Download Republic of Turkey

Republic of Turkey
BACKGROUND
Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated
Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title
Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted
wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an
experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition
Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power.
In 1997, the military helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern
coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government.
Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey
became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade, it has
undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy enabling it to begin
accession membership talks with the European Union.
POPULATION
Population:
71,158,647 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
24.9% (male 9,034,731/female 8,703,624)
15-64 years:
68.1% (male 24,627,270/female 23,857,507)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 2,253,383/female 2,682,132)
Population growth:
1.04%
Ethnic groups:
Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
Languages:
Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli, Azeri, Kabardian
GEOGRAPHY
Geographical note:
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
Climate:
temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Natural resources: coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite,
borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite,
marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower
Environmental issues:
water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents;
air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil
spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic
ECONOMY
Currency:
Exchange rate:
Turkish lira (TRY)
£1 = 2.5 Turkish lira (Oct 07)
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Economy overview:
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern
industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still
accounts for more than 35% 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 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. However, other sectors, notably the
automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Turkey's
export mix. 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. The economy is turning around with the implementation of economic
reforms, and 2004 GDP growth reached 9%, followed by roughly 5% annual
growth from 2005-06. Inflation fell to 7.7% in 2005 - a 30-year low but climbed
back to 9.8% in 2006.
Despite the strong economic gains from 2002-06, which were largely due to
renewed investor interest in emerging markets, IMF backing, and tighter fiscal
policy, the economy is still burdened by a high current account deficit and high
debt.
GDP:
$640.4 billion (2006 est.)
Purchasing power parity
6.1%
GDP growth:
GDP composition: agriculture: 9.3%
industry: 31%
services: 59.7%
Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite,
copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
TRANSPORTATION
Paved Airports:
117
Merchant marine: total: 565 ships (1000 GRT or over) 4,663,353 GRT/7,039,492
DWT
by type: bulk carrier 96, cargo 262, chemical tanker 58, combination
ore/oil 1, container 30, liquefied gas 7, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 48,
petroleum tanker 32, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 25, specialized
tanker
1
foreign-owned: 8 (China 1, Cyprus 2, Germany 1, Italy 3, UAE 1)
registered in other countries: 470 (Albania 1, Antigua and Barbuda 7,
Bahamas 5, Belize 11, Cambodia 20, Comoros 8, Cyprus 1, Dominica 9,
Georgia 23, Isle of Man 2, Italy 1, Kiribati 1, North Korea 1, Liberia 7,
Malta 143, Marshall Islands 41, Netherlands Antilles 12, Panama 53, Russia
70, Sierra Leone 7, Slovakia 11, St Kitts and Nevis 13, St Vincent and The
Grenadines 20, Tuvalu 1, UK 2, unknown 3)
Ports:
Aliaga, Ambarli, Eregli, Haydarpasa, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit),
Torosy
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TRADE
Trade with the UK: Turkey is one of the world's most rapidly industrialising markets. It
is also a major trading partner of the UK.
There are now some 430 British companies operating in Turkey. In
addition, Turkish investment in the UK is also growing with some 65
companies now active in the UK.
In 2005 the UK exported £2.6bn in goods and services to Turkey, making
it Britain’s 23rd biggest export market.
The volume of UK-Turkey bilateral trade reached $12 billion in 2006 and
the UK is Turkey’s 2nd largest export market. British firms cover a wide
range of sectors, with over 41 British companies investing in Turkey, such
as BP, Shell, Vodafone, Unilever (UK), HSBC, Aviva, Tesco, and Cadbury
Schweppes.
Exports:
$91.89 billion f.o.b (2006 est.)
Export commodities:
equipment
apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport
Export partners:
Germany 11.3%, UK 8%, Italy 7.9%, US 6%, France 5.4%, Spain
4.4%
Imports:
$132.1 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Import commodities:
equipment
machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport
Import partners: Germany 13.9%, China 9.7%, Ukraine 7%, Japan 5.9%, South
Korea 5.1%, US 4.8%, France 4.4%, Italy 4.3%
FURTHER INFORMATION
•
•
Internet domain
International dialling code
tr.
090
British Consulate General - UK Trade & Investment Department
Mesrutiyet Cad No 34
Tepebasi
Beyoglu-Istanbul
Phone: +90 212 334 6580
THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF TURKEY
Mesrutiyet Caddesi, 18, Asli Han, Kat 6
Galatasaray 80050 ISTANBUL
Phone: + 90 (0) 212 249 0420 - 249 0658
Web site: www.bcct.org.tr
Business Vantage Ltd
14 Park Street, Windsor. SL4 1LU