🇹🇲 Turkmenistan (Türkmenistan)
Visiting: Risky
Turkmenistan is safe to visit, with a few things to know first. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. On the other side of the ledger, there is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and road deaths are low, at 55th. Where it lags is freedom, which is close to absent, placed 179th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Turkmenistan: 3.4
Ranked 87th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Just over three killings per 100,000 people a year is well below the world average but a shade past the three where the low tier ends.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable on paper. Below the world average, though the number is a guess either way — the last count was 2015 and the WHO's figure is an estimate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Turkmenistan: 8.0
Ranked 55th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Eight deaths per 100,000 people a year is a whisker over half the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Well below the world average, though it's an estimate with nothing local to check it against.
Conflict — world number one
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Turkmenistan: 1.00
Ranked 1st least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing on record. The Uppsala conflict database has never recorded a conflict death in Turkmenistan since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing reaches a visitor, and the Afghan border is closed and watched.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Turkmenistan: 0.00
Ranked 2nd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Turkmenistan due process and movement are rated 0, meaning absent, so the courts offer no protection and movement is controlled. Total 0 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Political rights and civil liberties are almost completely denied. Elections are tightly controlled, religious groups persecuted, dissent not tolerated. Courts offer no protection and movement is rated absent.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Turkmenistan: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Sex between men carries up to two years, and the law is enforced in one of the world's most closed states. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Documented round-ups and forced examinations. No community life is possible.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Turkmenistan: 6.87
Ranked 75th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Ninety-one percent of women feel safe out alone at night. The courts are rated near the bottom, and nearly half of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care when visiting Turkmenistan.