Mary (Marv)

Mary (pronounced Mur-ree) is a city of Turkmenistan, capital of the Mary Province. Former names include Merv, Meru and Margiana. In 1999 its population was 123,000 (up from 92,000 in the 1989 census).
The city is an oasis in the Karakum Desert, located on the Murghab river.
Merv Oasis was occupied by Imperial Russia in 1884, triggering the Panjdeh Incident. The modern settlement was founded later that year as a Russian military and administrative post. It was developed by the Soviet Union as a center for cotton production through the use of extensive irrigation. In 1968, huge reserves of natural gas were discovered 20 kilometers west of town.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Province