Official Name: The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti)
Founder: Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK ( 1881-1938 ) Capital: ANKARA Population: 65.3 million (as of 2000) Language: Turkish (uses Latin Alphabet) Currency: Turkish Lira (TL) Electricity: 220 volts a.c. all over Turkey Weights and Measures: Metric and Kilo system Flag: Red background with a white crescent and star in the
middle
Turkey is surrounded by sea on three sides, by the Black Sea in
the North, the Mediterranean in the south and the Aegean Sea in
the West. In the north-west there is also an important internal
sea, the Sea of Marmara, between the straits of the Dardanelles
and the Bosphorus. Turkey has 80 administrative provinces and seven
geographical regions.
Location
Eastern Mediterranean. Located on two contitents Europe and Asia.
The European part of Turkey is called Thrace, while the Asian part
is called Anatolia or ( Asia Minor )
Area
814 578 Km2 (314 500 square miles)
% 3 on the European continent
% 97 on the Asian continent
Coastline: 8333 Km. (5000 miles)
Major Cities
Istanbul 9.2 million
Ankara 3.7 million
Izmir 3.1 million
Konya 1.9 million
Adana 1.7 million
Bursa 1.2 million
Religion
% 99 of the population is Muslim . Turkey is a secular state that
quarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.
Government
Turkey is democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule
of law; committed to the nationalism of Atatürk and based on the
principle of the separation of powers;
Legislative Power: The Turkish Grand National Assembly
Executive Power:President and the Council of Ministers.
Judicial Power:Independent courts and supreme judiciary
organs.
Famous Landmarks
Ayasofya Museum, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Dolmabahçe Palace,
ancient City of Troy, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Pergamon, Pamukkale,
Göreme- Cappadocia, Mt.Nemrut, Safranbolu
Some important products
As of 1998, Turkey has the first place in the world in terms of
hard-shell nuts, fig and apricot production, the fourth place in
fresh vegetables, grape and tobacco production and the seventh place
in wheat and cotton production. Turkish delight and helva are famous
throughout the world.
Turkey is among the leading countries in textiles and ready to wear
clothing production. The exports of this sector constitutes 36 percent
of total industrial exports. The leather processing industry is
also very developed in Turkey both in terms of technological level
and high production capacity and comes after textiles in terms of
export figures.
Time Local time is equal to GMT + 2 hours. Same time zone all over
the country ( seven hours ahead of U.S. -eastern standard time-
)
Population According to the results of the General Population Determination
executed in November 1997, the population of Turkey is 62.8 millions.
There is a tendency for decreasing in the population growth rate
in recent years. The annual population growth rate between years
1990-1997 had been determined to be 15.1 in one thousand. If the
population growth rate is assumed to be stable, the calculated and
expected population of Turkey in the midst of the year 2000 would
reach to 65,3 millions. The most important characteristic of the
population in Turkey is the amount of young population. Turkey is
among the fastest urbanizing countries of the world. The general
sexuality ratio in Turkey is 103 men for each 100 women. This result
is obtained from the 1990 Population Count. Marmara Region, which
is the most rapidly developing region of Turkey in the fields of
commerce and industry has the most concentrated and dense population.
Furthermore, the population is concentrated among the river banks
and plains suitable for agriculture.
Language Turkish is the native tongue of 90 percent of the population
in Turkey. Turks had used numerous written tongues since 8th century
but the most common alphabets used by the Turks are the Kök Turk,
Uygur, Arabic and Latin alphabets.
After the declaration of republic and the completion of the national
unification, especially between 1923-1928 years, the problem of
the alphabet is discussed and debated. In order to carry the new
Turkish Republic to the modern civilization level, Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk, the founder of the Republic had believed to use the Western
Culture and Civilization and therefore with this aim Latin letters
which are rearranged in a manner that they are convenient to the
vocal structure of the Turkish language are accepted instead of
the Arabic alphabet which was currently in use in 1928.
The Historic development of Turkish Language as a written tongue:
Ancient Turkish (VI - X Century) : The language used in Uygur tongue
written documents with the Orhon and Yenisey Inscriptions.
Intermediate Turkish (XI - XV Century) : This language certifies
the period between the first Islamic written document and completion
of the formation of the new written Turkish dialects. (Anatolian
Turkish - Azerbaijani Turkish - Turkoman Turkish)
New Turkish (XV - XX Century) : (Uzbek language - Kipchak Language)
In Anatolia, a written language called Ottoman language which was
developed from Oğuz language was used during this period.
Modern Turkish (XX Century) : The modern Turkish includes the Turkish
dialects used in various locations all around the world in XX. Century.
In this century, Turkey Turkish language is used in Anatolia.
Turkish is located among the ending languages in the world tongue
classification. The root of the words are not altered while the
word structure and declination. The declinations and building of
the words are executed by the affixes. The order of the words and
affixes are as "root + building affix + declination affix"
.
There are 29 letters in Turkish language in the Republic period
Latin letters. ç,ğ,ı,ö,ş letters are peculiar only to Turkish alphabet.
Religion 99 % of the Turkish population is Muslims. Turkey is a secular
government and therefore the members of other religions are free
to realize their religious activities and ceremonies.
