Karakum Desert

The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum (Turkmen: Garagum, Turkmen: [ɡɑɾɑˈɡʊm]; Russian: Караку́мы), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : "dark" or may pre-date that (be a derivation from a likely broader meaning which the word for black bore: ) in this language family. This refers to the shale-rich sand generally beneath the sand of much of the desert. It occupies about 70 percent, , of Turkmenistan.…