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| Population:
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65,666,677
(July 2000 est.) |
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| Age
structure: |
0-14
years: 29% (male 9,722,217; female
9,375,920)
15-64 years: 65% (male 21,671,638;
female 20,966,110)
65 years and over: 6% (male 1,811,599;
female 2,119,193) (2000 est.)
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| Population
growth rate |
1.27%
(2000 est.) |
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| Birth
rate |
18.65
births/1,000 population (2000
est.) |
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| Death
rate: |
5.96
deaths/1,000 population (2000
est.) |
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| Net
migration rate: |
0
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000
est.) |
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| Sex
ratio: |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female
(2000 est.)
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| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 70.97 years
male: 68.63 years
female: 73.41 years (2000 est.)
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| Total
fertility rate: |
2.16
children born/woman (2000 est.) |
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| Area |
It
covers an area of 780,580 square-km
(land: 770,760 sq km
water: 9,820 sq km
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| Location: |
It
takes place between Asia and Europe,
at a very strategic location |
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| Neighbors: |
Turkey's
neighbors are Bulgaria(240 km)
and Greece(206 km)in the northwest;
Georgia(252 km),Armenia(268 km)
and Azerbaijan(9 km) in the northeast;
Iran (499 km)and Iraq (331 km)
in the east, Syria (822 km)in
the southeast and Cyprus in the
south. Turkey's geographical coordinates
are 36o 00' to 42o 00' north latitude
and 26o 00' to 45o 00' east longitude. |
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| Language: |
The
official language is Turkish.Turkish
Language is of Ural-Altaic origin,
that is from the same origin as
Finnish, Hungarian, Japanese and
Korean. It's a suffix-based language
which is read as it is written.
The alphabet used in Turkey is
the Latin alphabet with some minor
changes. |
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| Currency:
|
The
official currency unit is called
"Turkish Lira". However,
because of high inflation and
everdecreasing value of T.L against
the USD, DM etc., you can easily
use USD or DM in your daily transactions..,
for instance tipping the restaurants,
hotels or in the big department
stores. In Turkey, usage of credit
cards are also very popular!! |
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| Electricity:
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The
electricity in Turkey is of the
220 V,50-cycle variety. The two-round
prong European plug will work
here but have a converter with
you in case you use any 110V machine. |
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| Tap
Water: |
Soft
and safe to drink but heavily
chlorinated, prefer bottled mineral
water. |
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| Working
Hours: |
Governmental
Offices work 8:00-12.00 a.m /
1.00 p.m-5.00 pm. Banks:8:30-12.00
a.m / 1.30 p.m-05.30 p.m. Private
companies:Usually 09:00-12.00
a.m / 1.00-6.00 p.m. |
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| Time
Difference: |
Australia:+8,Belgium:-1,Canada:-7,Denmark:-1,England:-2,Germany:-1,
Japan:+7 Sweden:-1,Spain:-1,Italy:-1,Greece:0,Israel:0,Egypt:0,France:-1
,China:+6 , USA:-7(NYC)/-10(San
Fransisco)
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| Religion: |
The
99.8% of the population is Muslim(overwhelmingly
sunni). The rest 0.2% of the population
is Jewish or Christian.There was
a big Greek minority over the
past years in Istanbul and they
were representing the Greek-Orthodox
society. The majority of the Jews
living in Istanbul are Sephardis
who came to Turkey from Spain
after the Spanish Inquisition
in the 15th century...There are
many synagogues and churches as
well as mosques in Istanbul...They
will be mentioned in the following
sections. |
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| Economy: |
Turkey
is a fastly developing country
with its tourism, automotive(both
manufacturing and Assembling),textiles,services,
construction(steel and cement
factories), food and agriculture.
Turkey has always been an agricultural
country after the foundation of
the Republic of Turkey but after
1970s, thanks to the enterpreneur
businessmen and incentive policies
of the governments, the industry
made a considerable development.
Exports of certain goods, such
as cotton,dried figs and apricots,nuts
and herbs still covers a big share
of Turkish economy. |
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| Government
& Politics: |
Turkey
is a parliamentary regime with
its president, prime minister
and 550 MPs(Members of Parliament).The
general elections are carried
out every 5 years to elect the
government and for the past 10
years, Turkey is governed by coalition
governments. There are MPs and
ministers who are charged with
different tasks; like minister
of health or minister of education
etc... All of them are responsible
to the PM(Prime Minister). The
Prime Minister of Turkey as of
July,99 is Mr. Bulent Ecevit of
Democratic Leftist Party. The
current coalition government is
led by DSP(Democratic Leftist
Party)(mentioned above) and MHP
(Nationalist People's Party)as
the major partners and NAP(Motherland's
Party)as the minor supportive
party. This party so-called ANAP
had been the government itself
twice in 1983 and 1987 elections...
