Mary, Turkmenistan

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement Mary (Template:IPA) is a city on an oasis in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, located on the Murgab River. It was founded in 1884 about Template:Convert from the ruins of the ancient abandoned great city of Merv<ref name=Britannica/> and was actually named Merv until 1937.<ref name=Slovar>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mary is the capital city of Mary Region. In 2022, Mary had a population of 167,000,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> up from 92,000 in the 1989 census.<ref>Population census 1989 Template:Webarchive, Demoscope Weekly, No. 359–360, 1–18 January 2009 (search for Туркменская ССР) Template:In lang</ref>

Etymology

Atanyýazow notes that the name "Muru" appears in Zoroastrian texts alongside the toponyms Sogd (Sogdia) and Bakhti (Bactria), and that the name "Margiana" appears carved into rocks at Behistun, Iran, dating back 2,500 years. Atanyyazow adds, "the name was used in the form Merv-ash-Shahizhan", with subsequent forms including Muru, Mouru, Margiana, Marg, Margush, Maru, Maru-shahu-jahan, Maru-Shahu-ezan, Merv, and Mary, and that some scholars interpret the word marg as "green field" or "grassland", noting that in Persian marg can mean a source of livestock.<ref name=atanyyazov>Template:Cite book</ref>

History

The ancient city of Merv was an oasis city on the Silk Road. It was destroyed and its population annihilated in the 13th century by the Mongols. Because of its location on the Silk Road, it revived over time only to be largely destroyed again in the 19th century by nomadic Teke raiders. Edmund O'Donovan described Merv in 1882 as

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Mary was founded in 1884<ref name=Britannica>Template:Cite web</ref> as a Russian military and administrative post (and named after the nearby ancient city of Merv) after Imperial Russia occupied the area earlier that same year, which triggered the Panjdeh incident between Afghanistan, British forces, and the Imperial Russian Army.

In August 1918, a force of the British Indian Army consisting of a machine gun detachment comprising 40 Punjabi troops and a British officer resisted the Bolsheviks near Mary (then Merv) in what was the first direct confrontation between British and Russian troops since the Crimean War.<ref>Peter Hopkirk (1994). On Secret Service East of Constantinople. John Murray.</ref>

Later, the Soviet Union developed the area around Mary as a center for cotton production through the use of extensive irrigation. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia article on Mary reads in part,

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In 1968, huge reserves of natural gas were discovered 20 kilometers west of the city in the Shatlyk Gas Field.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mary became the center of Mary Province on 18 May 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Turkmen proclamation of independence.

In the 2000s, many streets and new residential areas were built. The new airport terminal was constructed, as was a new building for the Turkmen State Power Engineering Institute, a theater, the new library, a new historical museum, the Palace of Spirituality (Template:Langx), the Margush Hotel, a medical diagnostic center, the Ene Mähri obstetric-pediatric medical center, the Gurbanguly Hajji Mosque, a stadium, an equestrian complex, an indoor swimming pool, and a new railway station.<ref>"Гостеприимство древнего и вечно юного города" Template:In lang</ref>

In 2012, the city was declared one of the cultural capitals of the CIS.<ref>"Туркменский город Мары получил сертификат культурной столицы СНГ" Template:In lang</ref>

Climate

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Administrative context

The city of Mary is the capital of Mary Region. Mary is a city of district-level importance, meaning that it is not part of any district, and is administratively directly subordinate to the region. However, there also is Mary District which surrounds the city. The administrative center of the district is also the city of Mary, despite not being part of it.

The city of Mary includes the town of Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy, and the villages of Mülkburkaz, Soltanyz, and Ýolly.

Economy

Mary is Turkmenistan's fourth-largest city and a large industrial center for the natural gas and cotton industries, two of the nation's major export earners. It is a trade center for cotton, cereals, hides, and wool.

Transportation

Mary is linked<ref>Новая трасса: президент Туркменистана проехал по участку автобана Ашхабад – Туркменабат на КамАЗе</ref> to Aşgabat,<ref>Скоростная трасса Ашхабад-Теджен открывается 29 октября Orient Link: https://orient.tm/ru/post/35050/skorostnaya-trassa-ashhabad-tedzhen-otkryvaetsya-29-oktyabrya</ref><ref>Новая дорога соединит Теджен и Туркменабат</ref> Tejen<ref>Строительство третьего этапа автобана Ашхабад – Туркменабат начал Туркменистан</ref> and neighbouring countries<ref>Автомагистраль Ашхабад–Туркменабат поспособствует развитию транспортного сообщения с Узбекистаном</ref> by the country's 600 km motorway network.<ref>Президент Гурбангулы Бердымухамедов принял участие в открытии участка Ашхабад–Теджен автобана Ашхабад–Туркменабат</ref><ref>В Туркменистане приступили к заключительному третьему этапу строительства высокоскоростной автомобильной дороги Ашхабад-Туркменабат</ref>

Culture

Library

Mary's library is the largest regional library in the Mary District.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Construction of the library began in February 2010. The library officially opened on October 20, 2011 and the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, held the official opening ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The building has a spherical shape, and is supported by 62 columns. The height of the library is 42 meters. The three-story building is designed for the storage of three million books,<ref>Президент Туркменистана принял участие в открытии нового здания Марыйской велаятской библиотеки</ref> and can manage 600 concurrent readers. The library's collection includes a book shop, nine reading rooms, internet facilities, a separate reading room for elders, an office of special departments, conference rooms, and a children's room. Under the dome of the library, which is in the form of tulip petals, is a telescope.

Other

File:151127-worlds-largest-yurt-Mary-Turkmenistan.jpg
An immovable three-storey artificial yurt built in 2015 for large events.

Mary is known for its regional museum.

The main football team is Merw FK, who play at Mary Sport Toplumy.

Turkmen Keraites believe, according to a Nestorian tradition, that Tomb of the Virgin Mary is located in Mary.Template:Citation needed

Notable people

International relations

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Twin towns – Sister cities

Mary is twinned with:

References

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Template:Cities of Turkmenistan Template:Turkic Capital of Culture Template:Authority control

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