Turkey (2002) | Netherlands Antilles (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 81 provinces (iller, singular - il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, 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, Icel, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
note: each island has its own government |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 27.8% (male 9,520,030; female 9,178,423)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 22,552,253; female 21,827,002) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 1,946,523; female 2,284,697) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
25.21% (male 27,332; female 26,169) 15-64 years: 66.99% (male 67,562; female 74,599) 65 years and over: 7.8% (male 6,874; female 9,690) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock | aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit |
Airports | 120 (2001) | 5 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 86
over 3,047 m: 16 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 5 (2002) |
total:
5 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 34 34
over 3,047 m: 1 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 8 under 914 m: 8 24 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 780,580 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km water: 9,820 sq km |
total:
960 sq km land: 960 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Texas | more than five times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. Turkey occupied the northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island; relations between the two countries remain strained but have begun to improve over the past three years. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-Leninist, separatist group, initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey, often using terrorist tactics to try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan. The group - whose leader, Abdullah OCALAN, was captured in Kenya in February 1999 - has observed a unilateral cease-fire since September 1999, although there have been occasional clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000 armed PKK militants, most of whom currently are encamped in northern Iraq. The PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) in April 2002. | Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Sint Maarten is shared with France; its northern portion is named Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe. |
Birth rate | 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $42.4 billion
expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001) |
revenues:
$710.8 million expenditures: $741.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
Capital | Ankara | Willemstad |
Climate | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior | tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 7,200 km | 364 km |
Constitution | 7 November 1982 | 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti local short form: Turkiye |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Netherlands Antilles local long form: none local short form: Nederlandse Antillen former: Curacao and Dependencies |
Currency | Turkish lira (TRL) | Netherlands Antillean guilder (ANG) |
Death rate | 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 6.41 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $118.3 billion (September 2001 ) | $1.35 billion (1996) |
Dependency status | - | part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. PEARSON
embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Kavaklidere, 06100 Ankara mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823 telephone: [90] (312) 455-5555 FAX: [90] (312) 468-0019 consulate(s) general: Istanbul consulate(s): Adana |
chief of mission:
Consul General Barbara J. STEPHENSON consulate(s) general: J. B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad AN, Curacao mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao telephone: [599] (9) 4613066 FAX: [599] (9) 4616489 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Osman Faruk LOGOGLU
chancery: 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 612-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 612-6744 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York |
none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands) |
Disputes - international | complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Greece; dispute with downstream riparian states (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided; Turkey is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute | none |
Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $300 million (1993) (2000) | IMF provided $61 million in 2000, and the Netherlands continued its support with $40 million |
Economy - overview | Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2001 still accounted for 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The most important industry - and largest export - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many years, but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which in 2001 accounted for more than 50% of central government spending - while inflation has remained in the high double digit range. Perhaps because of these problems, foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. In late 2000 and early 2001 a growing trade deficit and serious weaknesses in the banking sector plunged the economy into crisis - forcing Ankara to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Results in 2002 were much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Continued slow global growth and serious political tensions in the Middle East cast a shadow over growth prospects for 2003. | Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined slightly in each of the past five years, the islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with Venezuela, the US, and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. |
Electricity - consumption | 114.19 billion kWh (2000) | 1.032 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 437 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 3.791 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 119.18 billion kWh (2000) | 1.11 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 74%
hydro: 26% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m |
lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Environmental Modification |
- |
Ethnic groups | Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% | mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian |
