Formerly the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR, Turkmenistan is the least populated state and the most ethnically homogeneous of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia. The Turkmens, a nomadic Turkic-speaking people, became a distinct ethnic group as early as the 15th century and today remain the dominant ethnic group. Turkmenistan’s history and culture has been influenced by its tribal structure, the adoption of Islam – the religion of nearly all its citizens – the conquest by imperial Russia and Turkmenistan’s integration into the political and economic systems of the Soviet Union. Its vast reserves of natural gas hold the promise of future development, but political change has been emerging very slowly.