boundary dispute with Libya; Malta
and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the
continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil
exploration

______________________________________________________________________

TURKEY

@Turkey:Introduction

Background: Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of
the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular
laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the
UN and in 1949 it became a member of NATO. Turkey occupied the
northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the
island; relations between the two countries remain strained. Periodic
military offensives against Kurdish terrorists have dislocated part of
the population in southeast Turkey and have drawn international
condemnation.

@Turkey: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

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 780,580 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km
water: 9,820 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas

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

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 in
Mediterranean Sea

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

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

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