Andalyp (city)

On 9 November 2022 by parliamentary resolution the city was renamed in honor of the poet Nurmuhammet Andalyp (نورمحمد عندلیب).^[3] Prior to that, on 6 September 2004 by Parliamentary Resolution 227-II the city was renamed in honor of the mother of President Saparmurat Niyazov, Gurbansoltan Eje.^[2] Originally it was named Ilyaly (Cyrillic Ильялы, the meaning of which is obscure) but by no later than 1992 had been renamed Ýylanly, which in Turkmen means "with snakes".^[4][5] Atanyyazow explains that this city, along with several other locations in Turkmenistan, received that name due to an abundance of snakes in the area.^[6]

In the Soviet period Ýylanly was designated as an "urban-type settlement" (Russian: посёлок городского типа) and administrative center of Ýylanly District. In June 2016 by parliamentary decree Gurbansoltan eje adyndaky was upgraded to the status of "city in a district" (Turkmen: etrapdaky şäher). The same decree subordinated the villages of Hazarasp, Garamergen, and Depmechi to the city.^[7] By parliamentary decree of 9 November 2022, the city was made capital of Akdepe District.^[3]

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, published between 1969 and 1986, noted that the city offered a cotton ginning plant as well as a folk theater.^[4]