Key Facts when Traveling to Turkey
Location
Turkey is located in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria.
Land Area
Turkey is slightly larger than Texas and stretches over a total land area of 780,580 sq km, which 770,760 sq km is land and 9,820 sq km is water.
Climate
Turkey has a temperate climate with hot , dry summers and mild, wet winters. The inland has a little harsher weather conditions.
Natural Resources and Hazards
The known natural resources of Turkey is coal, iron ore, chromium, copper, mercury, antimony, gold, borate, barite, emery, feldspar, limestone, marble, magnesite, perlite, pyrites, pumice, clay, arable land, and hydropower. And the main natural hazards experienced in Turkey are very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmora to Lake Van.
Population and Employment
The population of Turkey is 69,660,559 (July 2005 est.) and the average labor force is 25.3 million, working mostly in agriculture 35.9%, industry 22.8% and services 41.2%. Turkey has a underemployment rate of 9.3 % and an underemployment rate of a possible 4.0% (2004 est.).
Religion
99.8% of Turkey's population are Muslims and the other 0.2% are mostly Christians and Jews.
Flag
Turkey's flag is red with a vertical white crescent and white five-pointed star centered just outside the crescent opening.
Economy
Turkey's active economy is a compound mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2004 still accounted for more than 35% of employment. It has a strong and fast growing private sector, thus so far the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system.
Agricultural Products and Main Industries
The main agricultural products in Turkey are tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus and livestock. The main industries in Turkey is textiles, food processing, autos, mining, steel, petroleum, construction, lumber and paper.
Infrastructure
Turkey has a diverse infrastructure with a total of 8,697 km of railways, 354,421 km of highways, 1,200 km of waterways, 9 port and harbors and 119 airports.
Capital
The capital of Turkey is Ankara with a population of 5,153,000 (2005 est.) people.
Time Zone
GMT plus 2 hours.
