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

Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 35 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 780,580 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km
water: 9,820 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries:
total: 2,627 km
border countries: 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

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

Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore

Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 16%
forests and woodland : 26%
other: 22% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 42,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van

Environment - current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification, Environmental Modification

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

Population: 67,308,928 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27.8% (male 9,520,030; female 9,178,423)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 22,552,253; female 21,827,002)
65 years and over : 6.3% (male 1,946,523; female 2,284,697) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.2% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 45.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.52 years
male : 69.15 years
female:74.01 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate:2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Turk(s)
adjective: Turkish

Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%

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

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

Literacy:
definition : age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85%
male:94%
female: 77% (2000)

Country name:
conventional long form : Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey
local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
local short form: Turkiye

Data code: TU

Government type: republican parliamentary democracy

National capital: Ankara

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, Icel, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, 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: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state:President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
head of government :Prime Minister Bulent ECEVIT (since 11 January 1999)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister
note: there is also a National Security Council that serves as an advisory body to the president and the cabinet
elections: ppresident elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2007); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
election results : Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60%

Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections : last held 18 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - DSP 136, MHP 130, FP 110, DYP 86, ANAP 88; note - as of 11 January 2002 seating was DSP 129, MHP 127, DYP 84, ANAP 79, AK 53, Saadet 48, independents 20, vacancies 10

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, judges appointed by the president; Court of Appeals, judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors

Political parties and leaders:Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Justice and Development Party or AK [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Saadet Party [Recai KUTAN]; note - KUTAN was head of the Virtue Party or FP which was banned by Turkey's Constitutional Court in June 2001; Socialist Democratic Party or TDP [Sema PISKINSUT]; True Path Party or DYP [Tansu CILLER]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS]

International organization participation: AsDB, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, NATO, NEA, OECD, OIC, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU
chancery : 1714 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 659-8200
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. PEARSON
embassy : 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823
telephone: [90] (312) 468-6110
FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019
consulate(s) general: Istanbul
consulate(s): Adana

Flag description: 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

Economy - 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 most years, but this strong expansion was 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 in 2001 accounted for more than 50% of central government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit range. 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 Ankara to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Prospects for 2002 are much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF, tighter fiscal policy, a major bank restructuring program, and the enactment of numerous other economic reforms.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $443 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -6.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $$6,700 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture : 14.5%
industry:28.4%
services:57.1% (2000)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 69% (2001)

Labor force:
total: 23.8 million (2001 3rd quarter)
by occupation: agriculture 39.7%, services 37.9%, industry 22.4% (2001 3rd quarter)
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999)

Unemployment rate: 10.6% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2001 4th quarter)

Budget:
revenues: $42.4 billion
expenditures: $$69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)

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

Industrial production growth rate: -8.9% (2001)

Electricity - capacity: 20.86 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 119.18 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 114.192 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus; livestock

Exports:
total value : $33.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: apparel 24.8%, foodstuffs 12.8%, textiles 12.7%, metal manufactures 8.8%, transport equipment 8.5% (2000)
partners: Germany 17.4%, US 10.2%, Italy 7.5%, UK 7.0%, France 6.1% (2001 est.)

Imports:
total value: $39.7 billion (c.i.f., 2001 est.)
commodities : machinery 25.4%, chemicals 13.4%, semi-finished goods 13.7%, fuels 14.0%, transport equipment 12.4% (2000)
partners: Germany 13.3%, Italy 8.6%, Russia 8.4%, US 8.1%, France 5.7%, UK 4.5% (2001 est.)

Debt - external: $118.8 billion (September 2001)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $195 million (1993)
note: aid for Gulf war efforts from coalition allies (1991), $4.1 billion; aid pledged for Turkish Defense Fund, $2.5 billion

Currency: Turkish lira (TRL)

Exchange rates: TTurkish liras per US dollar - 1,223,140 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 19.5 million (1999)

Telephone system:undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially with cellular telephones
domestic: additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly
international : international service is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia; also by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2002)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001)

Radios: 11.3 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions: 20.9 million (1997)

Railways:
total: 8,607 km
standard gauge : 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001)

Highways:
total:382,059 km
paved : 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways)
unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.)

Waterways: about 1,200 km

Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km

Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Izmit, Mersin, Samsun, Trabzon

Merchant marine:
total: 553 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,674,099 GRT/9,108,819 DWT
ships by type: bulk 138, cargo 239, chemical tanker 45, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 2, container 27, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 45, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 27, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 5
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, Greece 1, Italy 1, Thailand 1, United Kingdom 11 (2002 est.)

Airports: 120 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 86
over 3,047 m : 16
2,438 to 3,047 m: 30
1,524 to 2,437 m: 19
914 to 1,523 m: 15
under 914 m: 6 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total : 34
over 3,047 m : 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 8
under 914 m:24 (2001)

Heliports: 6 (2001)

Military branches: Land Forces, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 19,219,177 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 11,623,675 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males:674,805 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $8.1 billion (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.5% (2002 est.)

Disputes - international: complex maritime, air and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Greece; Hatay question with Syria; dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; traditional demands on former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided

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