TURKEY GEOGRAPHY Total area: 780,580 km2; land area: 770,760 km2 Comparative area: slightly larger than Texas Land boundaries: 2,715 km total; Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km, USSR 617 km Coastline: 7,200 km Maritime claims: Exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only--to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the USSR; Territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea, 12 nm in Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea 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; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR 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%; includes irrigated 3% 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; Turkey and Norway only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR PEOPLE Population: 58,580,993 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991) Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991) Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991) Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991) Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1,000 live births (1991) Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1991) Total fertility rate: 3.6 children born/woman (1991) Nationality: noun--Turk(s); adjective--Turkish Ethnic divisions: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 17%, other 3% (est.) Religion: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 99.8%, other (Christian and Jews) 0.2% Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic Literacy: 81% (male 90%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) Labor force: 18,800,000; agriculture 56%, services 30%, industry 14%; about 1,000,000 Turks work abroad (1987) Organized labor: 10-15% of labor force GOVERNMENT Long-form name: Republic of Turkey 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) 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 Turgut OZAL (since 9 November 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister Mesut YILMAZ (since 30 June 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Ekrem PAKDAMIRLI (since 30 June 1991) Political parties and leaders: Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut YILMAZ; Social Democratic People's Party (SHP), Erdal INONU; Correct Way Party (DYP), Suleyman DEMIREL; People's Labor Party (HEP), Fehmi ISIKLAR; Socialist Unity Party (SBP), leader NA; Democratic Center Party (DMP), Bedrettin DALAN; Great Anatolia Party (BAP), leader NA; Democratic Left Party (DSP), Bulent ECEVIT; Refah Party (RP), Necmettin ERBAKAN; Democratic Center Party (DSP), Bedrettin DALAN; Grand National Party (GNP), leader NA Suffrage: universal at age 21 Elections: Grand National Assembly--last held 29 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results--ANAP 36%, SHP 25%, DYP 19%, other 20%; seats--(450 total) ANAP 275, SHP 82, DYP 60, HEP 9, SBP 4, DMP 2, BAP 1, independent 6, vacant 11 Communists: strength and support negligible Member of: AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OECD, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNRWA, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR; Chancery at 1606 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-3200; there are Turkish Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Morton ABRAMOWITZ; Embassy at 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara (mailing address is APO New York 09257-0006); telephone 90 (4) 126 54 70; there are US Consulates General in Istanbul and Izmir, and a Consulate in 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 ECONOMY Overview: The economic reforms that Turkey launched in 1980 continue to bring an impressive stream of benefits. The economy has grown steadily since the early 1980s, with real growth in per capita GDP increasing more than 6% annually. Agriculture remains the most important economic sector, employing about 55% of the labor force, accounting for almost 20% of GDP, and contributing about 20% to exports. Impressive growth in recent years has not solved all of the economic problems facing Turkey. Inflation and interest rates remain high, and a large budget deficit will continue to provide difficulties for a country undergoing a substantial transformation from a centrally controlled to a free market economy. The government has launched a multimillion-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 planned tapping of huge additional quantities of Euphrates water has raised serious concern in the downstream riparian nations of Syria and Iraq. GDP: $178.0 billion, per capita $3,100; real growth rate 7.6% (1990) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 60.3% (1990) Unemployment rate: 10.4% (1990 est.) Budget: revenues $27.6 billion; expenditures $34.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.6 billion (1991) Exports: $11.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--industrial products 78%, crops and livestock products 20%; partners--FRG 18%, Italy 8%, Iraq 8%, US 8%, UK 5%, France 4% Imports: $16.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, metals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, plastics, rubber, mineral fuels, fertilizers, chemicals; partners--FRG 15%, US 11%, Iraq 10%, Italy 7%, France 6%, UK 5% External debt: $42.8 billion (June 1990) Industrial production: growth rate 5.9% (1989 est.); accounts for 32% of GDP Electricity: 14,315,000 kW capacity; 41,000 million kWh produced, 720 kWh per capita (1990) Industries: textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron minerals), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper Agriculture: accounts for 20% of GDP and employs majority of population; products--tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus fruit, variety of animal products; self-sufficient in food most years Illicit drugs: one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of 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 (1970-87), $8.6 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $665 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $4.5 billion Currency: Turkish lira (plural--liras); 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TL) per US$1--2,873.9 (December 1990), 2,608.6 (1990), 2,121.7 (1989), 1,422.3 (1988), 857.2 (1987), 674.5 (1986), 522.0 (1985) Fiscal year: calendar year COMMUNICATIONS Railroads: 8,401 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 479 km electrified Highways: 49,615 km total; 26,915 km bituminous; 16,500 km gravel or crushed stone; 4,000 km improved earth; 2,200 km unimproved earth (1985) Inland waterways: about 1,200 km Pipelines: 1,738 km crude oil; 2,321 km refined products; 708 km natural gas Ports: Iskenderun, Istanbul, Mersin, Izmir Merchant marine: 340 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,583,720 GRT/6,220,642 DWT; includes 8 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 190 cargo, 1 container, 4 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 refrigerated cargo, 1 livestock carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 9 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 7 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 72 bulk, 4 combination bulk Civil air: 39 major transport aircraft (1990) Airports: 115 total, 109 usable; 64 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 26 with runways 1,220-2,439 m Telecommunications: fair domestic and international systems; trunk radio relay network; 3,400,000 telephones; stations--15 AM; 45 (60 repeaters) FM; 67 (504 repeaters) TV; satellite communications ground stations operating in the INTELSAT (2 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems; 1 submarine telephone cable DEFENSE FORCES Branches: Land Forces, Navy (including Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie Manpower availability: males 15-49, 14,861,358; 9,083,559 fit for military service; 606,871 reach military age (20) annually Defense expenditures: $5.6 billion, 5% of GDP (1990)