Turkiye

republican parliamentary democracy

Turkiye as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 70 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalAnkara

Area780,580 km2

Populationas each edition published it

58.58 million July 1991 · 56.7m in 1990

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 2.07% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 26.8 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 70.41 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

3.6 children per woman 1991 · 3.6 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

54 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 74 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $3,670 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition 5.9% in 1993

Geography

11 fields

Total area

780,580km2

land area: 770,760 km2Comparative area: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries

2,715km total

Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km, USSR 617 km

Coastline

7,200 km 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

14 fields

Population

58,580,993

(July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth

28Death

6Net migration

Ethnic divisions

Turkish 80%Kurdish 17%other 3% (est.)

Literacy

81%

(male 90%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Religion

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

Labor force

18,800,000;
agriculture 56%, services 30%, industry 14%;
about 1,000,000 Turks work abroad (1987)

Government

Republican parliamentary democracy

16 fields

Grand National Assembly, 450 seats, elected 29 November 1987seats by party

ANAP 275SHP 82DYP 60HEP 9SBP 4DMP 2BAP 1independent 6vacant 11

Percent of vote

ANAP 36%SHP 25%DYP 19%other 20%

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 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) 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 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

The economic reforms that Turkey launched in 1980 continue to bring an impressive stream of benefits.

17 fields

GDP, purchasing power parity

$178.0billion

per capita $3,100; real growth rate 7.6% (1990)

Inflation, consumer prices

60.3%

(1990)

Unemployment rate

10.4%

(1990 est.)

External debt

$42.8billion

(June 1990)

Exports $11.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989)commodities, where a share is given

industrial products

78%crops and livestock products

20%

; partners--FRG 18%, Italy 8%, Iraq 8%, US 8%, UK 5%, France 4%

Budget

Revenues

$27.6 billionExpenditures

$34.4 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $6.6 billion (1991)

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.

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%

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

9 fields

Merchant marine, 340 ships by type

short-sea passenger 8passenger-cargo 1cargo 190container 1roll-on/roll-off cargo 4refrigerated cargo 3livestock carrier 1petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 37chemical tanker 9liquefied gas 2combination ore/oil 7specialized tanker 1bulk 72combination bulk 4340 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,583,720 GRT/6,220,642 DWT

Airports, 115 total, 109 usable

permanent-surface runways

64runways over 3,659 m

3runways 2,440-3,659 m

30runways 1,220-2,439 m

Networkskm

Highways

49,615 (1985)Railroads

8,401Pipelines

1,738

Highways: ; 26,915 km bituminous; 16,500 km gravel or crushed stone; 4,000 km improved earth; 2,200 km unimproved earth · Railroads: ; 479 km electrified · Pipelines: ; 2,321 km refined products; 708 km natural gas

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

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