The official currency of Turkmenistan is the Turkmen manat. It was introduced on November 1, 1993, as the country’s primary medium of exchange. Each manat is subdivided into 100 tenge. Initially, all banknotes and coins featured the image of Saparmurat Niyazov, the former president of Turkmenistan.
However, in 2009, a significant currency reform was undertaken, resulting in a redenomination of the manat. Under this reform, new banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 manat. One unit of the new manat is equivalent to 5,000 units of the old currency. The redesigned bills, approved by the then-new president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, now display portraits of notable Turkmen figures, significant cultural and historical personalities, as well as architectural landmarks from across the country.
