| Turkey Practical Information |
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 Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey
local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
local short form: Turkiye
Data code: TU
Government type: republican parliamentary democracy
Capital: Ankara
Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
Legal system: derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Baki ILKIN
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
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert PEARSON
embassy: 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara
mailing address: PSC 93, Box 5000, APO AE 09823
telephone: [90] (312) 468-6110
FAX: [90] (312) 467-0019
consulate(s) general: Istanbul
consulate(s): Adana
Economy
Economy - overview: Turkey has a dynamic economy that is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with traditional village agriculture and crafts. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. Its most important industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. The economic situation in recent years has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. After a sharp drop in 1994, real GNP averaged 6.5% annual growth in 1995-98; it then fell about 5% in 1999 as Turkey was adversely affected by Russia's economic crisis and two major earthquakes. The already-large public sector fiscal deficit widened in 1999 to perhaps 14% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments which accounted for 42% of central grovernment spending. Despite the implementation in January 1996 of a customs union with the EU, foreign direct investment in the country remains low - less than $1 billion annually - perhaps because potential investors are concerned about economic and political stability. Prospects for the future are brighter - including prospects for foreign investment - because the ECEVIT government is implementing a major economic reform program, including a tighter budget, social security reform, banking reorganization, and greatly accelerated privatization.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 65% (1999 est.)
Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Agriculture - products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock
Currency: Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus (theoretical)
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 17.244 million (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 3.2 million (1998)
Telephone system: 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: 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, by 12 Intelsat earth stations, and by 328 mobile satellite terminals in the Inmarsat and Eutelsat systems
Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 72, shortwave 6 (1998)
Radios: 11.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 69 (plus 476 low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 20.9 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 24 (1999)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 8,607 km
standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (1,524 km electrified) (1999)
Highways:
total: 382,397 km
paved: 95,599 km (including 1,726 km of expressways)
unpaved: 286,798 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: about 1,200 km
Pipelines: crude oil 1,738 km; petroleum products 2,321 km; natural gas 708 km
Ports and harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon
Merchant marine:
total: 547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,935,173 GRT/9,771,421 DWT
ships by type: bulk 155, cargo 244, chemical tanker 37, combination bulk 5, combination ore/oil 6, container 20, liquified gas 5, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 35, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off 22, short-sea passenger 9, specialized tanker 5 (1999 est.)
Airports: 118 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 82
over 3,047 m: 16
2,438 to 3,047 m: 27
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 16
under 914 m: 5 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 26 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1999 est.) |
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