Exchange rates | Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,223,140 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997) | Netherlands Antillean guilders per US dollar - 1.790 (fixed rate since 1989) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (14 March 2003); note - Abdullah GUL resigned 11 March 2003; Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN was given a mandate to form a government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister note: a National Security Council serves as an advisory body to the president and the cabinet elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year term; election last held 5 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2007); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ahmed Necdet SEZER elected president on the third ballot; percent of National Assembly vote - 60% note: president must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly on the first two ballots and a simple majority on the third ballot |
chief of state:
Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since NA October 1989) head of government: Prime Minister Miguel POURIER (since 8 November 1999); Deputy Prime Minister Susanne CAMELIA-ROMER (since NA) note: Miguel POURIER assumed prime ministership following the resignation of Susanne CAMELIA-ROMER cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the Staten; election last held 30 January 1998 (next to be held by NA 2002) note: government coalition - PDB, DP-St. M, FOL, PLKP, PNP |
Exports | $37.6 billion f.o.b. (2002) | $276 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment | petroleum products |
Exports - partners | Germany 17.2%, US 10.0%, Italy 7.5%, UK 6.9%, France 6.0%, Russia 2.9% (2001) | US 17.5%, Guatemala 8%, Costa Rica 6.5%, The Bahamas 4.6%, Jamaica 4.1%, Chile 3.4% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band, also centered; five white, five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $468 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13%
industry: 30% services: 57% (2001) |
agriculture:
1% industry: 15% services: 84% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $11,400 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.2% (2002 est.) | -3.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 35 00 E | 12 15 N, 68 45 W |
Geography - note | strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country | - |
Heliports | 8 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 382,059 km
paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways) unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.) |
total:
600 km paved: 300 km unpaved: 300 km (1992) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 32% (1994) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | key transit route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe and - to a far lesser extent the US - via air, land, and sea routes; major Turkish, Iranian, and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Istanbul; laboratories to convert imported morphine base into heroin are in remote regions of Turkey as well as near Istanbul; government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate | money-laundering center; transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe |
Imports | $43.9 billion c.i.f. (2002 est.) | $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment | crude petroleum, food, manufactures |
Imports - partners | Germany 12.9%, Italy 8.4%, Russia 8.3%, US 7.9%, France 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2001 est.) | Venezuela 35.3%, US 21%, Mexico 9.8%, Italy 5.4%, Netherlands 4.8%, Brazil 3.1% (1998) |
Independence | 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire) | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) |
Industrial production growth rate | 8.5% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Industries | textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper | tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao) |
Infant mortality rate | 45.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 11.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 45.2% (2002) | 6.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UPU, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WMO, WToO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 50 (2001) | 6 |
Irrigated land | 42,000 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeals (judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors) | Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch) |
Labor force | 23.8 million (2001 3rd quarter)
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999) |
89,000 |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 40%, services 38%, industry 22% (2001) | agriculture 1%, industry 13%, services 86% (1994 est.) |
Land 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 |
total:
10.2 km border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 km |
Land use | arable land: 34.53%
permanent crops: 3.36% other: 62.11% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 90% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek | Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish |
Legal system | derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence |
Legislative branch | unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 November 2002 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - AKP 34.3%, CHP 19.4%, DYP 9.6%, MHP 8.3%, ANAP 5.1%, DSP 1.1%, and others; seats by party - AKP 363, CHP 178, independents 9; note - all other parties were under the 10% threshhold which entitles them to seats |
unicameral States or Staten (22 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 30 January 1998 (next to be held by NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, SPA 1, PDB 2, UPB 1, MAN 2, PLKP 3, WIPM 1, SEA 1, DP-St. M 2, FOL 2; no party won enough seats to form a government note: the government of Prime Minister Miguel POURIER is a coalition of several parties; current seats by party - PAR 4, PNP 3, FOL 2, MAN 2, UPB 2, DP-St. M 2, PDB 1, SEA 1, WIPM 1, other 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 71.52 years
male: 69.15 years female: 74.01 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
74.94 years male: 72.76 years female: 77.22 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85% male: 94% female: 77% (2000) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 98% female: 99% (1981 est.) |
