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

Map reference:

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
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,

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

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

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%

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

Population: 60,897,841 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 2.07% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Turk(s)
Adjective: Turkish

Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (est.)

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

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

Population growth rate: 2.07% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 26.62 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 5.97 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: subject to severe earthquakes, especially along major river valleys in west; air pollution; desertification
Current issues note:

Infant mortality rate: 52 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.41 years
Male: 68.11 years
Female: 72.82 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1993 est.)

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

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Administrative divisions:

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

National holiday:

Constitution: 7 November 1982

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

Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch: president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet Meclisi)

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR
In the us chancery: 1714 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: (202) 659-8,200
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Richard C. BARKLEY
From the us embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
From the us mailing address: PSC 88, Box 5,000, Ankara, or APO AE 9,823
From the us telephone: 90 (4) 426 54 70
From the us fax: 90 (4) 467-0057 and 0019
From the us consulates general: Istanbul and Izmir
From the us consulate: 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

Economy overview: After an impressive economic performance through most of the 1980s, Turkey has experienced erratic rates of economic growth since 1988 - ranging from a high of 9.2% in 1990 to a low of 0.9% in 1991. Strong consumer demand and increased public investment led the way to a strong 5.9% growth in 1992. Chronic high inflation is Turkey's most serious economic problem, leading to high interest rates and the rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira. The huge public sector deficit - about 12% of GDP - and the Treasury's heavy reliance on Central Bank financing of the deficit are the major causes of Turkish inflation. Meanwhile, wage increases in both the public and private sector have outpaced productivity gains, limited the government's ability to reduce current expenditures, and hindered the return to profitability of many about 20% of exports. The government has launched a multibillion-dollar development program in the southeastern region, which includes the building of a dozen dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to generate electric power and irrigate large tracts of farmland. The Turkish economy will probably continue to grow faster than the West European average in 1993, but the shaky coalition government of Prime Minister DEMIREL - which has seen its parliamentary majority shrink from 36 to 11 seats during its first year in power - is unlikely to risk further erosion of its support by implementing the belt-tightening measures necessary to substantially reduce inflation.

Real gdp growth rate: 5.9% (1992)

Real gdp per capita: $3,670 (1992)

Agriculture products: accounts for 18% 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:

Labor force: 20.7 million
By occupation agriculture: 50%
By occupation services: 35%
By occupation industry: 15%

Unemployment rate: 11.1% (1992 est.)

Budget: revenues $40.5 billion; expenditures $46.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.5 billion (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $13.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: manufactured goods 69%, foodstuffs 22%, fuels 2%
Partners: EC countries 51%, US 7%, Iran 5%, former USSR 5%

Imports: $21.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
Commodoties: manufactured goods 61%, foodstuffs 8%, fuels 21%
Partners: EC countries 44%, US 12%, former USSR 5%

Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TL) per US$1 - 8,814.3 (January 1993), 6,872.4 (1992), 4,171.8 (1991), 2,608.6 (1990), 2,121.7 (1989), 1,422.3 (1988)

Electricity
Production: 14,400,000 kW capacity; 44,000 million kWh produced, 750 kWh per capita (1991)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $5.6 billion, 3.9% of GDP (1992)

Airports: 110
Usable: 102
With permanentsurface runways: 65
With runways over 3659 m: 3
With runways 2440-3659 m: 32
With runways 1220-2439 m: 26

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

Waterways: about 1,200 km

Merchant marine:

Disputes international:

Illicit drugs: