Turkish facts and statistics

Turkish facts and statistics

Below you can find some useful information on the Republic of Turkey. For Passport and Visa information please Click Here.
Flag

Turkish 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. For more info on the Turkish Flag, please Click Here.
Geographic location

Turkey's satellite picture Geography location: South-western Asia (that part west of the Bosphorus 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
Area

total area: 780,580 sq km
land area: 770,760 sq km
water area: 9,820 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Texas, or larger than France and UK put together, or 2.5 times bigger than Italy.
Turkey in EuropeLand 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
Names

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Turkish long form); Türkiye (Turkish short form); Republic of Turkey (formal English); Turkey (English short form); Turchia (Italian); Türkei (German); Turkiet (Swedish); Turkije (Dutch); Turkki (Finnish); Turquia (Portuguese); Turquia (Spanish); Turquie (French); Tyrkia (Norwegian); Tyrkiet (Danish); Tyrkland (Icelandic)
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

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

Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m
largest lake: Lake Van 3,713 square km

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower.
Land use

arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 3%
other: 66% (2006)
Environment

International agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Environmental Modification.
Current issues are: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosphorus ship traffic.
Geographic note

strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas. Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country, in the city of Agri. The country is divided into 7 fictional geographic regions.
Population

Officially 70,586,256 as of 1st January 2008 (67,803,927 in 2000), effectively is around 73 million, average of 92 inhabitants live per square kilometer, 70.5% of the total population live in the cities and 29.5% in villages or small towns in the countryside.
Istanbul: 12,573,836 as of Jan 2008 (10,033,478 in 2000), 17.8 % of the total population, 2420 people per square kilometer
Ankara: 4,466,756 as of Jan 2008 (4,007,860 in 2000), 6.3 % of the total population
Izmir: 3.739.353 as of Jan 2008 (3,387,908 in 2000), 5.3 % of the total population, 311 people per square kilometer
Bayburt has the lowest population in Turkey: 76,609
Age structure

total population: male 35,376,533; female 35,209,723
0-14 years: 26,4% (male 9,570,773; female 9,071,618)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 23,655,657; female 23,288,033)
65 years and over: 7.1% (male 2,150,103; female 2,850,072)
Median age: total 28.3 years (male: 27.7 years; female: 28.8 years). More than half of the population is under the median age (as of Jan 2008)
Population growth rate: 1.24% (2006)
Birth rate: 18.7 births/1,000 population (2006)
Death rate: 6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2006)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 1.004 male(s)/female (2007)
Infant mortality rate: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (2006)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.5 years
male: 69.1 years
female: 74.0 years (2006)
Total fertility rate: 2.18 children born/woman (2006)
Nationality

noun: Turk(s)
adjective: Turkish
Ethnic divisions: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
Religions: Muslim 99% (mostly Sunni), other 1% (Christian and Jews)
Languages: Turkish (official)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87%
male: 94.3%
female: 78.7% (2006 est.)
Government

( more on government )
Conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
Conventional short form: Turkey
Local long form: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti
Local short form: Türkiye
Data code: TU or TR
Type of government: republican parliamentary democracy
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

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 , amended on 17 October 2001 by TBMM
Legal system

derived from various European legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. Member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
Suffrage

18 years of age; universal.
Executive branch
Chief of state

President Abdullah GUL (ex-presidents were Ahmet Necdet SEZER, Suleyman DEMIREL) was elected in August 2007 for a five-year term (used to be seven years before 2007) by the National Assembly. (note: with the new articles of the Constitution, next President will be elected by the public vote.)
Head of government

Head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (ex-premieres were Abdullah GUL and Bulent ECEVIT) re-elected by universal suffrage and appointed by the President in July 2007.
National Security Council

Advisory body to the President and the cabinet
Cabinet

Council of Ministers appointed by the President on nomination of the prime minister
Legislative branch: unicameral

Grand National Assembly of Turkey: (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi), abbrev. TBMM (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Judicial branch

