Ymamnazar (also Ymam Nazar, Imamnazar) is a remote settlement in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

Lebap province Lebap Region () is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya. Its administrative centre is Türkmenabat (formerly named Çärjew). It has an area of 93,727 s ...

. It is situated immediately adjacent to

's southern border with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, opposite to

Aqina Aqina (; ), also known as Aqina Port, is a border checkpoint and border crossing in the northern Faryab Province of Afghanistan. It has a train station by the same name, which serves as the second rail service between Afghanistan and neighboring ...

. The nearest city in Turkmenistan is

Kerki Kerki is a city in and capital of Kerki District, Lebap Province, Turkmenistan. It was formerly known as Zamm and, between 1999 and 2017, as Atamyrat. Geography It is situated on a plain on the left bank of the Amu Darya river. Nearby towns a ...

. In 2007, an international border crossing point was opened in Ymamnazar, making it one of two international border crossings on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border, the other being

Serhetabat Serhetabat (formerly Gushgy) (; , Kushka) is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, southernTurkmenistan. Serhetabat lies in the valley of the Kushk River. The population was 5,200 in 1991. It is immediately opposite Torghundi, Afghani ...

Torghundi Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi (, ), is a border town in northern Herat Province of Afghanistan. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi custom house and border checkpoint, which officially connects Afghanistan by road wit ...

. The border crossing is officially called "Saparmurat", after Saparmurat "Turkmenbashy" Niyazov, the first president of Turkmenistan. There are basic

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

facilities here, including a small

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these Petroleum product, products are transported to end u ...

for shipping Turkmen hydrocarbons onward into Afghanistan.

Railhead

In 2015, Ymamnazar became the southern

terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

of a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

from

. In 2016 the line was extended across the border into Afghanistan to

and opened for traffic in November 2016. It is one of only three railways in Afghanistan. The line is eventually planned to form part of railway corridor through northern Afghanistan, linking

with

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

via

Sheberghan Sheberghān or Shaburghān or shāhpurgān ( Uzbek, Pashto, ), also spelled ''Shebirghan'' and ''Shibarghan'', is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city of Sheberghan has a population of 175,599. It has four ...

Mazar-i-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...

and

Sher Khan Bandar Sher Khan or Shir Khan (; , Uzbek: Sherxon-Bandar, شېرخان بندر) is a border town in the northern Kunduz Province of Afghanistan, next to the Panj River. The town's main attraction is the Sher Khan Bandar, which is a dry port and bord ...

Petroleum Depot

As of November 2016 Ymamnazar featured a petroleum depot with 45,000 m³ capacity. The depot is designed for delivery of fuel to Afghanistan, and includes 12 storage tanks for motor fuels and

liquid petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some propyle ...

, including seven tanks of 5,000 m³ each and five tanks of 2,000 m³ each. Design capacity of the depot is 540,000 tonnes per year. Fuel is delivered to the petroleum depot by rail and by a pipeline from the

Seýdi Seýdi, formerly Neftezavodsk, is a city in eastern Turkmenistan. Etymology Neftezavodsk derives from two Russian words — neft (нефть; oil) and zavod (завод; factory). History The city was founded in 1973 with construction of the o ...

oil refinery.

References

Populated places in Lebap Region Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border crossings {{Turkmenistan-geo-stub

Railhead

Petroleum Depot

See also

References