Serhetabat

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title: "Serhetabat" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-mary-region", "populated-places-established-in-1890", "afghanistan–turkmenistan-border-crossings"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-mary-region" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serhetabat" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameSerhetabat
other_nameGushgy (1885–1999)
settlement_typeCity
pushpin_mapTurkmenistan
pushpin_reliefyes
pushpin_label_positionright
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Turkmenistan
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_nameTurkmenistan
subdivision_name1Mary Province
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Tagtabazar District
population_as_of1991
population_total5,200 (approximate)
timezoneTMT
utc_offset+05:00
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m747
elevation_ft2454
::

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Serhetabat (), formerly Kushka (; ), is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, southern Turkmenistan. 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 gauge railway.

Etymology

The name of the city is a Turkmen borrowing from Persian سرحدآباد, consisting of two words: سرحد () meaning "border" and آباد () 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. The Turkmenistan government changed the name to Serhetabat on 29 December 1999 by Parliamentary Resolution HM-67.

Overview

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/RIAN_archive_644463_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg" caption="Soviet soldiers returning from [[Afghanistan]]. 20 October 1986, Kushka, Turkmen SSR"] ::

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.

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.

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. 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

The broad gauge railway crosses into Afghanistan at the station, Torghundi being the railhead station on the other side. It was built in 1960. In February 2018, the existing rail line between Serhetabat and Torghundi was restored to service. This line is planned to be extended to Herat, where it could potentially connect to a rail line under construction from Khaf, Iran. 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

Serhetabat 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.

|location=Serhetabat (1991-2020, extremes 1904-present) |metric first=yes |single line=yes |Jan record high C = 27.1 |Feb record high C = 31.0 |Mar record high C = 37.6 |Apr record high C = 40.2 |May record high C = 42.3 |Jun record high C = 47.6 |Jul record high C = 45.3 |Aug record high C = 43.5 |Sep record high C = 43.4 |Oct record high C = 38.8 |Nov record high C = 34.2 |Dec record high C = 31.5 |year record high C = |Jan high C = 10.1 |Feb high C = 11.7 |Mar high C = 17.2 |Apr high C = 23.6 |May high C = 30.5 |Jun high C = 35.5 |Jul high C = 37.3 |Aug high C = 35.5 |Sep high C = 30.8 |Oct high C = 24.3 |Nov high C = 16.9 |Dec high C = 11.7 |year high C = |Jan mean C = 4.1 |Feb mean C = 5.6 |Mar mean C = 10.6 |Apr mean C = 16.4 |May mean C = 22.6 |Jun mean C = 27.6 |Jul mean C = 29.7 |Aug mean C = 27.4 |Sep mean C = 21.8 |Oct mean C = 15.3 |Nov mean C = 9.4 |Dec mean C = 5.4 |year mean C = |Jan low C = -0.5 |Feb low C = 0.5 |Mar low C = 5.2 |Apr low C = 10.0 |May low C = 14.5 |Jun low C = 18.5 |Jul low C = 20.3 |Aug low C = 17.9 |Sep low C = 12.6 |Oct low C = 7.3 |Nov low C = 3.4 |Dec low C = 0.6 |year low C = |Jan record low C = -33.8 |Feb record low C = -27.7 |Mar record low C = -19.6 |Apr record low C = -5.5 |May record low C = -0.8 |Jun record low C = 4.1 |Jul record low C = 9.7 |Aug record low C = 5.5 |Sep record low C = -3.7 |Oct record low C = -10.5 |Nov record low C = -19.0 |Dec record low C = -27.1 |year record low C = -33.8 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 48.1 |Feb precipitation mm = 58.5 |Mar precipitation mm = 68.0 |Apr precipitation mm = 40.2 |May precipitation mm = 12.9 |Jun precipitation mm = 0.7 |Jul precipitation mm = 0 |Aug precipitation mm = 0 |Sep precipitation mm = 0.3 |Oct precipitation mm = 4.7 |Nov precipitation mm = 25.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 37.6 |year precipitation mm = |Jan snow depth cm = 2 |Feb snow depth cm = 1 |Mar snow depth cm = 0 |Apr snow depth cm = 0 |May snow depth cm = 0 |Jun snow depth cm = 0 |Jul snow depth cm = 0 |Aug snow depth cm = 0 |Sep snow depth cm = 0 |Oct snow depth cm = 0 |Nov snow depth cm = 0 |Dec snow depth cm = 1 |year snow depth cm = |Jan rain days = 7 |Feb rain days = 9 |Mar rain days = 11 |Apr rain days = 7 |May rain days = 3 |Jun rain days = 0.3 |Jul rain days = 0.1 |Aug rain days = 0.1 |Sep rain days = 0.3 |Oct rain days = 2 |Nov rain days = 5 |Dec rain days = 7 |year rain days = 52 |Jan snow days = 5 |Feb snow days = 6 |Mar snow days = 2 |Apr snow days = 0.3 |May snow days = 0 |Jun snow days = 0 |Jul snow days = 0 |Aug snow days = 0 |Sep snow days = 0 |Oct snow days = 0.1 |Nov snow days = 1 |Dec snow days = 3 |year snow days = 17 |Jan humidity = 74 |Feb humidity = 73 |Mar humidity = 71 |Apr humidity = 62 |May humidity = 43 |Jun humidity = 28 |Jul humidity = 25 |Aug humidity = 25 |Sep humidity = 30 |Oct humidity = 43 |Nov humidity = 58 |Dec humidity = 71 |year humidity = 50 |Jan sun = 126.5 |Feb sun = 128.5 |Mar sun = 166.6 |Apr sun = 230.2 |May sun = 320.9 |Jun sun = 360.3 |Jul sun = 388.7 |Aug sun = 366.5 |Sep sun = 319.2 |Oct sun = 263.0 |Nov sun = 163.9 |Dec sun = 137.9 |year sun = 2972.1 |source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net{{cite web | url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/38987.htm | title = Weather and Climate-The Climate of Serhetabat | language = Russian | publisher = Weather and Climate (Погода и климат) | accessdate = 30 July 2025}} |source 2 = NOAA

References

References

  1. "Kushka, Turkmenistan". Falling Rain Global Gazetteer.
  2. (10 November 2022). "Постановление Меджлиса Милли Генгеша Туркменистана". Электронная газета «Золотой век».
  3. Atanyýazow, Soltanşa. (1980). "Түркменистаның Географик Атларының Дүшүндиришли Сөзлүги". Ылым.
  4. [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Turkmenistan_Geoname_Changes#1990s Turkmenistan Geoname Changes] {{Webarchive. link. (2022-01-02)
  5. Clements, Frank. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C ''Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia'']. pp 198. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  6. (1899-04-08). "Russia's secret railroad: Unknown to the world, 220 miles of rails have been laid". The Deseret News.
  7. (1956). "USSR A Reference Book of Facts and Figures". Farleigh Press Ltd.
  8. (February 24, 2018). "Tran Service Opens on New Turkmen-Afghan Railway: Serhetabat–Torghundi". Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  9. (12 October 2019). "Torghundi and the railway from Turkmenistan". Andrew Grantham.
  10. Cuenca, Oliver. (December 9, 2020). "Iran – Afghanistan railway ready for traffic". International Railway Journal.
  11. "Climate Normals for Kuska". [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].

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