Darvaza, Desert town in Ak bugdaý District, Turkmenistan.
Darvaza is a settlement with three villages in the Karakum Desert, around 260 kilometers north of Ashgabat. The area sits along the highway connecting Ashgabat and Dashoguz and has a station on the Trans-Karakum Railway.
In 2004, President Niyazov ordered the dismantling of the settlement, but in 2016 the place regained official status under its current name. An accident during gas drilling in 1971 led to the creation of a 70-meter-wide crater in the surrounding area.
Around two thousand people live here, most of them from the Teke tribe, following ways of life shaped by desert conditions. The three villages show local building methods and daily routines passed down over generations.
The road to Ashgabat crosses open desert land and is best traveled during daylight hours. Visitors using the railway find connections north and south at the local station.
The local administration oversees an area with natural gas reserves that influenced the formation of the crater. The crater itself lies away from the villages and is often visited independently of the administrative center.
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