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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Civil air [time series]

39 major transport aircraft (1990)

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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)

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

about 1,200 km

Merchant marine [time series]

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

Pipelines [time series]

1,738 km crude oil; 2,321 km refined products; 708 km natural gas

Ports [time series]

Iskenderun, Istanbul, Mersin, Izmir

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

8,401 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 479 km electrified

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Land Forces, Navy (including Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$5.6 billion, 5% of GDP (1990)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 14,861,358; 9,083,559 fit for military service; 606,871 reach military age (20) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

revenues $27.6 billion; expenditures $34.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $6.6 billion (1991)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Turkish lira (plural--liras); 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus

Economic aid [time series]

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

Electricity [time series]

14,315,000 kW capacity; 41,000 million kWh produced, 720 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates [time series]

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)

Exports [time series]

$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%

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$42.8 billion (June 1990)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$178.0 billion, per capita $3,100; real growth rate 7.6% (1990)

Illicit drugs [time series]

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

Imports [time series]

$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 (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 5.9% (1989 est.); accounts for 32% of GDP

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

60.3% (1990)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

10.4% (1990 est.)

Geography

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

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

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Texas

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

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

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

subject to severe earthquakes, especially along major river valleys in west; air pollution; desertification

Land boundaries [time series]

2,715 km total; Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km, USSR 617 km

Land use [time series]

arable land 30%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 12%; forest and woodland 26%; other 28%; includes irrigated 3%

Natural resources [time series]

antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore

Note [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

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

Area (Total area) [time series]

780,580 km2; land area: 770,760 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Ankara

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

strength and support negligible

Constitution [time series]

7 November 1982

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

Judicial branch [time series]

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

Legal system [time series]

derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral Grand National Assembly (Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Turkey

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)

Suffrage [time series]

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

Government type (Type) [time series]

republican parliamentary democracy

People

Birth rate [time series]

28 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

54 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages (Language) [time series]

Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

68 years male, 72 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

81% (male 90%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun--Turk(s); adjective--Turkish

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

10-15% of labor force

Population [time series]

58,580,993 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

3.6 children born/woman (1991)

Turkiye