Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in the context of "Post-Soviet states"

Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the north, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. It is one of six independent Turkic states. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. With over 7 million people, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations located on the Asian continent.

Turkmenistan has long served as a thoroughfare for several empires and cultures. Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia, and was once among the biggest cities in the world. It was also one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, Turkmenistan figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1925, Turkmenistan became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR); it became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) was an autonomous republic within the Uzbek SSR in the Soviet Union. It was created on 14 October 1924 by a series of legal acts that partitioned the three existing regional entities in Central Asia – Turkestan ASSR, Bukharan People's Soviet Republic, and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic – into five new entities based on ethnic principles: Uzbek SSR, Turkmen SSR, Tajik ASSR (within Uzbek SSR), Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast (as a province of Russian SFSR), and Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast (as a province of Kazak ASSR).

The capital of Tajik ASSR was in Dyushambe. In October 1929, under the initiative of Shirinsho Shotemur, the Tajik ASSR was transformed into a full-fledged Soviet Socialist Republic and became Tajik SSR, which additionally absorbed the Khujand region (today's Sughd Province in northern Tajikistan) from Uzbek SSR. The capital Dyushambe was renamed Stalinabad in honor of Joseph Stalin.

Ashgabat is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 mi) away from the Iran-Turkmenistan border. The city has a population of 1,030,063 (2022 census).

The city was founded in 1881 on the basis of an Ahal Teke tribal village, and made the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 when it was known as Poltoratsk. Much of the city was destroyed by the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, but has since been extensively rebuilt under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov's "White City" urban renewal project, resulting in monumental projects sheathed in costly white marble. The Soviet-era Karakum Canal runs through the city, carrying waters from the Amu Darya from east to west.

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Being located in northern Central Asia, the Kazakh SSR was created on 5 December 1936 from the erstwhile Kazakh ASSR, which was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. It shared borders with its fellow Soviet republics of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while also sharing an international border with the People's Republic of China.

At 2,717,300 square kilometres (1,049,200 sq mi) in area, it was the second-largest republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata (today known as Almaty). During its existence as a Soviet Socialist Republic, it was ruled by the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR (QKP). It was the most economically advanced of the central Asian Soviet Republics, having a significant base in mineral extraction and agriculture.

The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was the state created as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva in February 1920, when the Khan abdicated in response to pressure. It was officially declared by the First Khorezm Kurultay (Assembly) on 26 April 1920. On 20 October 1923, it was transformed into the Khorezm Socialist Soviet Republic..

On 27 October 1924 the Khorezm SSR was divided between the Uzbek and Turkmen SSRs and the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast as part of the delimitation of Central Asia according to nationalities. The history of this short-lived republic remains murky and the way its government functioned is not largely clear. The government officials fervently opposed the delimitation plans of the Khorezmian Republic (which had to be carried out under Stalin’s orders) but in the end they were forced to concede.