OFFICIAL NAME
The Republic of Turkey
(Türkiye Cumhuriyeti)

CAPITAL Ankara 4 million

MAJOR CITIES

Izmir 3.4 million Bursa 2.1 million Konya 2.2 million Adana 1.8 million

FOUNDER
Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK ( 1881-1938 )

AREA
814 578 square kilometers (314 500 square miles) % 3 on the European continent % 97 on the Asian continent  
  

REGIONS
Turkey has 80 administrative provinces and seven geographical regions. The first four of the seven regions are given the names the seas which are adjacent to them. - Black Sea Region - Marmara Region - Aegean Region - Mediterranean Region. The other three regions are named in accordance with their location in the whole of Anatolia. - Central Anatolia Region - Eastern Anatolia Region - Southeastern Anatolia Region

POPULATION 67.8 million (as of 2002)

LANGUAGE Turkish (uses Latin Alphabet)

CURRENCY New Turkish Lira

EDUCATION SYSTEM
Primary Education: Eight years; includes the education of children in the 6-14 age-group. Compulsory for all male and female citizens. Secondary Education: Consists of general and vocational-technical high schools that offer at least three years of education. Higher Education: Includes all educational institutions where an educational programme of at least two years over and above secondary education is implemented. These educate students at associate's, bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree levels.

RELIGION
% 99 of the population is Muslim. Turkey is the only country among Islamic countries, which has included secularism in her Constitution and guarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.

TIME
Local time is equal to GMT + 2 hours. Same time zone all over the country(seven hours ahead of U.S. -eastern standard time-)

ELECTRICITY
220 volts a.c. all over Turkey

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Metric and Kilo system