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 | Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - one includes Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela; the other is east of the Virgin Islands |
Map references | Middle East | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR
territorial sea: 6 NM in the Aegean Sea; 12 NM in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea |
exclusive fishing zone:
12 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 553 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,674,099 GRT/9,108,819 DWT
ships by type: bulk 138, cargo 239, chemical tanker 45, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 2, container 27, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 45, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 27, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 5 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, Greece 1, Italy 1, Thailand 1, United Kingdom 11 (2002 est.) |
total:
123 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,113,774 GRT/1,397,841 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 35, chemical tanker 2, combination ore/oil 3, container 19, liquefied gas 4, multi-functional large-load carrier 19, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 28, roll on/roll off 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 8, Germany 1, Italy 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Military branches | Land Forces, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie | Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard, Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $8.1 billion (2002 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.5% (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 19,219,177 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
54,284 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 11,623,675 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
30,405 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age (2002 est.) | 20 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 674,805 (2002 est.) | males:
1,610 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 29 October (1923) | Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April |
Nationality | noun: Turk(s)
adjective: Turkish |
noun:
Dutch Antillean(s) adjective: Dutch Antillean |
Natural hazards | very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van | Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October |
Natural resources | antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable land, hydropower | phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only) |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Left Party or DSP [Bulent ECEVIT]; Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayip ERDOGAN]; Motherland Party or ANAP [Mesut YILMAZ]; Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]; Republican People's Party or CHP [Deniz BAYKAL]; Saadet Party [Recai KUTAN]; note - KUTAN was head of the Virtue Party or FP which was banned by Turkey's Constitutional Court in June 2001; Socialist Democratic Party or TDP [Sema PISKINSUT]; True Path Party (sometimes translated as Right Path Party) or DYP [Tansu CILLER] | Antillean Restructuring Party or PAR [Miguel POURIER]; C 93 [Stanley BROWN]; Democratic Party of Bonaire or PDB [Jopi ABRAHAM]; Democratic Party of Curacao or DP [Errol HERNANDEZ]; Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius or DP-St. E [Julian WOODLEY]; Democratic Party of Sint Maarten or DP-St. M [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS]; Foundation Energetic Management Anti-Narcotics or FAME [Eric LODEWIJKS]; Labor Party People's Crusade or PLKP [Errol COVA]; National People's Party or PNP [Susanne F. C. CAMELIA-ROMER]; New Antilles Movement or MAN [Kenneth GIJSBERTHA]; Patriotic Union of Bonaire or UPB [Ramon BOOI]; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten or SPA [Vance JAMES, Jr.]; People's Party or PAPU [Richard Hodi]; Pro Curacao Party or PPK [Winston LOURENS]; Saba Democratic Labor Movement [Steve HASSELL]; Saba Unity Party [Carmen SIMMONDS]; St. Eustatius Alliance or SEA [Kenneth VAN PUTTEN]; Serious Alternative People's Party or Sapp [Julian ROLLOCKS]; Social Action Cause or KAS [Benny DEMEI]; Windward Islands People's Movement or WIPM [Will JOHNSTON]; Workers' Liberation Front or FOL [Anthony GODETT, Rignald LAK, Editha WRIGHT]
note: political parties are indigenous to each island |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Ridvan BUDAK]; Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Erol YARAR]; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Muharrem KAYHAN]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Bayram MERAL]; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [Fuat MIRAS] | NA |
Population | 67,308,928 (July 2002 est.) | 212,226 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.2% (2002 est.) | 0.97% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon | Kralendijk, Philipsburg, Willemstad |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001) | AM 9, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 11.3 million (1997) | 217,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 8,607 km
standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001) |
0 km |
Religions | Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews) | Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist |
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 (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: undergoing rapid modernization and expansion, especially with 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: 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) |
general assessment:
generally adequate facilities domestic: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links international: submarine cables - 2; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 19.5 million (1999) | 76,000 (1995) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 17.1 million (2001) | 13,977 (1996) |
Television broadcast stations | 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995) | 3 (there is also a cable service which supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and two Venezuelan channels) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia) | generally hilly, volcanic interiors |
Total fertility rate | 2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.07 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 10.8% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2002 est.) | 14.9% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | 1,200 km (approximately) | none |