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The World Factbook 2002
| Turkey |

Introduction | Turkey

Background:

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 occupied the northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island; relations between the two countries remain strained but have begun to improve over the past three 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 and sentenced to death by a Turkish court - 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.

Geography | Turkey

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 water: 9,820 sq km land: 770,760 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: | 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: | mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m 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: 35% permanent crops: 3% other: 62% (1998 est.)
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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, 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 | Turkey

Population: | 67,308,928 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 27.8% (male 9,520,030; female 9,178,423) 15-64 years: 65.9% (male 22,552,253; female 21,827,002) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 1,946,523; female 2,284,697) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: | 1.2% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: | 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: | 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | 45.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 71.52 years female: 74.01 years (2002 est.) male: 69.15 years
Total fertility rate: | 2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.01% (1999 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%
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: 85% male: 94% female: 77% (2000)

Government | Turkey

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, Icel, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, 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: a National Security Council serves as an advisory body to the president and the cabinet
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister
head of government: Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT (since 11 January 1999)
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 18 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - DSP 136, MHP 130, FP 110, DYP 86, ANAP 88; note - as of 11 January 2002 seating was DSP 129, MHP 127, DYP 84, ANAP 79, AK 53, Saadet 48, independents 20, vacancies 10

Judicial branch: | Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeals (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 AK [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Saadet Party [Recai KUTAN]; note - KUTAN was head of the Virtue Party or FP which was banned by Turkey's Constitutional Court in June 2001; Socialist Democratic Party or TDP [Sema PISKINSUT]; True Path Party or DYP [Tansu CILLER]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS]

International organization participation:

AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, 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, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York chancery: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. PEARSON embassy: Ataturk Bulvari 110, Ankara mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823 telephone: [90] (312) 468-6110 FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019 consulate(s) general: Istanbul consulate(s): 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 | Turkey

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 most years, but this strong expansion was 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 in 2001 accounted for more than 50% of central government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit range. 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 Ankara to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Prospects for 2002 are much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF, tighter fiscal policy, a major bank restructuring program, and the enactment of numerous other economic reforms.

GDP: | purchasing power parity - $443 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | -6.5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 14.5% industry: 28.4% services: 57.1% (2000)
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)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 69% (2001)
Labor force: | 23.8 million (2001 3rd quarter) note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 39.7%, services 37.9%, industry 22.4% (2001 3rd quarter)
Unemployment rate: | 10.6% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2001 4th quarter)
Budget: | revenues: $42.4 billion expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)
Industries: | textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Industrial production growth rate: | -8.9% (2001)
Electricity - production: | 119.18 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 74.09% hydro: 25.65% other: 0.26% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: | 114.192 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: | 437 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: | 3.791 billion kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: | tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock
Exports: | $33.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: | apparel 24.8%, foodstuffs 12.8%, textiles 12.7%, metal manufactures 8.8%, transport equipment 8.5% (2000)
Exports - partners: | Germany 17.4%, US 10.2%, Italy 7.5%, UK 7.0%, France 6.1% (2001 est.)
Imports: | $39.7 billion (c.i.f., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery 25.4%, chemicals 13.4%, semi-finished goods 13.7%, fuels 14.0%, transport equipment 12.4% (2000)
Imports - partners: | Germany 13.3%, Italy 8.6%, Russia 8.4%, US 8.1%, France 5.7%, UK 4.5% (2001 est.)
Debt - external: | $118.8 billion (September 2001)
Economic aid - recipient: | ODA, $195 million (1993)
Currency: | Turkish lira (TRL)
Currency code: | TRL
Exchange rates: | Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,223,140 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Turkey

Telephones - main lines in use: | 19.5 million (1999)
Telephones - 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)

Radio broadcast stations: | AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001)
Radios: | 11.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions: | 20.9 million (1997)
Internet country code: | .tr
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 50 (2001)
Internet users: | 4 million (2001)

Transportation | Turkey

Railways: | total: 8,607 km standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001)
Highways: | total: 382,059 km paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways) unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: | 1,200 km (approximately)
Pipelines: | crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km
Ports and harbors: | Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon

Merchant marine:

total: 553 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,674,099 GRT/9,108,819 DWT
ships by type: bulk 138, cargo 239, chemical tanker 45, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 2, container 27, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 45, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 27, 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, United Kingdom 11 (2002 est.)

Airports: | 120 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 86 over 3,047 m: 16 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 6 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 34 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 24 (2001) 914 to 1,523 m: 8
Heliports: | 6 (2001)

Military | Turkey

Military branches: | Land Forces, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie
Military manpower - military age: | 20 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 19,219,177 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 11,623,675 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 674,805 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $8.1 billion (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.5% (2002 est.)

Transnational Issues | Turkey

Disputes - international:

complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Greece; dispute with downstream riparian states (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided; Turkey is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute

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

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002