GEOGRAPHY

Location: Southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of 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: 780,580 sq km

Land: 770,760 sq km

Water: 9,820 sq km

 

Land boundaries:

Total: 2,627 km

Border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km

Coastline: 7,200 km

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

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

Elevation extremes:

Lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m

Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Land use:

Arable land: 32%

Permanent crops: 4%

Permanent pastures: 16%

Forests and woodland: 26%

Other: 22% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 36,740 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: Very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van

Environment - current issues: Water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic

Environment - international agreements:

Party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

Signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Environmental Modification

Geography - note: Strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas 

PEOPLE

Population: 65,666,677 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 29% (male 9,722,217; female 9,375,920)

15-64 years: 65% (male 21,671,638; female 20,966,110)

65 years and over: 6% (male 1,811,599; female 2,119,193) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.27% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 18.65 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 5.96 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:

At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 48.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

Total population: 70.97 years

Male: 68.63 years

Female: 73.41 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:

Noun: Turk(s)

Adjective: Turkish

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

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek

GOVERNMENT

Country name: Conventional long form: Republic of Turkey

Conventional short form: Turkey

Local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti

Local short form: Turkiye

Government type: Republican parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ankara

Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)

Legal system: Derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, judges appointed by the president; Court of Appeals, judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors

Flag description: 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.