Did you know that Saint Nicholas, popularly known as Santa Clause, was born in Turkey?  Golden Horn Rotary has compiled a beautiful flash media presentation with interesting historical facts on Turkey.  To view this presentation, please click the emblem below.

Modern Turkey - Background.

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923, when Mustafa Kemal, celebrated founder of Turkey and known as Ataturk, successfully united the Turkish people after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He set in place many social, legal, and political reforms, bringing Turkey into line with its European counterparts. Notable among these is the constitutional change in 1928, removing Islam as the state religion, making Turkey a purely secular republic.

Since his time Turkey has, for the most part, been ruled by a democratically elected government. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952, NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community, and over the last 10 years has taken steps to strengthen its economy and democracy in the hope of joining the EU.

Geography

Location

Turkey rests in two continents; Europe and Asia. Its coastline includes the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Bosporus. The European side is mostly undulating hills, while on the Anatolian side, the geography moves from wide plains to soaring mountains, where many peaks exceed 3000 meters. The tallest mountains are the Taurus, Koroglu and Pontic ranges, with Mt Ararat in the East as the largest at 5,165 meters. Along the Mediterranean coast, the land is very fertile, and mostly lower, with exceptions around the Antalya region. Turkey's major rivers include the Tigras, Kizilirmak, Sakarya and Euphrates, and the largest lake is Lake Van.

Area

780,580 km²
total 770,760 km²
land 9820 km² water

Coastline

7,200 km²

Climate

Temperate. hot summers, mild winters.

Land Use

33% arable land, 3.3% of which is permanently farmed 66% other

Natural Resources

Coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower

International Environmental Agreements

Ratified: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Bio-Diversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
Signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification

People

Population

68,893,918 (July 2004)

Age (2004)

26.6% 0 to 14 years old
66.8% 15 to 64 years old
6.6% 65 and older

Average Age

Male 27.3 years old

Female 27.1 years old

Population Growth

Rate 1.13% (2004)

Sex Ratio

1.03 males per female

Religion

99% Nominally Muslim

1% other (mostly Christian and Jew)

Ethnicity

80 % Turks (Kirghiz, Karapapaks, Turkmens, Kazakhs, Kumuks, Yoruks, Uzbeks, Tatars, Azeris, Balkars, Uighurs, Karachays.),
20 % remaining made up of Kurds, Zazas, Arabs, Georgians, Laz, Hamshenis, Circassians, "Minorities" (Greeks, Jews, Armenians), Groups originally from the Balkans (Bulgarians, Serbians, Croatians, Romanians and Bosniaks), Others: (very small groups of people from Germany, Poland, Estonia, Sudan and Somalia are also living within the territories of Turkey).

Language

Turkish

Literacy

86.5 %

Government

Country Name Republic of Turkey

Government Type Republican Parliamentary Democracy

Capital

Ankara

Flag

Red, with a vertical white crescent moon, and a white five point star centered to the right of the crescent.

Administrative

Divisions 81 Provinces Adana, Adiyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Duzce, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak

Independence

October 29, 1923

National Holiday

29 October - Republic Day

Legal System

Civil law, derived from European counterparts' legal systems.

Voting Age

18, universal

Government Executives

Chief of State - President
Head of Government - Prime Minister
Cabinet - council of Ministers appointed by the president, upon the nomination of the Prime Minister
Elections - President elected by the National Assembly for a seven year term, Prime Minister appointed by the President from the members of Parliament.
The president must have a 2/3 majority of the National Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third ballot.

Legislative Branch

Grand National Assembly or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi - 550 seats. Members elected by a popular vote, and serve 5 year terms.

Judicial Branch

Constitutional Court, High Court of Appeals, Council of State, Court of Accounts, Military High Court of Appeals, Military High Administrative Court

Economy

Turkey's economy is based on agriculture, industry and commerce, with the former making up about 40% of employment. The largest industries are textiles and clothing, (about 30%) and service industries, with automotive and electronics fast becoming more prominent.

GDP US$458 Billion (2003)
GDP Growth Rate 5.8% (2003)
GDP Per Capita US$6,700 (2003)
GDP breakdown 11.7% Agriculture 29.8% Industry 58.5% Services (2003)

Labor Force

23.79 Million

Labor Force Occupation

Labor Force Occupation 39.7% agriculture 22.4% Industry 37.9% Services (2003)

Unemployment 10.5% (2003)

Agriculture Products

Tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus, livestock

Industries

Textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromate, copper, Boron steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Industrial production growth rate

8.5% (2003)

Communications

Telephone

(Main lines in use) 18,916,700(2003)

Telephone -

Cellular 27,887,500 (2003)

Telephone System

General
Undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially cellular telephones
Domestic
Additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity trunk lines, using both fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay is facilitating communication between urban centers; remote areas are reached by a domestic satellite system; the number of subscribers to mobile cellular telephone service is growing rapidly
International Country code - 90.
International service is provided by three submarine fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, linking Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia; also by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems (2002).

Radio Broadcast Stations

FM - 107, AM - 16, Shortwave - 6 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations

365 (plus 2,934 Repeaters) (1995)

Internet Country Code

.tr

Internet Hosts

355,215 (2004)

Internet Users

5.5 million (2003)

Transportation

Railways

Total - 8671 km (2003)

Highways Total

385,960 km Paved - 131,226 km (including 1749 km expressways) Unpaved - 245,734 km (1999)

Waterways

1,2000 km (2003)

Pipelines gas -

3,177 km, oil - 3,562 km (2004)

Ports and Harbours

Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon

Merchant Marine

By Type -
bulk 111, cargo 229, chemical tanker 46, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 2, container 34, liquefied gas 6, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 36, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 26, short-sea/passenger 8, specialized tanker 3
Foreign Owned -
Belize 1, Cambodia 1, China 1, Cyprus 4, Greece 1, Italy 3, Liberia 1, Monaco 1, Switzerland 1, Thailand 1, United Kingdom 9 Registered in other countries - 243 (2004 est.)

Airports

120 (2003)

Airports with Paved Runways

87

Airports with Unpaved Runways

33

Heliports

14 (2003)

Military

Military Branches

Turkish Armed Forces (TSK): Land Forces, Naval Forces Command (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard Command, Gendarmerie (Jandarma)

Military Manpower

Age and Obligation - 20 (Males only)
Availability - Males aged between 15 and 49: 19,828,702 (2004)
Fit for Service - Males aged between 15 and 49: 11,965,262 (2004)

Military expenditures

US$12.155 billion (2003)