Turkmenistan[a] 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.[15] Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population over 7 million,[16] Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia[17] and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.[6][18][7]