Map of Turkey | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace


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Location: Southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Iran

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa, Europe, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total area total: 780,580 km²
Land: 770,760 km²

Land boundaries: total 2,627 km, Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km

Coastline: 7,200 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only - to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR
Territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea, 12 nm in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea

Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior

Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)

Elevation

Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore

Land use
Arable land: 30%
Permanent crops: 4%
Meadows and pastures: 12%
Forest and woodland: 26%
Other: 28%

Irrigated land: 22,200 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: subject to very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van

Geography
Note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas


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Population: 62,153,898 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 2.02% (1994 est.)

Nationality: noun:Turk(s)

Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

Religions: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (Christian and Jews)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.02% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 25.98 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 5.8 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1994 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution; deforestation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 48.8 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.94 years
Male: 68.61 years
Female: 73.38 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.21 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Total population: 81%
Male: 90%
Female: 71%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
Conventional short form:

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Administrative divisions: 73 provinces (iller, singular - il; Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gazi Antep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanli Urfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak

Dependent areas

Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)

Constitution: 7 November 1982

Legal system: derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Suleyman DEMIREL (since 16 May 1993)
Head of government: Prime Minister Tansu CILLER (since 5 July 1993)
National Security Council: advisory body to the President and the Cabinet

Legislative branch: Land Forces, Navy (including Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie
Turkish Grand National Assembly: (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) elections last held 20 October 1991 (next to be held NA October 1996); results - DYP 27.03%, ANAP 24.01%, SHP 20.75%, RP 16.88%, DSP 10.75%, SBP 0.44%, independent 0.14%; seats - (450 total) DYP 178, ANAP 115, SHP 86, RP 40, MCP 19, DSP 7, other 5
Note: seats held by various parties are subject to change due to defections, creation of new parties, and ouster or death of sitting deputies; present seats by party are as follows:DYP 178, ANAP 101, SHP 55, RP 39, CHP 18, MHP 13, DEP 13, BBP 7, DSP 3, YP 3, MP 2, independents 10, vacant 8

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AsDB, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ECO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NATO, NEA, OECD, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOSOM, UNRWA, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard C. BARKLEY
From the us chancery: 1714 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,036
From the us telephone: [90] (312) 468-6,110 through 6,128
From the us consulates general: Istanbul
From the us embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
From the us mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5,000, Ankara, or APO AE 9,823
From the us FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019
From the us consulates: Adana

Flag description: red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: In early 1994, after an impressive economic performance through most of the 1980s, Turkey faces its most damaging economic crisis in the last 15 years. Sparked by the downgrading in mid-January of Turkey's international credit rating by two US credit rating agencies, the crisis stems from two years of loose fiscal and monetary policies that have exacerbated inflation and allowed the public debt, money supply, and current account deficit to explode. Under Prime Minister CILLER, Ankara has followed seriously flawed policies that have destroyed public confidence in the government's ability to manage the economy. Inflation is now running at an annual rate of 107% and the public sector deficit is equivalent to 16% of GDP. Turkish firms have been hurt by high interest rates and a dramatic drop in consumer demand. Three Turkish banks have folded and the stock market has fallen 48% since the beginning of the year. Economic growth may drop to between 0% and 2% in 1994, compared to 7.3% in 1993. Moreover, the government is facing a severe cash crunch. In March 1994, the treasury came close to defaulting on a loan, and official foreign currency reserves are equal to less than two months' worth of imports. The unprecedented effort by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to raise the economic costs of its insurgency against the Turkish state is adding to Turkey's economic problems. Attacks against the tourism industry have cut tourist revenues, which account for about 3% of GDP, while economic activity in southeastern Turkey, where most of the violence occurs, has dropped considerably. To cope with the economic crisis and instill domestic and international investor confidence in the fragile coalition government, CILLER has asked the IMF to endorse a stabilization package she introduced in early April 1994. Negotiations are underway for a standby agreement, which would give Turkey access to $450 million this year and enable her cash-starved government to return to the foreign capital markets.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 7.3% (1993)

Real gdp per capita: $5,100 (1993)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 16% of GDP and employs about half of working force; products - tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus fruit, variety of animal products; self-sufficient in food most years

Industries: textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron minerals), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Industrial production growth rate: 4.3% (1992; accounts for 28% of GDP

Labor force: 20.8 million
By occupation agriculture: 48%
By occupation services: 32%
By occupation industry: 20%
By occupation note: about 1,800,000 Turks work abroad (1993)

Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1993)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues:$36.5 billion

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $14.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodities: manufactured products 72%, foodstuffs 23%, mining products 4%
Partners: EC countries 53%, US 6%, Russia 4%, Saudi Arabia 3%

Imports: $22.9 billion (c.i.f., 1992)
Commodities: manufactured products 68%, fuels 17%, foodstuffs 4%
Partners: EC countries 44%, US 11%, Saudi Arabia 7%, Russia 5%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $59.4 billion (1993)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TL) per US$1 - 15,196.1 (January 1994), 10,983.3 (1993), 6,872.4 (1992), 4,171.8 (1991), 2,608.6 (1990), 2,121.7 (1989)


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Electricity
Capacity: 14,400,000 kW
Production: 44 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 750 kWh (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: exchange rate conversion - $14 billion, 5.6% of GDP (1994 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 113
Usable: 105
With permanentsurface runways: 69
With runways over 3659 m: 3
With runways 2440-3659 m: 32
With runways 1220-2439 m: 27

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: about 1,200 km

Merchant marine: 390 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,664,205 GRT/8,163,379 DWT, bulk 103, cargo 195, chemical tanker 10, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 12, container 2, liquefied gas 4, livestock carrier 1, oil tanker 41, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 5, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker 2

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: major transit route for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish to Western Europe and the US via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish, Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in remote regions of Turkey as well as near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate