Introduction

 

Geography

 

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 references: Middle East

 

Area: total: 780,580 sq km;land: 770,760 sq km;water: 9,820 sq km

 

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas

 

Land boundaries: total: 2,648 km;border countries: 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;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 sq km (1998 est.)

 

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

 

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

 

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands;signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

 

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

 

People

 

Population: 69,660,559 (July 2005 est.)

 

Age structure: 0-14 years: 26% (male 9,232,439/female 8,897,135);15-64 years: 67.3% (male 23,806,367/female 23,053,536);65 years and over: 6.7% (male 2,140,242/female 2,530,840) (2005 est.)

 

Median age: total: 27.7 years;male: 27.52 years;female: 27.89 years (2005 est.)

 

Population growth rate: 1.09% (2005 est.)

 

Birth rate: 16.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Death rate: 5.96 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female;under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female;15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female;65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female;total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 41.04 deaths/1,000 live births;male: 44.68 deaths/1,000 live births;female: 37.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.36 years’male: 69.94 years;female: 74.91 years (2005 est.)

 

Total fertility rate: 1.94 children born/woman (2005 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% - note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

 

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

 

Nationality: noun: Turk(s);adjective: Turkish

 

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

 

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

 

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek

 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write;total population: 86.5%;male: 94.3%;female: 78.7% (2003 est.)

 

Government

 

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

 

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

 

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 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: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

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

 

Economy

 

Economy - overview: Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2004 still accounted for more than 35% 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 electronics 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. Inflation, in recent years in the high double-digit range, fell to 9.3% by 2004 - a 30-year low. Despite these strong economic gains in 2002-04, which were largely due to renewed investor interest in emerging markets, IMF backing, and tighter fiscal policy, the economy is still plagued with high debt and deficits. The public sector fiscal deficit exceeds 6% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which accounted for more than 40% of central government spending in 2004, and to populist spending. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey remains low - averaging less than $1 billion annually, but further economic and judicial reforms and prospective EU membership are expected to boost FDI. A major political and economic issue over the next decade is whether or not Turkey will become a member of the EU.

 

GDP: purchasing power parity - $508.7 billion (2004 est.)

 

GDP - real growth rate: 8.2% (2004 est.)

 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,400 (2004 est.)

 

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 11.7%;industry: 29.8%;services: 58.5% (2003 est.)

 

Labor force: 25.3 million;note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (2003 est.)

 

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 35.9%, industry 22.8%, services 41.2% (3rd quarter, 2004)

 

Unemployment rate: 9.3% (plus underemployment of 4.0%) (2004 est.)

 

Population below poverty line: 20% (2002)

 

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.3%;highest 10%: 30.7% (2000)

 

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 42 (2003)

 

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.3% (2004 est.)

 

Investment (gross fixed): 17.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Budget: revenues: $78.53 billion;expenditures: $110.9 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

 

Public debt: 74.3% of GDP (2004 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: 16.5% (2004 est.)

 

Electricity - production: 139.7 billion kWh (2003)

 

Electricity - consumption: 117.9 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - exports: 433 million kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - imports: 3.6 billion kWh (2002)

 

Oil - production: 48,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

 

Oil - consumption: 619,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

 

Oil - exports: 46,110 bbl/day (2001)

 

Oil - imports: 616,500 bbl/day (2001)

 

Oil - proved reserves: 288.4 million bbl (1 January 2002)

 

Natural gas - production: 312 million cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - consumption: 15.94 billion cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - imports: 15.75 billion cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - proved reserves: 8.685 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

 

Current account balance: $-15.3 billion (2004 est.)

 

Exports: $69.46 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Exports - commodities: apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment

 

Exports - partners: Germany 13.9%, UK 8.8%, US 7.7%, Italy 7.4%, France 5.8%, Spain 4.2% (2004)

 

Imports: $94.5 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Imports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment

 

Imports - partners: Germany 12.9%, Russia 9.3%, Italy 7.1%, France 6.4%, US 4.8%, China 4.6%, UK 4.4% (2004)

 

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $37.1 billion (2004 est.)

 

Debt - external: $16.9 billion (2004 est.)

 

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $635.8 million (2002)

 

Currency (code): Turkish lira (TRL), New Turkish lira (YTL) after 1 January 2005

 

Exchange rates: Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,425,500 (2004), 1,500,900 (2003), 1,507,200 (2002), 1,225,600 (2001), 625,200 (2000);Note: on 1 January 2005 the old Turkish Lira (TRL)was converted to New Turkish Lira (YTL) at a rate of 1,000,000 old to 1 New Turkish Lira

 

Fiscal year: calendar year

 

Communications

 

Telephones - main lines in use: 18,916,700 (2003)

 

Telephones - 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)