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Turkey
Turkish: Türkiye
INTRODUCTION
1. Political situation
2. Economy
3. Health & Education
4. Religions & Peoples
5. History
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MAJOR CITIES
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Istanbul (8.8 million)
Ankara (3.2 million)
Izmir (2.2 million)
Adana (1.2 million)
Bursa (1.2 million)
Gaziantep (850,000)
Konya (740,000)
Antalya (600,000)
Mersin (560,000)
Diyarbakir (550,000)
Kayseri (540,000)
Eskisehir (480,000)
Sanliurfa (390,000)
Malatya (380,000)
Erzurum (360,000)
Samsun (360,000)
Kahramanmaras (330,000)
Izmit (290,000)
Adapazari (280,000)
Denizli (280,000)
Tarsus (280,000)
Van (280,000)
Gebze (275,000)
Elazig (270,000)
Sivas (250,000)
Batman (250,000)
All cities and towns
All figures are 2004 estimates.
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STATUS
| Independent republic, divided into 81 provinces.
Day of independence: October 29, 1923.
| GOVERNMENT
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President: Abdullah Gül
Prime minister: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The government consists of 17 ministries.
National Assembly: 550 members, which from the elections of april 1999 is divided between 5 parties, holding from 85 to 136 seats. At least 3 parties must join to forma majority.
| GEOGRAPHY
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Inhabitants: 73.2 million (2005 estimate).
Census October 22 2000: 67.8 million.
Population growth rate: 1.2%
Total area: 780,580 km²
Water: 9,820 km²
Density: 94 per km²
Border: 2,648 km (Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Syria 822 km, Iraq 352 km, Iran 499 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Armenia 268 km, Georgia 252 km).
Coastline: 7,200 km
Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m
Arable land: 34.5%
Capital: Ankara
| HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
| World rank (of 177): 92
Index (1.0 max): 0.757
Explanation
| DEMOGRAPHY
| Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian and Greek.
Religions: Sunni Islam, Shi'i Islam, Christianity.
| ECONOMY
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Currency: Liras
1 million liras=US$0.70. US$1=1.42 million liras (June, 2003)
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CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY
Turkey is in some ways the most Western country in the Middle East, with Latin writing (Turkish was written with Arabic letters until the fall of the Ottoman Empire), an almost secular state, and strong affiliations with Europe.
At the same time, a city like Istanbul is a grand monument of the heydays of Oriental culture's supremacy, and there is a significant political change going on in Turkey right now (but not as radical as promised during the electoral), where a fairly unsuccessful politics of copying Europe is altered, and more attention is directed towards the Muslim world.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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