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)                            
                                                                                
