Location: Southwestern Asia (that
part west of the Bosporus is sometimes
included with Europe), bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, between
Bulgaria and Iran
Map references: Africa, Europe, Middle
East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area
780,580 sq km
land area 770,760 sq km
comparative area
slightly larger than Texas
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
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 the Black
Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea
International disputes:
complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean
Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream
riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
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%
other 28%
Irrigated land:
22,200 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues
water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution;
deforestation
natural hazards subject to very severe earthquakes,
especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara
to Lake Van
international agreements party to - Air Pollution,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus,
Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas
Population: 62,153,898 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.02% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
25.98 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
5.8 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
48.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population 70.94 years
male 68.61 years
female 73.38 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.21 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun Turk(s)
adjective Turkish
Ethnic divisions:
Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
Religions: Muslim 99.8%
(mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (Christian and Jews)
Languages:
Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic
Literacy: age
15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population 81%
male 90%
female 71%
Labor force:
20.8 million
by occupation agriculture 48%, services 32%,
industry 20%
note about 1,800,000 Turks work abroad (1993)
Names:
conventional long form
Republic of Turkey
conventional short form Turkey
local long form Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
local short form Turkiye
Digraph: TU
Type: republican parliamentary
democracy
Capital: Ankara
Administrative divisions:
73 provinces (iller, singular - il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray,
Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik,
Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir,
Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gazi Antep, Giresun, Gumushane,
Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras, Karaman, Kars,
Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya,
Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya,
Samsun, Sanli Urfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon,
Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak
Independence: 29
October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
National holiday:
Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)
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:
chief of state President
Suleyman DEMIREL (since 16 May 1993)
head of government Prime
Minister Tansu CILLER (since 5 July 1993)
National Security Council
advisory body to the President and the Cabinet
cabinet Council
of Ministers; appointed by the president on nomination of the prime minister
Legislative branch: unicameral
Turkish Grand National Assembly
(Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) elections last held 20 October 1991 (next
to be held NA October 1996); results - DYP 27.03%, ANAP 24.01%, SHP 20.75%,
RP 16.88%, DSP 10.75%, SBP 0.44%, independent 0.14%; seats - (450 total) DYP
178, ANAP 115, SHP 86, RP 40, MCP 19, DSP 7, other 5
note seats
held by various parties are subject to change due to defections, creation
of new parties, and ouster or death of sitting deputies; present seats by
party are as follows: DYP 178, ANAP 101, SHP 55, RP 39, CHP 18, MHP 13, DEP
13, BBP 7, DSP 3, YP 3, MP 2, independents 10, vacant 8
Judicial branch:
Court of Cassation
Political parties and leaders:
Correct Way Party (DYP), Tansu CILLER; Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut YILMAZ;
Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), Murat KARAYALCIN; Welfare Party (RP),
Necmettin ERBAKAN; Democratic Left Party (DSP), Bulent ECEVIT; Nationalist
Action Party (MHP), Alparslan TURKES; Democracy Party (DEP), Hatip DICLE;
Socialist Unity Party (SBP), Sadun AREN; New Party (YP), Yusuf Bozkurt OZAL;
Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz BAYKAL; Labor Party (IP), Dogu PERINCEK;
National Party (MP), Aykut EDIBALI; Democrat Party (DP), Aydin MENDERES; Grand
Unity Party (BBP), Muhsin YAZICIOGLU; Rebirth Party (YDP), Hasan Celal GUZEL;
People's Democracy Party (HADEP), Murat BOZLAK; Main Path Party (ANAYOL),
Gurcan BASER; Democratic Target Party, Abdul Kadir Yasar TURK
Other political or pressure groups: Turkish Confederation of Labor (TURK-IS),
Bayram MERAL
Member of: AsDB, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN
(observer), COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ECO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NATO, NEA, OECD, OIC, PCA, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOSOM, UNRWA, UPU, WEU (associate),
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR
chancery
1714 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone
(202) 659-8200
consulate(s) general Chicago, Houston, Los
Angeles, and New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission Ambassador Richard C. BARKLEY
embassy 110
Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
mailing address PSC 93, Box 5000, Ankara,
or APO AE 09823
telephone [90] (312) 468-6110 through 6128
FAX [90] (312) 467-0019
consulate(s) general Istanbul
consulate(s) Adana
Flag: 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
Overview: In early 1994, after an impressive economic
performance through most of the 1980s, Turkey faces its most damaging economic
crisis in the last 15 years. Sparked by the downgrading in mid-January of
Turkey's international credit rating by two US credit rating agencies, the
crisis stems from two years of loose fiscal and monetary policies that have
exacerbated inflation and allowed the public debt, money supply, and current
account deficit to explode. Under Prime Minister CILLER, Ankara has followed
seriously flawed policies that have destroyed public confidence in the government's
ability to manage the economy. Inflation is now running at an annual rate
of 107% and the public sector deficit is equivalent to 16% of GDP. Turkish
firms have been hurt by high interest rates and a dramatic drop in consumer
demand. Three Turkish banks have folded and the stock market has fallen 48%
since the beginning of the year. Economic growth may drop to between 0% and
2% in 1994, compared to 7.3% in 1993. Moreover, the government is facing a
severe cash crunch. In March 1994, the treasury came close to defaulting on
a loan, and official foreign currency reserves are equal to less than two
months' worth of imports. The unprecedented effort by the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) to raise the economic costs of its insurgency against the Turkish
state is adding to Turkey's economic problems. Attacks against the tourism
industry have cut tourist revenues, which account for about 3% of GDP, while
economic activity in southeastern Turkey, where most of the violence occurs,
has dropped considerably. To cope with the economic crisis and instill domestic
and international investor confidence in the fragile coalition government,
CILLER has asked the IMF to endorse a stabilization package she introduced
in early April 1994. Negotiations are underway for a standby agreement, which
would give Turkey access to $450 million this year and enable her cash-starved
government to return to the foreign capital markets.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $312.4 billion (1993)
National product real growth rate: 7.3% (1993)
National product per capita:
$5,100 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 65%
(1993)
Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1993)
Budget:
revenues $36.5 billion
expenditures $47.6 billion,
including capital expenditures of $5 billion (1994)
Exports:
$14.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities manufactured products
72%, foodstuffs 23%, mining products 4%
partners EC countries
53%, US 6%, Russia 4%, Saudi Arabia 3%
Imports: $22.9 billion
(c.i.f., 1992)
commodities manufactured products 68%, fuels 17%,
foodstuffs 4%
partners EC countries 44%, US 11%, Saudi Arabia
7%, Russia 5%
External debt: $59.4 billion (1993)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.3% (1992); accounts for 28% of
GDP
Electricity:
capacity 14,400,000 kW
production 44 billion kWh
consumption per capita 750 kWh
(1991)
Industries: textiles, food processing, mining (coal,
chromite, copper, boron minerals), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber,
paper
Agriculture: accounts for 16% 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
Illicit drugs: major transit route for
Southwest Asian heroin and hashish to Western Europe and 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
Economic aid:
recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $2.3 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $10.1 billion;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $665 million; Communist countries (1970-89),
$4.5 billion
note aid for Persian Gulf war efforts from coalition
allies (1991), $4.1 billion; aid pledged for Turkish Defense Fund, $2.5 billion
Currency: 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus
Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TL) per US$1 - 15,196.1 (January 1994),
10,983.3 (1993), 6,872.4 (1992), 4,171.8 (1991), 2,608.6 (1990), 2,121.7 (1989)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads: 8,429 km 1.435-meter gauge (including
795 km electrified)
Highways:
total 320,611
km
paved 27,000 km (including 138 km of expressways)
unpaved gravel 18,500 km; earth 275,111 km (1988)
Inland waterways:
about 1,200 km
Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum
products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km
Ports: Iskenderun,
Istanbul, Mersin, Izmir
Merchant marine: 390 ships (1,000
GRT or over) totaling 4,664,205 GRT/8,163,379 DWT, bulk 103, cargo 195, chemical
tanker 10, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 12, container 2, liquefied
gas 4, livestock carrier 1, oil tanker 41, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated
cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 5, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker
2
Airports:
total 113
usable
105
with permanent-surface runways 69
with runways over 3,659 m
3
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 32
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
27
Telecommunications: fair domestic and international
systems; trunk radio relay microwave network; limited open wire network; 3,400,000
telephones; broadcast stations - 15 AM; 94 FM; 357 TV; 1 satellite ground
station operating in the INTELSAT (2 Atlantic Ocean antennas) and EUTELSAT
systems; 1 submarine cable
Branches: Land Forces, Navy (including Naval Air and Naval Infantry),
Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 16,112,783; fit for military service 9,828,853; reach
military age (20) annually 614,252 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $14 billion, 5.6% of GDP (1994 est.)