It follows a roughly straight line eastwards before turning sharply north and then north-eastwards, passing through Sarygamysh Lake which straddles the border; also in this section is a long protrusion of Uzbek territory into Turkmenistan.

The border then follows a series of straight lines segments south-east through the Karakum Desert, before turning southwards through Köýtendag Range down to the tripoint with Afghanistan on the Amu Darya.

After the Communists took power in 1917 and created the Soviet Union it was decided to divide Central Asia into ethnically-based republics in a process known as National Territorial Delimitation (or NTD).

[2] Though indeed the Soviets were concerned at the possible threat of pan-Turkic nationalism,[3] as expressed for example with the Basmachi movement of the 1920s, closer analysis informed by the primary sources paints a much more nuanced picture than is commonly presented.

[7][9] Furthermore, NTD also aimed to create ‘viable’ entities, with economic, geographical, agricultural and infrastructural matters also to be taken into account and frequently trumping those of ethnicity.

[10][11] The attempt to balance these contradictory aims within an overall nationalist framework proved exceedingly difficult and often impossible, resulting in the drawing of often tortuously convoluted borders, multiple enclaves and the unavoidable creation of large minorities who ended up living in the ‘wrong’ republic.

[15][16] The process was to be overseen by a Special Committee of the Central Asian Bureau, with three sub-committees for each of what were deemed to be the main nationalities of the region (Kazakhs, Turkmen and Uzbeks), with work then exceedingly rapidly.

[23] However ethnic identities along the Amu Darya were complex and it was often difficult to judge which groups were ‘Turkmen’ and which ‘Uzbek’ (e.g. the Salur, Bayad, Kurama, Ersarï, Khïdar-Alï etc.).

After some tensions in the 1990s Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan agreed to respect the traditional inter-republic border, with a joint treaty to this effect being signed in 2000 by Presidents Saparmurat Niyazov and Islom Karimov.

We are not doing this to separate ourselves from Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan but are doing so to maintain order on the border, to protect ourselves from violators and dishonest people and to prevent our goods from being smuggled.