Türkmenbaşy (also spelled Turkmenbashi), formerly known as Krasnovodsk (Russian: Красноводск) and, more properly,[citation needed] Kyzyl-Su, is a city in Balkan Province in Turkmenistan, on the Krasnovodsk Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It is located at latitude 40.0231 North; longitude 52.9697 East, at an altitude of 27 meters. The population (est 2004) was 86,800, mostly ethnic Russian and Azeri. As the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway, it was an important transportation center.