Facts about Turkey

About Turkey - Facts about Turkey - Turkish Phrase Book - Maps of Turkey - Climate

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
Location: South-eastern Europe and south-western 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

Area: Total: 780,580 sq km - Water: 9,820 sq km - Land: 770,760 sq km

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
Climate: Temperature; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Terrain: High central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges
Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Sea 0m - Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166m
Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulphur), clay, arable land, hydropower.
Land use: Arable land: 34.53% - Permanent crops: 3.36% - Other: 62.11%

People
Population: 68,893,918 (July 2004 est.)
Age Structure: 0-14 yrs: 26.6% - 15-64 yrs: 66.8% - 65+ yrs: 6.6%
Population growth rate: 1.13%
Birth rate: 17.22 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio: At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female, Under 15 yrs: 1.04 male(s)/female, 15-64 yrs: 1.03 male(s)/female, 65+ yrs: 0.85 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female
Infant mortality: Total: 42.62 deaths/1,000 live births, Female: 38.76 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 46.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 72.08 yrs - Male: 69.68 yrs - Female: 74.61 yrs Ethnic groups: Turkish 80% - Kurdish 20% (est.)
Religions: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)

Economic 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 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.

About Turkey - Facts about Turkey - Turkish Phrase Book - Maps of Turkey - Climate