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 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 Kurdistan People's Congress or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999 the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2013 KGK and the Turkish Government agreed to a ceasefire that continues despite slow progress in ongoing peace talks. 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; it began accession membership talks with the European Union in 2005.

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N 35 00 E

Area
Rank: 37
Land: 769,632 km²
Water: 13,930 km²

Land boundaries
Border countries: (8) Armenia 268 km; Azerbaijan 17 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

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 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
Permanent crops: 3.94%
Other: 69.84% (2011)

Irrigated land: 53,400 km² (2012)

Total renewable water resources: 211.6 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: severe earthquakes especially in northern Turkey along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
Volcanism: limited volcanic activity; its three historically active volcanoes; Ararat Nemrut Dagi and Tendurek Dagi have not erupted since the 19th century or earlier

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: 81,619,392 (July 2014 est.)
Rank: 17
Growth rate: 1.12% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 108
Below poverty line: 16.9% (2010)

Nationality
Adjective: Turkish

Ethnic groups: Turkish 70-75% Kurdish 18% other minorities 7-12% (2008 est.)

Languages: Turkish (official) Kurdish other minority languages

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

Age structure
15-24 years: 16.8% (male 6,989,099/female 6,709,480)
25-54 years: 42.9% (male 17,650,790/female 17,358,730)
55-64 years: 8.1% (male 3,289,605/female 3,291,199)
65 years and over: 6.6% (male 2,517,219/female 2,973,310) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 37.7 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 11.2 %
Potential support ratio: 8.9 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 29.2 years
Female: 30 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.12% (2014 est.)
Rank: 108

Birth rate: 16.86 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 114

Death rate: 6.12 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 162

Net migration rate: 0.46 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 71

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 2.4% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: Istanbul 11.253 million; ANKARA (capital) 4.194 million; Izmir 2.927 million; Bursa 1.713 million; Adana 1.468 million; Gaziantep 1.198 million (2011)

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 signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 22.3 (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 84
Male: 22.48 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 20.32 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 124
Male: 71.33 years
Female: 75.35 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.08 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 113

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 73% (2008)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 1.71 physicians/1000 population (2011)

Hospital bed density: 2.5 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 148
People living with hivaids: 4,600 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 124
Deaths: fewer than 200 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 117

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 27.8% (2008)
Rank: 36

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 3.5% (2004)
Rank: 102

Education expenditures: 2.9% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 142

Literacy
Total population: 94.1%
Male: 97.9%
Female: 90.3% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 15 years
Female: 14 years (2011)

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

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 39 56 N 32 52 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: 81 provinces (iller singular - ili); 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 (Smyrna) 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 (Trebizond) Tunceli Usak Van Yalova Yozgat Zonguldak

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

National holiday: Republic Day 29 October (1923)

Constitution: several previous; latest ratified 9 November 1982; amended 2001 2007 2010 (2010)

Legal system: civil law system based on various European legal systems notably the Swiss civil code

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since 14 March 2003)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president upon the nomination of the prime minister
Elections: president elected directly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister appointed by the president from among members of parliament
Election results: Abdullah GUL elected president on the third ballot; National Assembly vote - 339

Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections: last held on 12 June 2011 (next likely to be held by June 2015)
Election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 49.8% CHP 25.9% MHP 13% independents 6.6% other 4.7%; seats by party - AKP 326 CHP 135 MHP 53 independents 36; note - only parties surpassing the 10% threshold are entitled to parliamentary seats

Judicial branch
Judge selection and term of office: Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president from among candidates submitted by plenary assemblies of other courts the Higher Education Council senior government administrators and lawyers; judges appointed for 12-year non-renewable terms and with mandatory retirement at age 65; Supreme Court of Appeals judges appointed by the Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors; judge tenure NA
Subordinate courts: Council of State (Danistay); Court of Accounts (Sayistay); Military High Court of Appeals; Military High Administrative Court

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: ADB (nonregional member) Australia Group BIS BSEC CD CE CERN (observer) CICA D-8 EAPC EBRD ECO EU (candidate country) FAO FATF G-20 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) ICRM IDA IDB IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OIC OPCW OSCE Pacific Alliance (observer) Paris Club (associate) PCA SELEC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNIFIL UNRWA UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
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 consulate general: Chicago Houston New York Newton (MA)
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 consulate general: Istanbul
From the us consulate: Adana; note - there is a Consular Agent in Izmir

