Background: Present-day Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to protect Turkish Cypriots and prevent a Greek takeover of the island; the northern 37 percent of the island remains under Turkish Cypriot control. Relations between the two countries remain strained but have begun to improve over the past few years. In 1984 the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) a Marxist-Leninist separatist group initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey often using terrorist tactics to try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan. The group - whose leader Abdullah OCALAN was captured in Kenya in February 1999 - has observed a unilateral cease-fire since September 1999 although there have been occasional clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000 armed PKK militants most of whom currently are encamped in northern Iraq. The PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) in April 2002.

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N 35 00 E

Map reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 780,580 km²
Water: 9,820 km²
Land: 770,760 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
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 Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea

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: antimony coal chromium mercury copper borate sulfur iron ore arable land: hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 34.53%
Permanent crops: 3.36%
Other: 62.11% (1998 est.)

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

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

Population: 68,109,469 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 1.16% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

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)

Age structure
0-14 years: 27.2% (male 9,422,242; female 9,082,840)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 22,978,251; female 22,243,477)
65 years and over: 6.4% (male 2,013,926; female 2,368,733) (2003 est.)

Median age
Total: 26.8 years
Male: 26.7 years
Female: 27 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 17.59 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Environmental Modification

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 (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 44.2 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 40.3 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 47.91 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.8 years
Male: 69.41 years
Female: 74.3 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.03 children born/woman (2003 est.)

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

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

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 Afyon 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

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

National holiday: Independence Day 29 October (1923)

Constitution: 7 November 1982

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
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 and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
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
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister
Head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (14 March 2003); note - Abdullah GUL resigned 11 March 2003; Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN was given a mandate to form a new government
Election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%

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 13 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

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeals and Council of State (judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Ahmet Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Republican People's Party or CHP [Deniz BAYKAL]; True Path Party (sometimes translated as Correct Way Party) or DYP [Tansu CILLER]; Young Party or GP [Cem UZAN]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU
In the us fax: [1] (202) 612-6,744
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York
In the us chancery: 2,525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 612-6,700
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

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 most important industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing which is almost entirely in private hands. 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 account for more than 50% of central government spending. Inflation in recent years in the high double-digit range fell to 26% in 2003. Perhaps because of these problems foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. In late 2000 and early 2001 a growing trade deficit and serious weaknesses in the banking sector plunged the economy into crisis - forcing Turkey to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Results in 2002-03 were much better because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Continued slow global growth and serious political tensions in the Middle East could result in negative growth in 2004.

Real gdp growth rate: 7.8% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,300 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 12.9%
Industry: 30.4%
Services: 56.7% (2001)

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% (2002 est.)

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

Unemployment rate: 10.8% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Distribution of family income gini index: 41.5 (1994)

Budget
Revenues: $42.4 billion
Expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 45.2% (2002 est.)

Exports: $35.1 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Commodities: apparel foodstuffs textiles metal manufactures transport equipment
Partners: Germany 16.6% US 9.2% UK 8.5% Italy 6.4% France 6% (2002)

Imports: $50.8 billion c.i.f. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery chemicals semi-finished goods fuels transport equipment
Partners: Germany 13.7% Italy 8.1% Russia 7.6% US 6% France 5.9% UK 4.8% Switzerland 4.1% (2002)

Debt external: $118.3 billion (Yearend 2001)

Exchange rates: NA (2002) 1,225,590 (2001) 625,218 (2000) 418,783 (1999) 260,724 (1998) 151,865 (1997)

Electricity
Production: 116.6 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 79.3%
Production by source hydro: 20.4%
Production by source other: 0.3% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 112.6 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 433 million kWh (2001)
Imports: 4.579 billion kWh (2001)

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 (37,257)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 19.5 million (1999)
Mobile cellular: 17.1 million (2001)

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: 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)

Internet
Country code: .tr
Service providers isps: 50 (2001)
Users: 2.5 million (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $8.1 billion (2002 est.)
Percent of gdp: 4.5% (2002 est.)

Airports: 120 (2002)
With paved runways total: 86
With paved runways over 3047 m: 16
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 30
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 16
With paved runways under 914 m: 5 (2002)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 19
With unpaved runways total: 34
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 24 (2002)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 8

Heliports: 8 (2002)

Pipelines: gas 3,177 km; oil 3,562 km (2003)

Railways
Total: 8,607 km
Standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2002)

Waterways: 1200 km (approximately)

Merchant marine
Total: 525 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,306,506 GRT/8,424,837 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 125, cargo 229, chemical tanker 44, combination bulk 3, combination ore/oil 3, container 34, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 35, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 26, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 5
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, Greece 1, Italy 1, Thailand 1, UK 11 (2002 est.)

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 is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh

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