Map of Turkey | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL who was later honored with the title Ataturk or 'Father of the Turks.' Under his authoritarian leadership the country adopted wide-ranging social legal and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then Turkish political parties have multiplied but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960 1971 1980) which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997 the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a 'post-modern coup' - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives but after the capture of the group's leader in 1999 the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004 KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964 Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union.


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Location: southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe) bordering the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Georgia and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Syria

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N 35 00 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 780,580 km²
Land: 770,760 km²
Water: 9,820 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 2,648 km
Border countries: (8) Armenia 268 km; , Azerbaijan 9 km; , Bulgaria 240 km; , Georgia 252 km; , Greece 206 km; , Iran 499 km; , Iraq 352 km; , Syria 822 km

Coastline: 7,200 km

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

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

Terrain: high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Natural resources: coal iron ore copper chromium antimony mercury gold barite borate celestite (strontium) emery feldspar limestone magnesite marble perlite pumice pyrites (sulfur) clay arable land: hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 30.93%
Permanent crops: 3.31%
Other: 65.76% (2001)

Irrigated land: 42,000 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: 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; Mount Ararat the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark is in the far eastern portion of the country


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Population: 68,893,918 (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 1.13% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: 18% (2001)

Nationality
Noun: Turk
Adjective: Turkish

Ethnic groups: Turkish 80% Kurdish 20% (estimated)

Languages: Turkish (official) Kurdish Arabic Armenian Greek

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

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 26.6% (male 9,328,108; female 8,990,742)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 23,394,465; female 22,650,532)
65 years and over: 6.6% (male 2,078,881; female 2,451,190) (2004 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 27.3 years
Male: 27.1 years
Female: 27.5 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.13% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 17.22 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male/female
Total population: 1.02 male/female (2004 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 42.62 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 46.3 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 38.76 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.08 years
Male: 69.68 years
Female: 74.61 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% - note: no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.5%
Male: 94.3%
Female: 78.7% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
Conventional short form: Turkey
Local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
Local short form: Turkiye

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Administrative divisions: 81 provinces (iller singular - il); Adana Adiyaman Afyonkarahisar Agri Aksaray Amasya Ankara Antalya Ardahan Artvin Aydin Balikesir Bartin Batman Bayburt Bilecik Bingol Bitlis Bolu Burdur Bursa Canakkale Cankiri Corum Denizli Diyarbakir Duzce Edirne Elazig Erzincan Erzurum Eskisehir Gaziantep Giresun Gumushane Hakkari Hatay Igdir Isparta Istanbul Izmir Kahramanmaras Karabuk Karaman Kars Kastamonu Kayseri Kilis Kirikkale Kirklareli Kirsehir Kocaeli Konya Kutahya Malatya Manisa Mardin Mersin Mugla Mus Nevsehir Nigde Ordu Osmaniye Rize Sakarya Samsun Sanliurfa Siirt Sinop Sirnak Sivas Tekirdag Tokat Trabzon Tunceli Usak Van Yalova Yozgat Zonguldak

Dependent areas

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

National holiday: Republic Day 29 October (1923)

Constitution: 7 November 1982

Legal system: civil law system derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; note - member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) although Turkey claims limited derogations on the ratified European Convention on Human Rights

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
Head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (14 March 2003)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister
Elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2007); prime minister appointed by the president from among members of parliament
Election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%
Note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third ballot

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 3 November 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); note - a special rerun of the General Election in the province of Siirt on 9 March 2003 resulted in the election of Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN to a seat in parliament, a prerequisite for becoming prime minister on 14 March 2003
Election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 34.3%, CHP 19.4%, DYP 9.6%, MHP 8.3%, ANAP 5.1%, DSP 1.1%, and others; seats by party - AKP 363, CHP 178, independents 9; note - parties surpassing the 10% threshold are entitled to parliamentary seats; seats by party as of 1 December 2004 - AKP 368, CHP 171, DYP 4, LDP 1, independents 5, vacant 1

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; High Court of Appeals (Yargitay); Council of State (Danistay); Court of Accounts (Sayistay); Military High Court of Appeals; Military High Administrative Court

Political parties and leaders
Note: the parties listed above are some of the more significant of the 49 parties that Turkey had on 1 December 2004

International organization participation: AsDB Australia Group BIS BSEC CE CERN (observer) EAPC EBRD ECO EU (applicant) FAO IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU MIGA NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OIC OPCW OSCE PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMIK UNOMIG UNRWA UPU WCO WEU (associate) WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU
In the us chancery: 2,525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 612-6,700
In the us fax: [1] (202) 612-6,744
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Eric S. EDELMAN
From the us embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 6,100 Ankara
From the us mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5,000, APO AE 9,823
From the us telephone: [90] (312) 455-5,555
From the us fax: [90] (312) 467-0019
From the us consulates general: Istanbul
From the us consulates: Adana; note - there is a Consular Agent in Izmir

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: Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2001 still accounted for 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry banking transport and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system. However other sectors notably the automotive and electonics industries are rising in importance within Turkey's export mix. In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many years but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994 1999 and 2001. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments which accounted for more than 40% of central government spending in 2003. Inflation in recent years in the high double-digit range fell to 11.3% in 2004. Perhaps because of these problems foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. Results in 2002-04 improved because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. A major political and economic issue over the next decade is whether or not Turkey will become a member of the EU.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 5.8% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2003 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11.7%
Industry: 29.8%
Services: 58.5% (2003 est.)

Agriculture products: tobacco cotton grain olives sugar beets pulse citrus; livestock

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

Industrial production growth rate: 8.5% (2003 est.)

Labor force
Note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (2003)
By occupation agriculture: 39.7%
By occupation industry: 22.4%
By occupation services: 37.9% (3rd quarter 2001)

Unemployment rate: 10.5% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2003 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 18% (2001)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.3%
Highest 10: 32.3% (1994)

Distribution of family income gini index: 44 (2002)

Budget
Revenues: $66.79 billion
Expenditures: $93.31 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 78.7% of GDP (2003)

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 25.3% (2003 est.)

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: $-6.806 billion (2003)

Exports: $49.12 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: apparel foodstuffs textiles metal manufactures transport equipment
Partners: Germany 15.8% US 8% UK 7.8% Italy 6.8% France 6% (2003)

Imports: $62.43 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: machinery chemicals semi-finished goods fuels transport equipment
Partners: Germany 13.6% Italy 7.9% Russia 7.8% France 6% UK 5% US 5% Switzerland 4.3% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $147.3 billion (2003)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Turkish liras per US dollar - NA (2003) 1,507,230 (2002) 1,225,590 (2001) 625,218 (2000) 418,783 (1999) 151,865 (1997)


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Electricity
Production: 116.6 billion kWh (2001)
Consumption: 112.6 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 433 million kWh (2001)
Imports: 4.579 billion kWh (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 312 million m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 15.94 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 15.75 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 8.685 billion m³ (1 January 2002)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 18,916,700 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 27,887,500 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially with cellular telephones
Domestic: additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly
International: country code - 90; international service is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia; also by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2002)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .tr
Hosts: 355,215 (2004)
Users: 5.5 million (2003)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $12.155 billion (2003)
Percent of gdp: 5.3% (2003)

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: 120 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 87
With paved runways over 3047 m: 16
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 30
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 20
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 17
With paved runways under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 32
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 8
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.)

Heliports: 14 (2003 est.)

Pipelines: gas 3,177 km; oil 3,562 km (2004)

Railways
Total: 8,671 km
Standard gauge: 8,671 km 1.435-m gauge (2,122 km electrified) (2003)

Roadways

Waterways: 1200 km (2003)

Merchant marine
Total: 508 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,666,895 GRT/7,311,504 DWT
By type: bulk 111, cargo 229, chemical tanker 46, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 2, container 34, liquefied gas 6, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 36, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 26, short-sea/passenger 8, specialized tanker 3
Foreign owned: Belize 1, Cambodia 1, China 1, Cyprus 4, Greece 1, Italy 3, Liberia 1, Monaco 1, Switzerland 1, Thailand 1, United Kingdom 9
Registered in other countries: 243 (2004 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: complex maritime air and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question remains with Greece; Syria and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates waters; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Idps: 350,000-1,000,000 (fighting from 1984-1999 between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs in southeastern provinces) (2004)

Illicit drugs: key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a far lesser extent 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