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Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan
Both countries are located in Central Asia, and they gained their independence from the ex-Soviet Union in 1991.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on the north and northeast, Afghanistan on the south and southeast, Iran on the south, and the Caspian Sea on the west. Turkmenistan covers an area of 488,100 sq km (188,500 sq mi) with a population of 4.3 million. The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashgabad.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is bordered by Kazakhstan on the north and west, Kyrgyzstan on the east, Tajikistan on the southeast, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on the south. It covers an area of 447,400 sq km (172,700 sq mi) with a population of approximately 23.8 million. The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent.
| The rugs from these two countries are known as Turkoman. Turkoman art and culture has originally been influenced by Mongolian and Turkish art and culture. Turkoman rugs are easily distinguished from all other rugs, especially since their overall appearance has not changed in centuries. Turkoman rugs are unique in that they are almost always red, and the main motif used is called gul. |
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Near the end of the nineteenth century, as the Turkomans came under the control of Russia, Turkoman rug weaving became more and more commercialized. It changed from being fundamentally a local occupation and became a marketable export. Rug weaving for the Western market became an important part of their economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Even though in the past Turkoman rugs have been mostly of nomadic nature, they are now made in workshops, villages, and still by different tribesmen. Turkoman rugs of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are generally marketed as Bokhara or Beshir.
The rug production of these countries is neither minor nor as major as Iran, India or China.
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