Formal Name: Republic of Turkey.

Short Form: Turkey.

Term for Citizens: Turk(s).

Capital: Ankara.

Geography

Size: About 779,452 square kilometers, somewhat smaller than Texas and Louisiana combined.

Topography: Seven natural regions--Black Sea, Aegean, Mediterranean, Pontus and Taurus mountain ranges, Anatolian Plateau, eastern highlands, and Arabian Platform. Country includes one of the most earthquake-prone areas of the world.

Climate: Periphery of Turkey has Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and hot, moderately dry summers. Interior, shielded from Mediterranean influences by mountains, has continental climate with cold winters and dry, hot summers. Eastern mountainous area has inhospitable climate, with hot, extremely dry summers and bitter winters. Rainfall varies, ranging from annual average of more than 2,500 millimeters on eastern Black Sea coast to less than 250 millimeters in central plateau area.

Society

Population: (1994) Turkish government figure 61.2 million, growing at 2.1 percent a year.

Languages and Ethnic Groups: Turkish, official language, spoken by most citizens; mother tongue of about 82 percent. Kurdish spoken by roughly 17 percent of population. Arabic and Caucasian languages spoken by small minority groups. Turks constitute at least 80 percent of population; Kurds form at least 10 percent. Other minorities include Arabs, people from Caucasus countries, Dönme, Greeks, and Jews.

Religion: About 99 percent nominally Muslim, of whom about 66 percent Sunni Muslims, and about 33 percent Alevi (Shia) Muslims. Constitution proclaims Turkey secular nation.

Education: Steadily increasing enrollments in tuition-free schools, universities, and numerous technical institutes. Attendance compulsory at five-year primary schools and three-year middle schools. Middle and high schools offer academic, technical, and vocational education. Twenty-seven public universities form core of higher education system. In 1990 literacy above 81 percent for people over fifteen years of age.

Health: Inadequate sewer systems in some urban areas and poor water supplies in many villages pose continuing health threats, but major infectious diseases under control. Life expectancy (1992): males, sixty-eight years; females, seventy-two years; infant mortality fifty-five per 1,000 births.

Economy

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): US$312.4 billion in 1993 (US$5,000 per capita). Economy gradually being liberalized and industrialized; real growth averaged 7.3 percent in 1993.

Agriculture: Less than 15 percent of GDP in 1993 but remains crucial sector of the economy, providing more than 50 percent of employment, most raw materials for industry, and 15 percent of exports. Wheat and barley main crops; cotton, sugar beets, hazelnuts, and tobacco major cash crops. Livestock production extensive and growing. Valuable forest areas poorly managed; fisheries underdeveloped.

Industry: Major growth sector contributing more than 30 percent of GDP in 1993, employing 33 percent of labor force. Food processing and textiles major industries; basic metals, chemicals, and petrochemicals well established.

Imports: US$29.4 billion in 1993. Main imports included machinery and equipment, 60 percent; petroleum, 8.5 percent; and foodstuffs, 4 percent.

Exports: US$15.3 billion in 1993, consisting of manufactured goods (mainly textiles and processed leather products), 70 percent; foodstuffs, 20 percent; mineral products, 4 percent.

Major Trading Partners: Industrialized countries, especially members of European Union, United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

Balance of Payments: In 1993-94 Turkey experienced its fourth major balance of payments crisis in last forty years. Domestic fiscal policy and International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped reduce imports in 1994. Trade deficit was US$4.8 billion in 1994. Soaring imports during first seven months of 1995 pushed trade deficit up to US$6 billion.

General Economic Conditions: In 1995 economy grew during first nine months; inflation became more severe. December 1995 elections important for fiscal stability.

Transportation and Telecommunications

Railroads: 8,430 kilometers (standard gauge--1.435 meters), of which 796 kilometers electrified in 1995.

Roads: (1995) Nearly 59,770 kilometers of all-weather highways of which 27,000 kilometers paved. Highways main means of transport. Government planned large highway expansion by year 2000.

Ports: Five major ports: Istanbul, Mersin, Ismir, Iskenderun, and Kocaeli; ten secondary ports, eighteen minor ports.

Airports: 105 usable airports, sixty-nine with paved runways in 1994.

Telecommunications: Telephone system overloaded in 1995; modernization program promised to make telephones available and eliminate waiting circuits.