The territory now known as Turkmenistan has been controlled by various empires throughout its history, largely because of its strategic position along the Silk Road. The Persians, Arabs, Mongols and Turks ruled the territory before it came under the control of local Turkic tribes. Russia has been the dominant foreign player in Turkmenistan since the late 19th century. Russia's forced settlement of the nomadic Turkic tribes dramatically changed the country, particularly during the Soviet-era drives toward collectivization and industrialization. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan became an independent country for the first time in its modern history, inheriting a strong Soviet-style executive backed by an extensive domestic security apparatus. The country has had only two heads of state since independence.