Flag description: red with a vertical white crescent moon (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening; the flag colors and designs closely resemble those on the banner of the Ottoman Empire which preceded modern-day Turkey; the crescent moon and star serve as insignia for the Turks as well as being traditional symbols of Islam; according to legend the flag represents the reflection of the moon and a star in a pool of blood of Turkish warriors

National symbols: star and crescent

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Mehmet Akif ERSOY/Zeki UNGOR

Economy overview: Turkey's largely free-market economy is increasingly driven by its industry and service sectors although its traditional agriculture sector still accounts for about 25% of employment. An aggressive privatization program has reduced state involvement in basic industry banking transport and communication and an emerging cadre of middle-class entrepreneurs is adding dynamism to the economy and expanding production beyond the traditional textiles and clothing sectors. The automotive construction and electronics industries are rising in importance and have surpassed textiles within Turkey's export mix. Oil began to flow through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in May 2006 marking a major milestone that will bring up to 1 million barrels per day from the Caspian to market. Several gas pipelines projects also are moving forward to help transport Central Asian gas to Europe through Turkey which over the long term will help address Turkey's dependence on imported oil and gas to meet 97% of its energy needs. After Turkey experienced a severe financial crisis in 2001 Ankara adopted financial and fiscal reforms as part of an IMF program. The reforms strengthened the country's economic fundamentals and ushered in an era of strong growth averaging more than 6% annually until 2008. Global economic conditions and tighter fiscal policy caused GDP to contract in 2009 but Turkey's well-regulated financial markets and banking system helped the country weather the global financial crisis and GDP rebounded strongly to around 9% in 2010-11 as exports returned to normal levels following the recession. Growth dropped to roughly 3-4% in 2012-13. Turkey's public sector debt to GDP ratio has fallen below 40% and two rating agencies upgraded Turkey's debt to investment grade in 2012 and 2013. Turkey remains dependent on often volatile short-term investment to finance its large current account deficit. The stock value of FDI reached nearly $195 billion at year-end 2013 reflecting Turkey's robust growth even in the face of economic turmoil in Europe the source of much of Turkey's FDI. Turkey's relatively high current account deficit domestic political uncertainty and turmoil within Turkey's neighborhood leave the economy vulnerable to destabilizing shifts in investor confidence.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 17

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 85

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 90

Gross national saving:
Rank: 80

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 15.4%
Investment in fixed capital: 19.4%
Investment in inventories: 0%
Exports of goods and services: 26.6%
Imports of goods and services: -32.5%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 27.3%
Services: 63.8% (2013 est.)

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

Industries: textiles food processing automobiles electronics mining (coal chromate copper boron) steel petroleum construction lumber paper

Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2013 est.)
Rank: 84

Labor force: 27.91 million
Rank: 22
By occupation industry: 26.2%
By occupation services: 48.4% (2010)

Unemployment rate: 9.2% (2012 est.)
Rank: 101

Population below poverty line: 16.9% (2010)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 30.3% (2008)

Distribution of family income gini index: 43.6 (2003)
Rank: 57

Budget
Expenditures: $207.9 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -2.1% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 91

Taxes and other revenues: 23.2% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 144

Public debt: 37.6% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 102

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 8.9% (2012 est.)
Rank: 192

Central bank discount rate: 15% (22 December 2009)
Rank: 9

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 19% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 19

Stock of narrow money: $85.23 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 40

Stock of broad money: $405.6 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 27

Stock of domestic credit: $552.3 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 24

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 29

Current account balance: -$47.75 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 187

Exports: $163.3 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 30
Commodities: apparel foodstuffs textiles metal manufactures transport equipment
Partners: Germany 8.6% Iraq 7.1% Iran 6.5% UK 5.7% UAE 5.4% Russia 4.4% Italy 4.2% France 4.1% (2012)

Imports: $228.6 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 22
Commodities: machinery chemicals semi-finished goods fuels transport equipment
Partners: Russia 11.3% Germany 9% China 9% US 6% Italy 5.6% Iran 5.1% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $119.2 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 22

Debt external: $336.7 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 31

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $181.7 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 28

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $30.94 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 42

