Mary

Mary is considered the fourth city of Turkmenistan by the number of inhabitants, today more than 200 thousand people live here. It is located in the middle of the desert, in a large oasis. Mary was founded by the Russian military in 1884. The city was built not far from the ancient Merv, which is more than two thousand years old. Once the inhabitants of Merv were Omar Khayyam, Al-Khorezmi, Enveri, As-Samani and other famous personalities. Today Mary is considered the largest city in the country for cotton growing and an important center for gas production. It is the gas industry that is the main income of Turkmenistan.