29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
15 August 1945 (from Japan)
Religions
Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)
Christian 26.3% (Protestant 19.7%, Roman Catholic 6.6%), Buddhist 23.2%, other or unknown 1.3%, none 49.3% (1995 census)
Languages
Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian note: there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the European part of Turkey
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
Exports
apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment
semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals
External Debt
$306,600,000,000 $
$397,300,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Turkish liras (TRY) per US dollar - 1.3179 (2008 est.), 1.319 (2007), 1.4286 (2006), 1.3436 (2005), 1.4255 (2004) note: on 1 January 2005 the old Turkish lira (TRL) was converted to new Turkish lira (TRY) at a rate of 1,000,000 old to 1 new Turkish lira; on 1 January 2009 the Turkish government dropped the word "new" and the currency is now called simply the Turkish lira
South Korean won (KRW) per US dollar - 1,101.7 (2008 est.), 929.2 (2007), 954.8 (2006), 1,024.1 (2005), 1,145.3 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
5.300%
2.700%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
8
31
Location
Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria
Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea
Area
783,562 km sq
99,720 km sq
Coastline
7,200 km
2,413 km
Climate
temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter
