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PROFILE

PROJECT GLOBE COUNTRY LEAD:
Dr. Iskender Sayek
Turkish Medical Association

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Turkey

GEOGRAPHY
Area: 780,580 sq. km.
Cities: Capital--Ankara (pop. 4.4 million). Other cities--Istanbul (11.8 million), Izmir (3.7 million), Bursa (2.4 million), Adana (1.9 million).
Climate: Moderate in coastal areas, harsher temperatures inland.

PEOPLE/HEALTH

  

Population:

71,158,647 (July 2007 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 24.9%

15-64 years: 68.1%

65 years and over: 6.9% (2007 est.)

Median age:

28.6 years

Population growth rate:

1.04% (2007 est.)

Birth rate:

16.4 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate:

6 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 38.33 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 41.85 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 34.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy:

72.88 years

male: 70.43 years

female: 75.46 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.89 children born/woman (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS

na

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

na

Ethnic groups:

Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (estimated)

Religions:

Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)

Languages:

Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian

Literacy:

87.40%
 

GOVERNMENT
Type: Republic.
Independence: October 29, 1923.
Constitution: November 7, 1982.
Political parties in Parliament: Justice and Development Party (AK), Republican People's Party (CHP), True Path Party (DYP), Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) and Emerging Peoples' Party (HYP).
Suffrage: Universal, 18 and older.

ECONOMY
GDP: (2004) $300.6 billion; (2005) $361.5 billion; (2006) $390.4 billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate: (2004) (+) 8.9%; (2005) 7.4%; (2006) 6.0%.
GDP per capita: (2004) $4,187; (2005) $5,016; (2006) $5,349.
Annual inflation rate /CPI: (2003) 18.4%; (2004) 9.3%; (2005) 7.7%; (2006) 9.7%.
Natural resources: Coal, chromium, mercury, copper, boron, oil, gold.
Agriculture (10.8% of GNP): Major cash crops--cotton, sugar beets, hazelnuts, wheat, barley, and tobacco. Provides 26% of jobs and 4% of exports.
Industry (25.4% of GNP): Major growth sector, types--automotive, electronics, food processing, textiles, basic metals, chemicals, and petrochemicals. Provides 20% of jobs.
Trade: Exports (merchandise)--(2005) $73.1 billion; (2006) $83.5 billion: textiles and apparel, industrial machinery, iron and steel, electronics, petroleum products, and motor vehicles. Imports (merchandise)--(2005) $116 billion; (2006) 135.5 billion: petroleum, machinery, motor vehicles, electronics, iron and steel, plastics precious metals.
Major partners--Germany, U.S., Italy, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, U.K.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Modern Turkey encompasses bustling cosmopolitan centers, pastoral farming villages, barren wastelands, peaceful Aegean coastlines, and steep mountain regions. More than half of Turkey's population lives in urban areas that juxtapose Western lifestyles with more traditional ways of life.

The Turkish state has been officially secular since 1924. Approximately 99% of the population is Muslim. Most Turkish Muslims follow the Sunni traditions of Islam, although a significant number follow Alevi and Shiite traditions. Questions regarding role of religion in society and government, the role of linguistic and ethnic identity, and the public's expectation to live in security dominate public discourse. Turkish citizens who assert a Kurdish identity constitute an ethnic and linguistic group that is estimated at up to 12 million in number.