Constitutional Court, judges appointed by the President; High Court of Appeals (Yargitay) and Council of State (Danistay), judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors. Court of Accounts (Sayistay); Military High Court of Appeals; Military High Administrative Court.
Political pressure groups

Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK; Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD ; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is; Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB.
International organization participation

AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD, ECO, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC.
Economic overview

Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2004 still accounted for 34% 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. Its most important industry and largest exporter is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. The economic situation in recent years has been marked by rapid growth coupled with partial success in implementing structural reform measures. Inflation declined to 8.4% in 2007, down from 99% in 1997, but the public sector fiscal deficit probably remained near 10% of GDP due in large part to interest payments which accounted for 40% of central government spending in 2003. The government enacted a new tax law and speeded up privatization in 1998 but made no progress on badly needed social security reform. Ankara is trying to increase trade with other countries in the region yet most of Turkey's trade is still with OECD countries. Despite the implementation in January 1996 of a Customs Union with the EU, foreign direct investment in the country remains low - about $1 billion annually. Results in 2002-04 improved, because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. A major political and economic issue over the next decade is whether or not Turkeywill become a member of the EU. But further economic and judicial reforms and prospective EU membership are expected to boost Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Privatization sales are currently approaching $21 billion (2007).
GDP

GDP (Total): $402.7 billion (2006)
GDP: purchasing power parity - $551.6 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 10.7% (2006)
GDP per capita: $5,482 (2006)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 9.7%
industry: 26.8%
manufacturing: 22.2%
services: 63.5% (2006)

(consumer prices): 94% (1995), 90% (1997), 75% (1998), 68% (1999), 45% (2000), 90% (2001), 31% (2002), 11% (2004), 7.72% (2005), 5.9% (2007)
Investment (gross fixed): 15.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 20,5% (2007), (20% in 2005), 18% in 2001)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: 70.7% of GDP (2006)
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 32.3% (1994)
Distribution of family income: 44 (2002)
Labor force: 24.7 million (2005 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 35.9%, services 22.8%, industry 41.2% (2004)
note: about 3 million Turks work abroad (2005), mostly in Germany

Unemployment rate: 10.7% (plus underemployment of 3,5%) (2008 March)
Employment Rate: 42,1 (2007 March)
Budget

revenues: $93.58 billion
expenditures: $115.3 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2005 est.)
public debt: 67.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromate, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper.
Industrial production growth rate: 8.5% (2004 est.)
Agriculture

Main products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus, livestock
Illicit drugs: major transit route for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish to Western Europe and the US via air, land, and sea routes; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate.
Agricultural land: 53.6% of land area 2005)
Forest area: 101.800 sq km (2005)
Electricity

220 Volts
capacity: 18,710,000 kW
production: 191.2 billion kWh (2007 est.)
consumption: 140.3 billion kWh (2005)
export: 1.8 billion kWh (2005 est.)
imports: 636 million kWh (2005 est.)
Oil

production: 50,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
consumption: 715,100 bbl/day (2005 est.)
exports: 46,110 bbl/day (2001)
imports: 616,500 bbl/day (2001)
proved reserves: 288.4 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas

production: 980 million cu m (2005 est.)
consumption: 27.3 billion cu m (2005 est.)
exports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)
imports: 15.75 billion cu m (2001 est.)
proved reserves: 8.685 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance

$-32.77 billion (2007)
Exports: $105.9 billion f.o.b. (2007)
Commodities: apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment.
Partners: Germany 13.9%, UK 8.8%, US 7.7%, Italy 7.4%, France 5.8%, Spain 4.2% (2004)
Imports: $137 billion c.i.f. (2006)
Commodities: machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment.
Partners: Germany 12.9%, Russia 9.3%, Italy 7.1%, France 6.4%, US 4.8%, China 4.6%, UK 4.4% (2004)
External debt: $247.2 billion (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: $60.7 billion (2006)
Economic aid

recipient: ODA, $635.8 million (2002)
note: aid for Gulf war efforts from coalition allies (1991) $4.1 billion; aid pledged for Turkish Defense Fund $2.5 billion; aid for Iraqi war (2003) approx. $8.5 billion.
Currency

