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Turkey - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Istanbul   14,000,000  
Ankara   3,600,000  
Izmir   3,100,000  
Adana   2,000,000  
Bursa   1,200,000  



Total population (millions): 71.7
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 67%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 1.4%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 774,820


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Turkish 78,9 %
Kurdish 19,5 %
Arab 1,6 %




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Ankara


GMT+2 in winter, GMT+3 in summer


Languages


Official language: Turkish.
Business language: English, French or German.

Free translation tools in Turkey :
Tranexp
Free English-Turkish-English translator of texts and web pages

Ectaco
English-Czech-Turkish Dictionary



Religion


Religious practises : Muslims 98%
Orthodox, Gregorian, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant 2%.


Political system


Turkey is a Parliamentary Republic. The President is appointed for a seven-year mandate with by Parliament's absolute majority. The last party controling power was the Well-Being Party, declared unconstitutional.
The land is organised by territory: divided in 79 provinces, each one ruled by the governor appointed for the task by the central government.
Capital: Ankara
Head of State: President Ahmed Necdet Seder (since May 16th of 2000
Prime minister: Bülent Ecevit (since january 11th of 1999.


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Turkey 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 12790   13341   16826   12
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


-In Istanbul: Topkapi palace, Dolmabahce palace, Hagia Sofia (formerly Holy basilica Sofie), Blue Mosque etc. The city of Istanbul is full of markets (bazaar), with notably Kapalicarsi which is a market hall built in 15-th century, but also Misir Carsisi (market specialized in spices), Beyoglu Balikpazari (specialized in fish).
- Cappadoce: the Anatolia museum
- Perganon: the Trajan's temple
- The natural and unique in the world Pamukkale's site in the South Aegean's region (terrace pond of salt).

For more information about tourism in Turkey , check out the following web site(s) :
Ministry of Tourism in Turkey
Informations portal on tourism in Turkey


Food


Traditional dishes


The Turkish food is famous worlwide for its variety and spicy dishes.
There are a lot of Turkish specialties, the main ones being:
The various Kebabs:
Roasted beef or chicken served either in sandwiches (Doner), or as convenience foods in restaurants: the Adana Kebab (minced beef on a wooden stick, served with a hot spicy sauce on "pide" bread), Yogurtlu Kebab (chopped beef with a yoghurt-based sauce), Sis kebab (beef, tomatoes, onions and peppers), tavuk sis (Lemon juice marinaded with chicken).
Karniyarik: stuffed eggplant often served with a spicy tomato sauce.
Lahmacun: Turkish pizza with minced meat (spicy or not).
Midye Tava: Mussels fritters with a garlic sauce (teratur).
Heap Kebab: small veal pieces marinaded in a tomato sauce and served with some pilau rice or fried potatoes.
The cacik: Turkish Soup with yoghurt, cucumber with mint. It is served cold.
Patlican tava: grilled eggplant.
Manti: Beef ravioli with a yoghurt sauce and tomato sauce, spicy or not.
Baklava and Kadayif: oriental cake prepared with pistachios and nuts and with a honey-based sauce.
Raki: very strong alcohol Turkish traditional drink anise-based - Equivalent of the Greek Ouzo.
Ayran: Yoghurt-based soft drink.
Cay: the very famous Turkish tea, the Turks drink it at any time.
Kahve: Turkish coffee which is very strong.

Food-related taboos


Eating pork is prohibited in Turkey.

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Last modified in October 2005
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