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Basic Facts |
Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti local short form: Turkiye |
Gevernment type | republican parliamentary democracy |
Capital |
name: Ankara
geographic coordinates: 39 56 N, 32 52 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Flag description | red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening |
Currency | Turkish lira (YTL); old Turkish lira (TRL) before 1 January 2005 |
Internet country code | .tr |
Ports and terminals | Aliaga, Ambarli, Eregli, Haydarpasa, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Toros |
Agriculture products | tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock |
Industries | textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper |
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 |
Coordinates | 39 00 N, 35 00 E |
Continent | Middle East |
Area |
total: 780,580 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km water: 9,820 sq km |
Boundaries |
total: 2,648 km
border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 352 km, Syria 822 km |
Coastline | 7,200 km |
Climate | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
Terrain | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges |
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 |
Natural hazards | severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van |
People |
Population | 70,413,958 (July 2006 est.) |
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
note: there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the Europe part of Turkey |