Bairam-Ali

a city, center of Bairam-Ali Raion in the southeastern Turkmen SSR. Located in the Murgab oasis 375 km east of Ashkhabad and 27 km from Mary.

Bairam-Ali has a railroad station. The population is 31,000 (1969). It has a cotton oil and soap combine, a ginning factory, and a knitwear factory; building materials are produced. There is a veterinary technicum in Bairam-Ali.

Bairam-Ali was formed in 1935. It is a climatic health resort. The summer is hot and dry in Bairam-Ali (temperatures over 30° C), with a very high number of sunny days per year (about 290). The winter is mild. The average annual humidity is 50 percent (25 percent in the summer); precipitation is 130 mm per year. Climatotherapy is the prescribed remedy in Bairam-Ali for chronic nontuberculous kidney disease in the absence of circulatory disturbances. Climatotherapy is con-traindicated for acute forms of nephritis and nephrosis, hypertonic disease, kidney stones, and tuberculosis of the kidneys. There is a sanatorium, a hydropathic institute, and platforms for air baths. The season is from April to November. There are ruins and preserved architectural monuments of ancient Merv near Bairam-Ali. Bairam-Ali Raion has deposits of natural gas.