780,580 km2
Land area:
770,760 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries:
2,627 km total; 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
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone:
in Black Sea only - to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former
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
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 People

Population:
59,640,143 (July 1992), growth rate 2.1% (1992)
Birth rate:
27 births/1,000 populatition (1992)
Death rate:
6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
55 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
68 years male, 72 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Turk(s); adjective - Turkish
Ethnic divisions:
Turkish 80%, Kurdish 17%, other 3% (est.)
Religions:
Muslim (mostly Sunni) 99.8%, other (Christian and Jews) 0.2%
Languages:
Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic
Literacy:
81% (male 90%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
20,700,000; agriculture 49%, services 30%, industry 15%; about 1,500,000
Turks work abroad (1989)
Organized labor:
10% of labor force

:Turkey Government

Long-form name:
Republic of Turkey
Type: