n 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 the Black Sea and
in the Mediterranean Sea

International disputes: complex maritime, air and territorial
disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question
with Syria; 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)
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper,
borate, sulfur, iron ore

Land use:
arable land: 30%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 12%
forest and woodland: 26%
other: 28%

Irrigated land: 22,200 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and
detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation
natural hazards: very severe earthquakes, especially in northern
Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Hazardous
Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity,
Desertification, Environmental Modification

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

People
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Population: 62,484,478 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 32% (male 10,192,195; female 9,836,045)
15-64 years: 62% (male 19,859,717; female 19,187,769)
65 years and over: 6% (male 1,571,451; female 1,837,301) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.67% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 22.26 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 5.52 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.02 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 43.2 d