Source: CIA World Factbook 1993 Entry (With minor corrections)
- Location:
- Southeastern Europe/Southwest Asia, 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 km2
- land area: 770,760 km2
- 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 km2 (1989 est.)
- Environment:
- subject to severe earthquakes, especially along major river valleys in west;
air pollution; desertification
- Note:
- strategic location controlling the Turkish straits (Bosporus, Sea of
Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas
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- Population:
- 60,897,841 (July 1993 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 2.07% (1993 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 26.62 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Death rate:
- 5.97 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 52 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
70.41 years
- male:
68.11 years
- female:
72.82 years (1993 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 3.3 children born/woman (1993 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
Turk(s)
- adjective:
Turkish
- Ethnic divisions:
- Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (est.)
- 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)
- total population:
81%
- male:
90%
- female:
71%
- Labor force:
- 20.7 million
- by occupation:
agriculture 50%, services 35%, industry 15%
- note:
about 1,800,000 Turks work abroad (1991)
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- 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, Gaziantep,
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, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag,
Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Urfa, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak
- Independence:
- 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
- Constitution:
- 7 November 1982
- Legal system:
- derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations
- National holiday:
- Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)
- Political parties and leaders:
- True Path Party (DYP), Tansu CILLER ; Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut
YILMAZ; Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), Murat
KARAYALCIN; Refah Party
(RP), Necmettin ERBAKAN; Democratic Left Party (DSP), Bulent ECEVIT;
Nationalist Labor Party (MCP), Alpaslan TURKES; People's Labor Party (HEP),
Ahmet TURK; Socialist Unity Party (SBP), Saden AREN;
Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz BAYKAL;
Workers' Party (IP), Dogu PERINCEK; National Party (MP), Aykut EDIBALI
- Other political or pressure groups:
- Turkish Confederation of Labor (TURK-IS), Sevket YILMAZ
- Suffrage:
- 21 years of age; universal
- Elections:
- Grand National Assembly:
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
- Executive branch:
- president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
Cabinet
- Legislative branch:
- unicameral Grand National Assembly (Buyuk Millet Meclisi)
- Judicial branch:
- Court of Cassation
- Leaders:
- Chief of State:
President Suleyman DEMIREL (since 16 May 1993)
- Head of Government:
Prime Minister Tansu CILLER (since NA June 1993)
- 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, UNRWA,
UPU, 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
- consulates 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 88, Box 5000, Ankara, or APO AE 09823
- telephone:
[90] (4) 426 54 70
- FAX:
[90] (4) 467-0057 and 0019
- consulates general:
Istanbul and Izmir
- consulate:
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
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- Overview:
- After an impressive economic performance through most of the 1980s, Turkey
has experienced erratic rates of economic growth since 1988 - ranging from a
high of 9.2% in 1990 to a low of 0.9% in 1991. Strong consumer demand and
increased public investment led the way to a strong 5.9% growth in 1992.
Chronic high inflation is Turkey's most serious economic problem, leading to
high interest rates and the rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira. The huge
public sector deficit - about 12% of GDP - and the Treasury's heavy reliance
on Central Bank financing of the deficit are the major causes of Turkish
inflation. Meanwhile, wage increases in both the public and private sector
have outpaced productivity gains, limited the government's ability to reduce
current expenditures, and hindered the return to profitability of many
private companies. Agriculture remains an important economic sector,
employing about half of the work force, contributing 18% to GDP, and
accounting for about 20% of exports. The government has launched a
multibillion-dollar development program in the southeastern region, which
includes the building of a dozen dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to
generate electric power and irrigate large tracts of farmland. The Turkish
economy will probably continue to grow faster than the West European average
in 1993, but the shaky coalition government of Prime Minister DEMIREL -
which has seen its parliamentary majority shrink from 36 to 11 seats during
its first year in power - is unlikely to risk further erosion of its support
by implementing the belt-tightening measures necessary to substantially
reduce inflation.
- National product:
- GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $219 billion (1992)
- National product real growth rate:
- 5.9% (1992)
- National product per capita:
- $3,670 (1992)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 70% (1992)
- Unemployment rate:
- 11.1% (1992 est.)
- Budget:
- revenues $40.5 billion; expenditures $46.8 billion, including capital
expenditures of $5.5 billion (1993)
- Exports:
- $13.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
- commodities:
manufactured goods 69%, foodstuffs 22%, fuels 2%
- partners:
EC countries 51%, US 7%, Iran 5%, former USSR 5%
- Imports:
- $21.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
- commodities:
manufactured goods 61%, foodstuffs 8%, fuels 21%
- partners: EC countries 44%, US 12%, former USSR 5%
- External debt:
- $48.7 billion (1991)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 3.2% (1991 est.); accounts for 28% of GDP
- Electricity:
- 14,400,000 kW capacity; 44,000 million kWh produced, 750 kWh per capita
(1991)
- Industries:
- textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron minerals),
steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
- Agriculture:
- accounts for 18% 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 have sprung up 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:
- 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 - 8,814.3 (January 1993), 6,872.4 (1992),
4,171.8 (1991), 2,608.6 (1990), 2,121.7 (1989), 1,422.3 (1988)
- Fiscal year:
- calendar year
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- Railroads:
- 8,429 km 1.435-meter gauge (including 795 km electrified)
- Highways:
- 320,611 km total; 138 km limited access expressways, 31,062 km national
(main) roads, 27,853 km regional (secondary) roads, 261,558 km local and
municipal roads; 45,526 km of hard surfaced roads (of which about 27,000 km
are paved and about 18,500 km are surfaced with gravel or crushed stone)
(1988 est.)
- 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:
- 353 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,825,274 GRT/6,628,207 DWT; includes
7 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 189 cargo, 1 container, 6
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 refrigerated cargo, 1 livestock carrier, 39 oil
tanker, 10 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 9 combination ore/oil, 2
specialized tanker, 80 bulk, 3 combination bulk
- Airports:
- total:
110
- usable:
102
- with permanent-surface runways:
65
- with runways over 3,659 m:
3
- with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
32
- with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
26
- 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
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- Branches:
- Land Forces, Navy (including Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast
Guard, Gendarmerie
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 15,691,874; fit for military service 9,579,453; reach
military age (20) annually 604,816 (1993 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $5.6 billion, 3.9% of GDP (1992)
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Source: CIA World Factbook 1993 Entry
