Area:
779,452 sq km (300,948 sq miles).

Population:
64,385,000 (1999)

Population Density:
82.6 per sq km.

Capital:
Ankara. Population: 2, 937,524 (1997).

Geography:
Turkey borders the Black Sea and Georgia and Armenia to the northeast, Iran to the east, Iraq to the southeast, Syria and the Mediterranean to the south, the Aegean Sea to the west and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Asia Minor (or Anatolia) accounts for 97 per cent of the country and forms a long, wide peninsula 1650km (1025 miles) from east to west and 650km (400 miles) from north to south. Two east-west mountain ranges, the Black Sea Mountains in the north and the Taurus in the south, enclose the central Anatolian plateau, but converge in a vast mountainous region in the far east of the country. It is here that the ancient Tigris and Euphrates rivers rise.

Government:
Republic since 1923. Head of State: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer since 2000. Head of Government: Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit since 1999.

Language:
Turkish. Kurdish is also spoken by a minority in the Southeast. French, German and English are widely spoken in cities.

Religion:
Muslim with a small Christian minority. Turkey is a secular state which guarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.

Time:
GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

Electricity:
220 volts AC, 50Hz.

Communications:

Telephone:
IDD is available. Country code: 90. Outgoing international code: 00. There is an extensive internal telephone network, but often an interpreter will be needed for more remote areas. To phone from PTT telephone booths, which are found in all areas, telephone cards and tokens are used. Local, intercity and international calls can be made from all PTT offices.

Fax:
All hotels and PTT offices have facilities.

Internet/E-mail:
Main ISPs include: EfesNet (website: www.efes.net.tr). Internet cafes exist in main urban areas.

Telegram:
These may be sent from all post offices.

Post Office:
Airmail to Europe takes three days. Turkish post offices are recognisable by their yellow PTT signs. Major post offices open 0800-2000 Monday to Saturday and 0900-1900 Sunday. Small post offices have the same opening hours as government offices. It is also possible to use the 'Valuables Despatch Service' for valuable belongings or important documents.