Geography


    Source: This image is the intellectual property of Rei-artur. Redistribution under licence CC BY-SA 3.0

    Area: 783,562 km2 (1,78% water)
    Coastline: 7,200 km
    Terrain: Narrow coastal plain, high plateau in central Turkey and several mountain ranges
    Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m (close to the Armenian and Iranian borders)
    Climate: Hot and dry summers, mild and wet winters. Heavier winters in the interior
    Geographical population distribution: About 20% of the population lives in Constantinople. The rest of the population is distributed across the whole country
    Natural resources: coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, mercury, antimony, gold, barite, borate, celestite, emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites, clay, hydropower

    Demographics

    Population: 84,339,070 (2020)

    Annual population growth: 1.1% (2020)

    Population estimate 2025: 86,705,000

    Population distribution by age group (2020):
    0-14 – 24%
    15-64 – 67%
    65+ – 9%

    Fertility rate (births per woman): 2.1 (2019)

    Birth rate (births per 1000 people): 16 (2019)

    Death rate (deaths per 1000 people): 5 (2019)

    Median age 29.9 years (2015)

    Life expectancy (at birth): 78 years (2019)
    Males – 75 years
    Females– 81 years

    Net migration: 1,420,000 people (2017)

    Language: Turkish is the official language

    Religious groups: Sunni Muslims 83.7%, Shia Muslims (mainly Alawites) 14.5%, Non-religious/atheists 1.1%, Other religions 0.6% (2015)

    Ethnic groups: Turks 64.35%, Kurds 23.03%, Arabs 2.15%, Others 10.47% (2013)

    Economy

    GDP: $720.5 bil (2020)

    GDP per capita: $8,536.4 (2020)

    GDP annual growth rate: 1.8% (2020)

    Public debt (% GDP): 30.4% (2018)

    Inflation (CPI): 12.3% (2020)

    Unemployment 13.9% (2020)

    Imports: $210.3 bil (2019)

    5 largest import partners (% total imports - 2019): Russian Federation 10.99%, Germany 9.17%, China 9.17%, Unspecified 7.20%, United States 5.63%

    Exports$180.8 bil (2019)
    5 largest export partners (% total exports - 2019): Germany 9.19%, United Kingdom 6.24%, Iraq 5.65%, Italy 5.39%, United States 4.96%

    Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum)
    62.1/100 (2019 – position 61/141)

    Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation)
    64.0/100 (2021 – position 76/180)

    Income Inequality Index (Gini – World Bank)
    41.9% (2019)

    Prosperity Index (Legatum Institute)
    55.42/100 (2021 – position 93/167)

    Military Power

    Active personnel: 425,000
    Army: 325,000
    Navy: 50,000
    Airforce: 50,000
    Gendarmerie: 150,000 (2021)

    Defence expenditure (% GDP): 2.8% (2020)

    Politics and Government

    Form of government: Presidential

    President: Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2014 – Prime Minster from 2003 to 2014)

    Executive branch: Executive power is exercised by the President and the Council of Ministers. The President is head of state and the government. He is elected for a 5-year term and has the right to serve up to 2 terms. The Ministers are appointed by the President.

    Legislative branch: The Grand National Assembly is the country’s parliament and legislative authority. It consists of 600 members which are elected directly by citizens for a 5-year term.

    Judicial branch: Turkey has 3 higher courts: the Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and the Council of State. The Constitutional Court is comprised of 15 members, of which 3 are appointed by the Parliament and rest by the President of the Republic. The judges of the Court of Cassation are appointed by the Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors which consists of 13 members, of which 4 are appointed by the President and 9 by the Parliament. The Council of Judges and Pubic Prosecutors appoints 75% of the Council of State’s members while 25% are appointed by the President of the Republic.

    Parliamentary parties (seats): AKP (295), CHP (146), HDP (67), MHP (49), iyi Parti (43)

    Last elections: Local elections 2019 – AKP 42.55%, CHP 29.81%, iyi Parti 7.76%, ΜHP 7.44%, ΗDP 4.52%, Others 7.92%. Voter turnout was 84,67%
    Next elections: Presidential and parliamentary elections in 2023

    Rule of Law - Human Rights

    Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)
    40/100 (2020 - position 86/180)

    Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project)
    0.43/1 (2020 - position 107/128)

    Global Terrorism Index (Institute for Economics & Peace)
    6.533/10 (2019 – position 16/163)

    Fragile States Index (Fund For Peace)
    79.7/120 (2021 – position 57/179)

    Democracy Index (Economist Intelligence Unit)
    4.48/10 (2020 – position 104/167)

    Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders)
    49.79/100 (2021 – position 153/180)

    Freedom in the World Index (Freedom House)
    34/100 (2021)

    Sources

    United Nations (UN – Population Division, UNdata, UNcomtrade), World Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED – St. Louis Fed), Trading Economics, Composition of Religious and Ethnic Group Project (CREG – Cline Center for Advanced Social Research, University of Illinois), Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS – Military Balance), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), NationMaster