Turkmenbashi, port city, western Turkmenistan. The city was renamed in 1993 by Turkmenistan’s dictator-president, Saparmurad Niyazov, who patterned the new name after his own formal title of Turkmenbashi (“Head of the Turkmen”). The city lies on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, at the foot of the Kopet-Dag (Turkmen: Köpetdag) Range. It was founded in 1869 as a Russian fort, and its importance was enhanced when the terminus of the Transcaspian Railway was transferred there in 1896.
Turkmenbashi is an important transshipment centre and terminus of the Central Asian Railway, and it has a rail-ferry link to Baku, Azerbaijan. An oil refinery and a petrochemical industry in the city are linked by pipelines to Nebit-Dag (Nebitdag), Koturdepe (Goturdepe), and other oil and gas fields nearby. There are also ship-repair yards, a clothing factory, and various food-processing industries. Pop. (2004 est.) 86,800.