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 217.7 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Production rank: 21
Consumption: 170.4 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 22
Exports: 1.49 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 51
Imports: 4.362 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 38
Installed generating capacity: 49.52 million kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 19
Generation sources fossil fuels: 64.9% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 121
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 191
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 32% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 72
Generation sources other renewable sources: 3.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 61

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 56,650 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 59
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 193
Crude oil imports: 338,900 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 25
Crude oil proven reserves: 270.4 million bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 55

Refined petroleum
Products production: 418,200 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 36
Products consumption: 706,100 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 26
Products exports: 107,800 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 41
Products imports: 301,300 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 22

Natural gas
Production: 632 million m³ (2012 est.)
Production rank: 69
Consumption: 38.13 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 25
Exports: 600 million m³ (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 45
Imports: 45.92 billion m³ (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 11
Proven reserves: 6.173 billion m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 89

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 296.3 million Mt (2011 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 13.86 million (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 18
Mobile cellular: 67.68 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 20

Telephone system
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; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 100 telephones per 100 persons
International: country code - 90; international service is provided by the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable and by submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas that link Turkey with Italy Greece Israel Bulgaria Romania and Russia; satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat; mobile satellite terminals - 328 in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2010)

Broadcast media: Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) operates multiple TV and radio networks and stations; multiple privately owned national television stations and up to 300 private regional and local television stations; multi-channel cable TV subscriptions available; more than 1000 private radio broadcast stations (2009)

Internet
Country code: .tr
Hosts: 7.093 million (2012)
Hosts rank: 16
Users: 27.233 million (2009)
Users rank: 15

Military expenditures:
Rank: 35

Military service age and obligation: 21-41 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary service; 15 months conscript obligation for non-university graduates 6-12 months for university graduates; conscripts are called to register at age 20 for service at 21; women serve in the Turkish Armed Forces only as officers; reserve obligation to age 41; under a law passed in November 2011 men aged 30 and older or who have worked 3 years in foreign countries may pay $16,200 in lieu of mandatory military service (2013)

Airports: 98 (2013)
Rank: 58
With paved runways over 3047 m: 16
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 38
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 17
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 16
With paved runways under 914 m: 4 (2013)
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways: 2 (2013)

Heliports: 20 (2013)

Pipelines: gas 12,603 km; oil 3,038 km (2013)

Railways
Rank: 20
Standard gauge: 12,008 km 1.435-m gauge (3,216 km electrified) (2012)

Roadways
Rank: 17
Paved: 352,268 km (includes 2,127 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 33,486 km (2012)

Waterways: 1200 km (2010)
Rank: 60

Merchant marine
Rank: 18
By type: bulk carrier 102 cargo 281 chemical tanker 80 container 42 liquefied gas 6 passenger 2 passenger/cargo 60 petroleum tanker 25 refrigerated cargo 1 roll on/roll off 29 specialized tanker 1
Foreign owned: 1 (Italy 1)
Registered in other countries: 645 (Albania 1 Antigua and Barbuda 7 Azerbaijan 1 Bahamas 3 Barbados 1 Belize 16 Brazil 1 Cambodia 15 Comoros 8 Cook Islands 4 Curacao 5 Cyprus 1 Dominica 1 Georgia 14 Italy 4 Kazakhstan 1 Liberia 16 Malta 233 Marshall Islands 70 Moldova 18 Panama 62 Russia 101 Saint Kitts and Nevis 18 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 13 Sierra Leone 9 Slovakia 1 Tanzania 13 Togo 4 Tuvalu 1 unknown 3) (2010)

Ports and terminals
Container port: Ambarli (2,121,549) Mersin (Icel) (1,126,866)

Disputes international: complex maritime air and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea; status of north Cyprus question remains; Syria and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates waters; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq; in 2009 Swiss mediators facilitated an accord reestablishing diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey but neither side has ratified the agreement and the rapprochement effort has faltered; Turkish authorities have complained that blasting from quarries in Armenia might be damaging the medieval ruins of Ani on the other side of the Arpacay valley

Refugees and internally displaced persons
IDPs: 954,000-1.2 million (displaced from 1984-2005 because of fighting between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs are Kurds from eastern and southeastern provinces; no information available on persons displaced by development projects) (2012)
Stateless persons: 780 (2012)

Illicit drugs: key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and to a lesser extent the US - via air land and sea routes; major Turkish and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin exist in remote regions of Turkey and near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and over output of poppy straw concentrate; lax enforcement of money-laundering controls