches have recently been allowed to officially register and meet publicly.Ethnic Turkmen Christians are few but have increased since independence, from one or two people to as many as 1,000. Most Christians are Russian, Ukrainian or Armenian; among them are a thousand or so evangelical believers. Persecution has brought growth, greater unity and a strong spirituality, and the Church continues to grow despite the constant threats. Pray for these believers to stand firm in their faith and to win others to Christ.Turkmenistan exemplifies a "closed country" - heavy restrictions on churches, required registration that is rarely granted, near-complete closure to missionaries - and yet, we can be encouraged that God's Word is unhindered. There are no chains on the word of God and prayer.