Turkmenistan, officially Republic of Turkmenistan, republic in Central Asia, bordered on the north by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, on the east by Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, on the south by Afghanistan and Iran, and on the west by the Caspian Sea. It was formerly the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Turkmenistan is the southernmost of the former Soviet republics. Its land area totals 448,100 sq km (188,460 sq mi). Ashgabat is its capital and largest city.