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LOCATION AND MAPS Turkey’s absolute location has the geographic coordinates 39 00 N and 35 00 E. The absolute location of its capital, Ankara, is 39 55 N, 32 55 E. Turkey is partially owned by Europe as well as Asia. The country’s relative location is in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. The Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea surround the country. Bulgaria, Syria, Georgia, and Greece border the country from nearly all sides. Turkey is in close proximity of many large bodies of water and contains two very well known rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Its ethnic groups compose mainly of the Turkish (80%) and Kurdish (20%) people. The country’s highest point is located at the peak of Mount Ararat and is 5,166 meters high. Turkey’s major cities are Ankara and Istanbul. Many of Turkey’s natural resources include but are not limited to: Coal, Iron Ore, Copper, Chromium, Antinomy, Mercury, and Gold. A high plateau called the Anatolia covers the majority of Turkey, yet coastal plains are where most of the country’s population clusters. MAPS POPULATION Turkey’s current population is approximately 68,893,918. The population growth rate is 1.13%. The total fertility rate is approximately 2 children/women. Some recent articles have mentioned that the current growth rate of Turkey is rapidly increasing and that by the end of this year Turkey’s population could exceed 72 million people. This rapid and steep increase in population is probably due to a variety of factors. A very recent factor that could increase the population is the large amount of new refugees coming from Iraq. The invasion into Iraq has dispersed people to surrounding countries like Turkey. Another factor could be the high amount of young females and males, who would reproduce quickly and exponentially. Turkey’s age-sex pyramid (below) shows a very broad-based pyramid structure. This indicates high fertility rates and high mortality rates. However, when compared to the age-sex pyramid of 1995 the country has decreased significantly in the fertility and mortality rates. Broad-based pyramids symbolize most developing countries. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tu.html. 2. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html 3. http://www.nationmaster.com/country/tu 4. http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/2/2003/12/31/story105.html 5. http://www.cnn.com/ CULTURE The major religion in Turkey is Sunni Islam (99.8%); the other 0.2% belongs to a very small minority of Christians and Jews. The culture harbors over five languages, which are: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, and Greek. Ethnicities in Turkey are mainly composed of the Turkish (80%) and Kurdish (20%). The sex ratio is 1.02 male per female or 49.50% female and 50.50% male. Turkish culture has its roots all the way back to the Ottoman Empire, so many Turkish architectural forms and traditions are very similar to Ottoman architecture and traditions. A very current event in Turkey and many other Muslim countries was the start of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ‘holy month’ in which many Muslims fast for about 30 days. The holy month of Ramadan represents Turkish culture because large majorities of the people (99.8%) are Muslim. Turkish culture may also play a role in population due to the role of women in the society. POLITICS Turkey’s government-type is a republican parliamentary democracy. The official capital of Turkey is Ankara. Ahmet Necdet Sezer is the current president of the Republic of Turkey. The government is split up into judiciary, executive, and legislative branches. Recently, a small civil war between the Kurdish people in the East has come about. They are demanding that the Turkish government gives the Kurdish community greater political and cultural rights. The Turkish government has not responded to any of their demands. A very large organization of Turkey’s government is the foreign policy institute AGRICULTURE AND RURAL LAND USE Turkey’s main agricultural exports and products are: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus, and livestock. Its amount of arable land is relatively high (30.91%) and most of it is used for farming or agricultural purposes. Agriculture serves a large part to Turkey’s economy and a majority of the workers are in the agricultural industry. However, Turkey is fortunately becoming more industrialized and currently the agricultural industry only accounts for about 15% of the total economy. Turkish diet revolves around many fruits, vegetables, and grains, but now higher incomes are increasing demands for meat and ‘exotic foods’. The current population increase in Turkey has sparked a higher demand for food and supplies. The chart below shows the rapid increase in the amount of food production since the 1990’s. If the amount of industrialization possibly coincided with the amount of agriculture production, then the food production could become more efficient. CITIES AND URBAN LAND USE The two main and major Turkish cities are Istanbul and Ankara. Istanbul is alongside the Black Sea and many other bodies of water so it has many trading ports for commerce and trade. Ankara is the country’s capital and is the center for government.