POPULATION
Population: 65.666.677 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years: 29% (male 9.722.217; female 9.375.920)
15-64 years: 65% (male 21.671.638; female 20.966.110)
65 years and over: 6% (male 1.811.599; female 2.119.193) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate
1.27% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 18.65 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 5.96 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
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 (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 48.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 70.97 years
male: 68.63 years
female: 73.41 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.16 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Area
It covers an area of 780.580 square-km (land: 770.760 sq km((301.383 sq mi) water: 9.820 sq km)
Location
It takes place between Asia and Europe, at a very strategic location. Turkey has 7 different geographical regions; Marmara Region makes the biggest contribution to the national production whereas Eastern Anatolian Region makes the least contribution to the national GDP.
Neighbors
Turkey's neighbors are Bulgaria(240 km) and Greece(206 km)in the northwest; Georgia(252 km),Armenia(268 km) and Azerbaijan(9 km) in the northeast; Iran (499 km)and Iraq (331 km) in the east, Syria (822 km)in the southeast and Cyprus in the south.
Language
The official language is Turkish.Turkish Language is of Ural-Altaic origin, that is from the same origin as Finnish, Hungarian, Japanese and Korean. It's a suffix-based language which is read as it is written. The alphabet used in Turkey is the Latin alphabet with some minor changes. There are also Arabic and Kurdish speaking regions.
Currency
The official currency unit is called "Turkish Lira". However, because of high inflation and everdecreasing value of T.L against the USD, EUR, GBP etc., you can easily use USD or EUR in your daily transactions.., for instance tipping the restaurants, hotels or in the big department stores. In Turkey, the use of credit cards is also very popular!!
Electricity
The electricity in Turkey is of the 220 V,50-cycle variety. The two-round prong European plug will work here but have a converter with you in case you use any 110V machine.
Tap Water
Soft and safe to drink but heavily chlorinated, prefer bottled mineral water. Different bottled water brands has different Fr. and PH levels but Erikli and Pinar Madran are two softest brands.
Working Hours
Governmental Offices work 8:00-12.00 a.m / 1.00 p.m-5.00 pm. Banks:8:30-12.00 a.m / 1.30 p.m-05.30 p.m. Private companies:Usually 09:00-12.00 a.m / 1.00-6.00 p.m.
Time Difference
Australia:+8 , Belgium:-1 , Canada:-7 , Denmark:-1 , England:-2 , Germany:-1
Japan:+7 ,Sweden:-1, Spain:-1 , Italy:-1 , Greece:0 , Israel:0 ,Egypt:0 France:-1
China:+6 , USA:-7(NYC)/-10(San Fransisco).
Religion
The 99.8% of the population is Muslim(overwhelmingly sunni). The rest 0.2% of the population is Jewish or Christian.There was a big Greek minority over the past years in Istanbul and they were representing the Greek-Orthodox society. The majority of the Jews living in Istanbul are Sephardis who came to Turkey from Spain after the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century...There are many synagogues and churches as well as mosques in Istanbul...They will be mentioned in the following sections.
Economy
Turkey is a fastly developing country with its tourism, automotive(both manufacturing and assembling),textiles,services, construction(steel and cement factories), food and agriculture. Turkey has always been an agricultural country after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey but after 1970s, thanks to the enterpreneurs and incentive policies of the governments, the industry made a considerable development. Exports of certain goods, such as cotton,dried figs and apricots,nuts and herbs still covers a big share of Turkish economy.
home | regions | yachting | car hire | tips for travellers | FAQ
All Rights Reserved © 2007