Istanbul Ankara Turkey Travel Europe Geography people

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People

Population: 68.9 million (July 2004).

Population growth rate: 1.13 % (2004).

Life expectancy at birth: 72.1 years.

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

Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%.

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

Nationality: noun: Turk(s). Adjective: Turkish.

Geography

Country name: Republic of Turkey (local: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti).

Capital: Ankara.

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy.

Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire).

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, 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.

Total area: 780,580 km².

Terrain: high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges.

Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m (the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country).

Coastline: 7,200 km.

Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior.

Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon.

Note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas.

Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to protect Turkish Cypriots and prevent a Greek takeover of the island; the northern 37 percent of the island remains under Turkish Cypriot control. Relations between the Turkey and Greece have improved greatly over the past few 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.

Economy

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 many years, but this strong expansion has been 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 accounted for more than 40% of central government spending in 2003. Inflation, in recent years in the high double-digit range, fell to 18.4% in 2003. 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 Turkey to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Results in 2002-03 were much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Healthy growth is likely to continue through at least the first half of 2004.

GDP (purchasing power parity): US$ 458.2 billion (2003).

GDP per capita (purchasing power parity): US$ 6,700 (2003).

GDP growth rate: 5.8 % (2003).

Unemployment rate: 10.5 % (2003).

Currency: Turkish lira (TRL).

Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper.