| Krasnovodsk is a city in Turkmenistan, part of the Balkan Province, on the Krasnovodsk Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It is located at latitude 40.0231 North; longitude 52.9697 East, at an altitude of 27 meters. The population (est 1999) was 51,000, mostly ethnic Russian and Azeri. As the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway, it was an important transportation center.
History
In 1717, Russian Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky landed and established a secret fortified settlement on this location, where the dry bed of a former mouth of the Amu-Darya River once emptied into the Caspian Sea. His intent was to march an army up this dry riverbed and conquer the Khanate of Khiva. The expedition failed, and the Russians abandoned the settlement for over 150 years.
In 1869, the Russians made a second and latest attempt. They named their fort Krasnovodsk, which is the Russian version of the original name, Kyzyl-Su (Red Water). Krasnovodsk was Imperial Russia's base of operations against Khiva and Bukhara, and the nomadic Turkmen tribes. It fell to the Red Army in February, 1920.
In 1993 Krasnovodsk was renamed by president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, after his self-proclaimed title Türkmenbasy ("Leader of all Turkmen"). Niyazov's successor Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov pledged to invest 1 bln $ into the project slated to turn Türkmenbasy into a major tourist resort "with dozens of hotels, spas, seaside restaurants and glimmering spaceship-like skyscrapers".
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