The President of Republic of Turkey
is Mr. Ahmet Necdet Sezer as of
2000. The minister who is responsible
from Turkey's economy is Mr. Kemal
Dervis as of February 2001. The
rightist conservative and religious
party, Fazilet Party (wisdom)
was banned in June for being a
threat against the democracy and
secularism. It did not take a
long time for the same politicians
to form another party with a different
name (Saadet Party)(happiness)
in July. The fraction out of this
group, so called "new formation"
was renamed as "Ak Party"
which means "Clean,doubtless".
The head of this party is the
former mayor of Istanbul, Mr.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As Turkish
Nationals, we condemn the bloddy
terrorist attack towards USA and
share the sorrows of the Americans.
Turkey suffered from terrorism
over 25 years and over 30,000
innocent people died for a non-sense
conflict. Regardless of the goal
of these attacks, taking the life
of innocents could not be associated
with any religion or any idealism.
We condemn terror and God saves
us all from terror!
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| Turkey,
which has 80 administrative provinces,
is divided into seven geographical
regions; the Black Sea region,
the Marmara region, the Aegean
region, the Mediterranean region,
Central Anatolia, the East and
Southeast Anatolia regions. |
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| Coastlines: |
Turkey
is surrounded by sea on three
sides, by Black Sea in the north,
the Mediterranean Sea in the south
and the Aegean Sea in the west.
In the northwest, there is an
internal sea, the Sea of Marmara,
between the straits of the Dardanelles
and the Bosphorus, which are important
waterways that connect the Black
Sea with the rest of the world.
The coastline of Turkey (excluding
islands) is 8333 km. |
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| Rivers: |
Most
of the rivers of Turkey flow into
the seas surrounding the country.
The Fyrat (Euphrates) and Dicle
(Tigris) join together in Iraq
and flow into the Persian Gulf.
Turkey's largest rivers, the Kyzylyrmak,
Ye?ilyrmak and Sakarya, flow into
the Black Sea. The Susurluk, Biga
and Gnen pour into the Sea of
Marmara, the Gediz, Kk Menderes,
Byk Menderes, and Meri into
the Aegean and the Seyhan, Ceyhan
and Gksu into the Mediterranean. |
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| Mountains: |
In
the Marmara region the most important
peak is the Uluda (2543 m) at
the same time it is a major winter
sports and tourist centre. In
the Aegean region, the mountains
fall perpendicularly to the sea.
In the Mediterranean region, located
in the south of Turkey, the western
and central Taurus Mountains suddenly
rise up behind the coastline.
The Central Anatolia Region is
exactly in the middle of Turkey
and gives the appearance of being
less mountainous compared with
other regions. The main peaks
of the region are Karada, Karacada,
Hasanda, and Erciyes (3917 m).
The Eastern Anatolia region is
Turkey's largest and highest region.
About three-fourths is at an altitude
of 1500 - 2000 metres. There are
numerous inactive volcanoes in
the region, including Nemrut,
Suphan, Tendurek and Turkey's
highest peak where Noah's Ark
was landed, Mount Ar (Ararat)
is 5165 metres high. |
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| Lakes: |
In
terms of numbers of lakes, the
Eastern Anatolia region is the
richest. It contains Turkey's
largest, Lake Van (3713 sq.km.).
There are also many lakes in west
Tourus Mountains area; the Beyehir
and Eridir lakes. Important lakes
are; the second largest lake in
Turkey, Tuzgl, Burdur, Sapanca,
Iznik, Ulubat, Manyas (bird sanctuary),
Akehir, and Eber. As a result
of the construction of dams during
the past thirty years, several
large dam lakes have come into
existence in the Eastern Anatolia
such as, Keban, Karakaya, and
Atatrk. |
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| Women's
Rights: |
After
the proclamation of the Republic
under the leadership of Atatrk,
women were granted contemporary
social rights and became equal
in status to men. In 1930, women
were given the right to elect
and be elected to the assemblies
in the municipalities and the
parliament. Equality before the
law, which is one of the essential
principles of the Turkish Constitution,
also applies to both sexes |
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| Flora
and Fauna: |
As
the climate and topography vary
greatly in Turkey, so does the
flora and fauna. The Black Sea
region is renowned for its forests
of leaf bearing and coniferous
trees and for the apples, pears,
cherries which is originated from
Turkey, hazelnuts, mandarin oranges,
tobacco and tea that are grown
there. Along the eastern Mediterranean
shores the local vegetation is
tropical, with flourishing banana,
palm and citrus trees and sugar
cane and cotton. From the western
Mediterranean, Aegean and Marmara
coasts: olive, citrus and pine
trees along the mountains are
found. On the steppes of Central
Anatolia: natural pastures with
scattered-forested areas. In Europe,
there are 11,500 kind of flora
with flowers. In Turkey, this
number is 9,000 but 3,000 of this
flora only grow in Turkey |
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| Animals: |
Turkey
is the habitat of the same animals
that can be found in the European
countries, plus many from Asia
and Africa. There are 60,000 animal
species in the whole continent
of Europe. Turkey has 80,000.
