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Here's what it's like inside Turkmenistan, the secretive Asian dictatorship that is stricter than North Korea, where the streets are paved with marble and gold

Sinéad Baker,Sinéad Baker,Sinéad Baker   

Here's what it's like inside Turkmenistan, the secretive Asian dictatorship that is stricter than North Korea, where the streets are paved with marble and gold
Politics1 min read

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

  • Turkmenistan is one of the world's most secretive countries, and has a widely denounced human rights record.
  • The country doesn't allow many people in, and its president is a fan of showing off through photo ops and gold statues.
  • Scroll down to see what the country is like.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The central Asian nation of Turkmenistan is one of the world's most secretive countries and mysterious countries.

Information from the central Asian country is tightly controlled and few people enter, while its human rights record is decried, and it has virtually no free press.

But its president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is keen to present the country - and himself - as strong.

Berdymukhamedov, who has been in power since 2006, often shows off by posing with fancy cars or on horseback, but the country might also be heading towards economic collapse.

The country's capital, Ashgabat, is one of the most unusual capital cities in the world, its streets lined with marble and filled with golden statues despite the economic troubles of the natural-resource-rich nation.

While not much information leaks out of the country, we do know a little bit about it. Take a look at all we know about Turkmenistan below:

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