Serhetabat
{{For|the nearby town in Afghanistan|Kushk (disambiguation){{!}}Kushk}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Serhetabat
|other_name = Gushgy {{small|(1885–1999)}}
|native_name =
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|pushpin_map = Turkmenistan#South Asia
|pushpin_relief = yes
|pushpin_label_position = top
|pushpin_mapsize = 300
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Turkmenistan
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
|subdivision_name1 = Mary Province
|subdivision_type2 = District
|subdivision_name2 = Tagtabazar District
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|population_total = 5,200 (approximate)
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|timezone = TMT
|utc_offset = +5
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|coordinates = {{coord|35|17|N|62|21|E|region:TM|display=it}}
|elevation_footnotes={{cite web|title=Kushka, Turkmenistan|url=http://www.fallingrain.com/world/UZ/00/Kushka.html|publisher=Falling Rain Global Gazetteer|accessdate=1 February 2013}}
|elevation_m = 747
|elevation_ft = 2454
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File:Southern Cross of the Russian Empire Serhetabat Turkmenistan.jpg
Serhetabat (formerly Gushgy) ({{langx|tk|Guşgy}}; {{langx|ru|Кушка}}, Kushka) is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, southernTurkmenistan.{{cite news|url=https://turkmenistan.gov.tm/ru/post/67749/postanovlenie-medzhlisa-milli-gengesha-turkmenistana-8 |title=Постановление Меджлиса Милли Генгеша Туркменистана |date=10 November 2022 |language=ru |publisher=Электронная газета «Золотой век»}} 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 {{RailGauge|1520mm}} gauge railway.
Etymology
The name of the city is a Turkmen borrowing from Persian {{lang|fa|سرحدآباد}}, consisting of two words: {{lang|fa|سرحد}} ({{italics correction|sarhadd}}) meaning "border" and {{lang|fa|آباد}} ({{italics correction|ābād}}) 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 ({{lang|fa|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.{{cite book|title= Түркменистаның Географик Атларының Дүшүндиришли Сөзлүги|trans-title= Explanatory Dictionary of Geographic Names in Turkmenistan |page=122 |publisher=Ылым |date=1980 |place=Ashgabat |first=Soltanşa |last=Atanyýazow|url=https://www.twirpx.com/file/2683178/ }} The Turkmenistan government changed the name to Serhetabat on 29 December 1999 by Parliamentary Resolution HM-67.[https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Turkmenistan_Geoname_Changes#1990s Turkmenistan Geoname Changes]
Overview
File:RIAN archive 644463 First stage in the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.jpg. 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.Clements, Frank. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia]. pp 198. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
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.{{Cite news|title= Russia's secret railroad: Unknown to the world, 220 miles of rails have been laid|newspaper= The Deseret News|date= 1899-04-08 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-JkEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bzADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4013,1253311&dq=herat+railway&hl=en}}
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.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/ussrreferenceboo03unse/page/5|title= USSR A Reference Book of Facts and Figures|location=London|date= 1956|via= Internet Archive|publisher= Farleigh Press Ltd|page= 5 |quote=T he extreme points on the mainland area as follows:{...}South: 35° 08' N. Lat. (south of Kushka)}} 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} In February 2018, the existing rail line between Serhetabat and Torghundi was restored to service.{{cite news|url=https://uae.tmembassy.gov.tm/en/news/10349|title=TRAIN SERVICE OPENS ON NEW TURKMEN-AFGHAN RAILWAY: SERHETABAT–TORGHUNDI|date=February 24, 2018|publisher=Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/torghundi-and-the-railway-from-turkmenistan/|title=Torghundi and the railway from Turkmenistan|date=12 October 2019 |publisher=Andrew Grantham}} This line is planned to be extended to Herat, where it could potentially connect to a rail line under construction from Khaf, Iran.{{cite news|url=https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/iran-afghanistan-railway-ready-for-traffic/|title=Iran – Afghanistan railway ready for traffic|date=December 9, 2020|first=Oliver|last=Cuenca|publisher=International Railway Journal}} 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.
{{Weather box
|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 = 38.2
|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 = 18 March 2016}}
|source 2 = NOAA{{cite web|title=Climate Normals for Kuska|url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkmenistan/CSV/SERHETABAT_38987.csv|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|accessdate=1 February 2023}}
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Cities of Turkmenistan}}
Category:Populated places in Mary Region