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Turkey
The
lands of Turkey are located at a point where the three
continents making up the old world. Asia, Africa and Europe
are closest to each other and straddle the point where
Europe and Asia meet. Geographically, the country is located
in the northern half of the hemisphere at a point that is
about halfway between the equator and the north pole, at a
longitude of 36 degrees N to 42 degrees N and latitude of 26
degrees E to 45 degrees E. Turkey is roughly rectangular in
shape and is 1,660 kilometers long and 550 kilometers wide.
Because of its geographical location, the mainland of
Anatolia has always found favour throughout history and is
the birthplace of many great civilizations. It has also been
prominent as a center of commerce because of its land
connections to three continents and the sea surrounding it
on three sides.
The
area of Turkey is 774,815 square kilometers. The actual land
border length of Turkey is 2,875 kilometers in total and
coastlines (including islands) are another 8,333 kilometers.
Turkey has two European and six Asian countries as neighbors
along its land borders.
Turkey has been a melting pot of ethnically and culturally
distinct groups since early prehistoric times. The most
decisive influence was the incursion of Turkic peoples from
the east from the 2nd century AD onward. Turkish is the
mother tongue of about nine-tenths of the country's
population. Lausanne Treaty recognizes Armenians, Greek
Orthodox and Jews as minorities. Nearly all Turks are
Muslims, and the Sunni is predominant. Turkey's population
increased rapidly after World War II, but the rate of growth
declined by the end of the 20th century.
The
Turkish Republic, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923,
after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, was a one-party state
until 1946. Since then many parties have contested for
power, and Turkey has had a civilian parliamentary
government most of the time. The 1982 constitution, amended
in 1987 and 1995, provides for a democratic parliamentary
system of government. Under the constitution, the head of
State is the President, who is elected to a non-renewable
seven-year term by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (the
national parliament). Mr.Suleyman Demirel is the current
President of the Republic of Turkey. The 550 members of the
Assembly are elected for a five-year term by direct popular
vote. The President appoints a Prime Minister who forms the
Government which is invested by a vote of confidence by the
parliament.
Turkey's developing economy is part private and part
publicly owned; the industrial sector now predominate over
agriculture. The economy underwent a sustained expansion
during the second half of the 20th century. It has become
increasingly integrated into the West European economic
arena. It is a member of OECD and has established a Customs
Union with EU. It is also the member of some international,
regional and sub-regional economic cooperation schemes such
as Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO), Middle East/North Africa
Economic Conference (MENA), Southeastern Europe Cooperation
Initiative (SECI), World Trade Organization (WTO),
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group, UNCTAD,
Economic Commission for Europe and the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Turkey is also
an associate member of the European Union (EU) and the
Western European Union (WEU).
Agriculture accounts for about one-sixth of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and employs about two-fifths of the
workforce. Manufacturing employs about one-seventh of the
workforce and accounts for one-fifth of the GDP.
Imports: Total value:
138290 million US $ (2006)
Major items:
Mineral fuels-oils,
gas,
boilers, machinery and mechanical equipment,
vehicles and parts, organic chemicals, plastic and products,
cotton yarn and fabrics, pharmaceutical products, optical
parts and accessories, paper and paperboard, iron and steel
products, aircraft and parts, tanning or dyeing extracts.
Total value:
85479 million US $ (2006)
Major items:
textiles, cotton yarn & fabrics, iron and steel products,
electrical machinery and equipment, vehicles and parts,
edible fruits, nuts, vegetables, salt, sulphur, earths and
stone, plastic and rubber products, tobacco, glass and
glassware, ceramics.
Locally mined iron ore, coal, lignite, bauxite and copper
provide raw materials for the country's key manufacturing
industries. It also has huge deposits of chromites. Turkey
is the Middle East's leading steel producer.
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