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Location: Southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria
Map references: Middle East
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
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.)
Population: 63,405,526 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (female 10,815,288; male 11,203,723)
15-64 years: 60% (female 18,723,772; male 19,391,037)
65 years and over: 5% (female 1,764,363; male 1,507,343) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.97% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 25.33 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 5.64 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 45.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.48 years
male: 69.11 years
female: 73.96 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.12 children born/woman (1995 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)
total population: 79%
male: 90%
female: 68%
Labor force: 20.4 million
by occupation: agriculture 44%, services 41%, industry 15%
note: between 1.5 million and 1.8 million Turks work abroad (1994)
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
Overview: In early 1995, after an impressive economic performance through most of the 1980s, Turkey continues to suffer through its most damaging economic crisis in the last 15 years. Sparked by the downgrading in January 1994 of Turkey's international credit rating by two US credit rating agencies, the crisis stems from years of loose fiscal and monetary policies that had exacerbated inflation and allowed the public debt, money supply, and current account deficit to explode. In April 1994, Prime Minister CILLER introduced an austerity package aimed at restoring domestic and international confidence in her fragile coalition government. Three months later the IMF endorsed the program, paving the way for a $740 million IMF standby loan. Although the economy showed signs of improvement following the stabilization measures, CILLER has been unable to overcome the political obstacles to tough structural reforms necessary for sustained, longer-term growth. As a consequence, the economy is suffering the worst of both worlds: at the end of 1994, inflation hit a record 126% (annual rate), and real GDP dropped an estimated 5% for the year as a whole, the worst decline in Turkey's post-war history. At the same time, the government missed key 1994 targets stipulated in the IMF agreement: the budget deficit is estimated to have overshot the government's goal by 47%; the total public sector borrowing requirement likely reached 10%-12% of GDP, rather than 8.5% called for in the program; and the Turkish lira's value fell 5% to 7% more than expected. 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 tourists have jeopardized tourist revenues, which account for about 3% of GDP, while economic activity in southeastern Turkey, where most of the violence occurs, has dropped considerably. Turkish officials are now negotiating a new letter of intent with the IMF that will stipulate more realistic macroeconomic goals for 1995 and allow the release of remaining funds of the standby agreement.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $305.2 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: -5% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $4,910 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 106% (1994)
Unemployment rate: 12.6% (1994)
Budget:
revenues: $28.3 billion
expenditures: $33.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.2 billion (1995)
Exports: $15.3 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: manufactured products 72%, foodstuffs 23%, mining products 4% (1993)
partners: Germany 24%, Russia 7%, US7%, UK 6% (1993)
Imports: $27.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: manufactured products 71%, fuels 14%, foodstuffs 6% (1993)
partners: Germany 15%, US 11%, Italy 9%, Russia 8% (1993)
External debt: $66.6 billion (1994)
Industrial production: growth rate 6.7% (1993); accounts for 26% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 18,710,000 kW
production: 71 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,079 kWh (1993)
Industries: textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GDP; products - tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus fruit, variety of animal products; self-sufficient in food most years
Currency: 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 10,413 km
standard gauge: 10,413 km 1.435-m gauge (1,033 km electrified)
Highways:
total: 320,611 km
paved: 29,915 km (including 862 km of expressways)
unpaved: 290,696 km (1992)
Inland waterways: about 1,200 km
Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km
Ports: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Izmit, Mersin, Samsun, Trabzon
Merchant marine:
total: 423 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,014,004 GRT/8,695,636 DWT
ships by type: bulk 113, cargo 203, chemical tanker 14, combination bulk 7, combination
ore/oil 12, container 2, liquefied gas tanker 4, livestock carrier 1, oil
tanker 46, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo
9, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker 2
Airports:
total: 116
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 16
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 20
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 21
with paved runways under 914 m: 34
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 2
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 11