Mary,oblast (province), southeastern Turkmenistan, having an area of 33,500 square miles (86,800 square km). It includes the basin of the Morghāb River, which diminishes in the Karakum Desert in the north. In the south, on the Afghanistan frontier, are spurs of the Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh (Paropamisus Mountains). The climate is continental and dry. The economy is based on irrigated agriculture, particularly cotton cultivation, in the Morghāb oasis and along the Karakum Canal; the breeding of Karakul sheep in the desert; and the Shatlyk natural-gas deposit, which is one of the largest in Central Asia and the entire continent. The cities are Mary, the oblast provincial centre, Bayramaly, Yolöten, and Gushgy. In 1979 the population was one-third urban. Area 33,500 square miles (86,800 square km). Pop. (1991 2002 est.) 8591,500291,800.