Turkey is home to birds of many
kinds, especially in the "Birds
Paradises" the national park
on Lake Manyas, Sultan Sazl
near Kayseri, in Izmir amalt
Tuzlas etc. |
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| History: |
According
to the historical records of China,
the earliest known Turks lived
in Dzungaria, to the north of
East Turkestan in 2000 B.C. During
the 1500's B.C., the Turks scattered,
becoming nomads and warrior tribes
and settling in the regions of
Altai and the Tien Shan Mountains.
Political military and climatic
changes, in this region from the
2nd century onwards, caused the
nomadic tribes to establish settled
civilisations along the edges
of the steppes. The Huns settled
in the Central Asia and Europe;
the Akhuns in Afghanistan and
north India; the Oghuz in Iran
and Anatolia; the Bulgars in the
Balkans and on the banks of the
Volga; the Sabars in the Caucasia;
the Pecheneks, Kipchaks and Uzs
in Eastern Europe and the Balkans;
and the Uigurs in inner Asia.
Thus, between the 2nd century
B.C. and the 20th century A.D.
the original Turkish tribes scattered
themselves over an area of 18
million square kilometres, and
founded several states and empires.
Meanwhile Anatolia, where eastern
and western civilisations meet,
nourished the most ancient civilisations
of the world, the Hattis were
the oldest known people of Anatolia;
they attained a high level of
civilisation in 2500 B.C. The
Hittite, who entered Anatolia
via the Caucasus mountains, integrated
with the Hattis and established
the first social and political
organisation in Anatolia. The
Hurrians, Luwians, Urartians,
Phyrigians, Lydians, Carians,
Lycians, Ionians, and Byzantines
all established great civilisations
here. Eventually, Anatolia's final
owners, the Turks, created three
great states on this soil. It
was the Seljuks of Oghuz Turks
who opened the doors of Anatolia
for the Turks. They established
a powerful empire in western Asia
in 990 A.D. In 1071 the Seljuk
Emperor Alparslan reached the
frontiers of Anatolia and defeated
the Byzantine emperor, Romanus
IV Diogenes at Malazgirt in Eastern
Anatolia. The Anatolian Seljuk
State was based at Konya and owned
a flowering civilisation, but
it was short-lived because of
the attacks of the Mongols who
defeated it fatally at the Battle
of Erzincan in 1243. After this
defeat, Anatolia broke up into
several principalities. One of
these, the Ottoman Turks, eventually
reunited the other principalities
previously under Seljuk domination
and re-established the unity of
Anatolia.
Thus, they founded one of the
largest and longest-lived empires
of history and created a great
civilisation and culture which
reached its apogee in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries under
a succession of brilliant rulers,
including Mehmet II, the Conqueror
of Istanbul; Sleyman I, known
in Europe as 'the Magnificent';
and Murad IV, Conqueror of Baghdad
and Yerevan. These sultans were
not only brilliant generals and
statesmen, but also highly educated
men who wrote poetry and composed
music within the Ottoman Court
tradition and were generous patrons
to the visual arts. From the end
of seventeenth century, however,
the Ottoman Empire went into a
gradual decline, which culminated
with the end of 1st World War.
The Ottoman Empire, which joined
the World War in 1914 as a result
of a "fail accompli",
had come to the brink of collapse
at the end of this War. Having
been defeated by the Allied Powers,
it was forced to sign the Serves
Treaty in 1920, which brought
forth the partition of the empire.
At this most defining moment of
out history, under the leadership
of Mustafa Kemal Atatrk, the
Turkish nation waged the War of
Independence, against the foreign
powers to be able to live as a
free, sovereign and independent
country.The War of Independence
started on May 19th, 1919 and
ended by the proclamation of the
Republic of Turkey on October
23rd, 1923. The Turkish Grand
National Assembly abolished the
Sultanate on November 1st, 1922,
thus ending over six centuries
of the reign of Ottoman Empire.
The Lausanne Peace Treaty, which
was signed on July 24th, 1923,
the following long negotiations
certified and legalised the victory
won in the Turkish War of Independence.
The revolutionary reforms that
Great Atatrk put into force during
his presidency of fifteen years
following the founding of our
Republic were aimed at transforming
the country into a constitutional,
modern state. These reforms laid
the fundamentals of the new Republic.
The Republic has introduced universal
principles of law to Turkey. In
this context, the idea that all
citizens are equal and free without
any discrimination based on race,
language, and religion, establishes
the basis of the Republican Covenant,
which ensures social unity. Secularism,
which brings under guarantee the
freedom of religion and belief;
democracy, which enables citizens
to express their thoughts freely
and to participate in political
process; and the rule of law,
which makes it possible for them
to live free from fear and oppression,
are products of the social contract
of the Republic. The constitutional
democracy in Turkey is established
on this sound basis. In retrospect,
the experience of 75 years proves
that the Turkish people have taken
hold of this new beginning to
reach the level of modern civilisation.
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