Western Sahara (2004) | Turkey (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock |
Airports | 11 (2003 est.) | 120 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
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) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
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: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 780,580 sq km
land: 770,760 sq km water: 9,820 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly larger than Texas |
Background | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. | 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. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 17.95 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues: $42.4 billion
expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001) |
Capital | none | Ankara |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
Coastline | 1,110 km | 7,200 km |
Constitution | - | 7 November 1982 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form: Republic of Turkey
conventional short form: Turkey local long form: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti local short form: Turkiye |
Currency | Moroccan dirham (MAD) | Turkish lira (TRL) |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $118.3 billion (September 2001 ) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | 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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | 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 |
Disputes - international | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991 but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | 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 |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | ODA, $300 million (1993) (2000) |
Economy - overview | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2001) | 114.19 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 437 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 3.791 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2001) | 119.18 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 74%
hydro: 26% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic |
Environment - international agreements | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Arab, Berber | Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% |
Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 9.574 (2003), 11.584 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999) | 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) |
Executive branch | none | 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 |
Exports | NA (2001) | $37.6 billion f.o.b. (2002) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | Germany 17.2%, US 10.0%, Italy 7.5%, UK 6.9%, France 6.0%, Russia 2.9% (2001) |
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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $468 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 13%
industry: 30% services: 57% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 4.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 39 00 N, 35 00 E |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | 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: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
total: 382,059 km
paved: 106,976 km (including 1,726 km of expressways) unpaved: 275,083 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 32% (1994) |
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 |
Imports | NA (2001) | $43.9 billion c.i.f. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2000) | Germany 12.9%, Italy 8.4%, Russia 8.3%, US 7.9%, France 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2001 est.) |
Independence | - | 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 8.5% (2002 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
45.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 45.2% (2002) |
International organization participation | none | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 50 (2001) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 42,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Constitutional Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeals (judges are elected by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors) |
Labor force | 12,000 | 23.8 million (2001 3rd quarter)
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | agriculture 40%, services 38%, industry 22% (2001) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
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 |
Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land: 34.53%
permanent crops: 3.36% other: 62.11% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek |
Legal system | - | derived from various European continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population: 71.52 years
male: 69.15 years female: 74.01 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85% male: 94% female: 77% (2000) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | 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 |
Map references | Africa | Middle East |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | 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 |
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.) |
Military branches | - | Land Forces, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | $8.1 billion (2002 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | 4.5% (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 19,219,177 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 11,623,675 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 20 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 674,805 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 29 October (1923) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi,Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun: Turk(s)
adjective: Turkish |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility | very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | 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] |
Population | 267,405 (July 2004 est.) | 67,308,928 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | NA | 1.2% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 16, FM 107, shortwave 6 (2001) |
Radios | - | 11.3 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total: 8,607 km
standard gauge: 8,607 km 1.435-m gauge (2,131 km electrified) (2001) |
Religions | Muslim | Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews) |
Sex ratio | NA | 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.) |
Suffrage | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 19.5 million (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 17.1 million (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 635 (plus 2,934 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia) |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 2.07 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | 10.8% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | 1,200 km (approximately) |