New Turkish Lira (YTL) (formerly Turkish lira-TL)

Exchange rates: USD 1 = 1.55 YTL , Euro 1 = 1.93 YTL (29 October 2008). As of 01/01/2005, six zeroes are dropped from the old TL by the Law, that means that 1.000.000 TL is now equal to 1 YTL. Both TL and YTL banknotes were in physical circulation for one year in 2005. Old TL banknotes are now withdrawn from circulation as of 1 January 2006. After this date only Central Bank will convert them to new banknotes for a period of 10 years. In 1st of January 2009, "Yeni" (New) will be dropped from the name of currency and YTL will be called TL (Turkish Lira) again.

US$ 1 = 1,420,000 (Dec. 2004), 1,670,000 (Jan. 2003), 1,400,000 (Feb. 2002), 538,000 (Jan 2000), 420,000 (Jul 1999), 270,000 (July 1998), 175,000 (October 1997), 60,502.1 (January 1996), 45,845.1 (1995), 29,608.7 (1994), 10,984.6 (1993), 6,872.4 (1992), 4,171.8 (1991)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation
Railways

total: 10,991 km (2007)
gauge: 8,717 km standard + 2,274 km electrified (2007)
New high-speed train tracks are under construction between Istanbul-Ankara
total passenger capacity: 108,330 (2007)
capacity of Freight Wagons: 691,634 tons (2007)
Highways

( Detailed Road Map )
total: 354,421 km
paved: 147,404 km (including 1,851 km of expressways)
unpaved: 207,017 km (2002)
Waterways: about 1,200 km (2003)
Pipelines: gas 3,177 km; oil 3,562 km (2003)
Ports: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Izmit, Mersin, Samsun, Trabzon
Merchant marine

total: 526 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,666,895 GRT/7,311,504 DWT
ships by type: bulk carrier 108, cargo 228, chemical tanker 45, combination ore/oil 1, container 25, liquefied gas 6, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 50, petroleum tanker 33, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 22, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 8 (Cyprus 3, Denmark 2, Greece 1, Italy 1, Switzerland 1)
registered in other countries: 231 (2005 est.)
Airports

total: 120 (2004 est.) (88 with paved runways and 32 with unpaved runways)
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 15
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 046 m: 32
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 19
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 18
with paved runways under 914 m: 4
with unpaved runways over 3 047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 046 m: 1
with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 2
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 8
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 20 (2005 est.)
Heliports: 16 (2005 est.)
Communications

Country code: 90
Telephones: 18,978,223 (2005)
Telephone system: fair domestic and international systems, area codes
Mobile Phones: GSM 63,900,000 approximately (June 2008), three nets; Turkcell, Vodafone (ex-Telsim), Avea (Aria and Aycell have merged)
domestic: trunk microwave radio relay network; limited open-wire network
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). Turkey has four communication satellites; Turksat 1B (31.3 degrees East, not operative since 2006) , Turksat 1C (31.3 degrees East), Turksat 2A (42 degrees East), and Turksat 3A (42 degrees East).
Radio broadcast stations: 36 National, 102 Regional, 955 Local, a total of 1,093 (2005)
Radios: 19.4 million (1997 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 24 National, 17 Regional, 218 Local, a total of 259 (2005)
Internet country code: .tr
Internet hosts: 355,215 (2004)
Internet users: approx. 20 million in 2008 (5.5 million in 2003, 8.5 million in 2005)
Defense

Branches: Turkish Armed Forces (TSK): Land Forces, Naval Forces Command (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard Command, Gendarmerie (Jandarma)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 16,756,323 (2005 est.)
males fit for military service: 13,905,901 (2005 est.)
males reach military age (20) annually: 679,734 (2005 est.)
Defense expenditures: $10.1 billion (2004), 3.2% of GDP (2005)

Sources: CIA - The World Fact book 2006, Turkish Statistical Institute, World Bank.