Turkey

World Book Index

Introduction

Background
Reformer and national hero Mustafa KEMAL founded modern Turkey in 1923 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and NATO in 1952, with EU accession talks beginning in 2005. Turkey shifted from a parliamentary to a presidential system in 2017.

Geography

Area
total : 783,562 sq km
land: 769,632 sq km
water: 13,930 sq km

Climate
temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior

Natural resources
coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower

People and Society

Population
total: 84,119,531 (2024 est.)

Ethnic groups
Turkish 70-75%, Kurdish 19%, other minorities 6-11% (2016 est.)

Languages
Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages

Religions
Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)

Population growth rate
0.61% (2024 est.)

Government

Government type
presidential republic

Capital
name: Ankara

Executive branch
chief of state: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since 28 August 2014)
head of government: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since 9 July 2018)

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Sedat ÖNAL (since 17 June 2024)

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas J. BARRACK (since 14 May 2025)

Economy

Economic overview
upper-middle-income, diversified Middle Eastern economy; industrializing economy that maintains large agricultural base; key energy, tourism, and construction sectors; high inflation, interest rates, and foreign debt pose risk to financial stability

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$3.018 trillion (2024 est.)
$2.925 trillion (2023 est.)
$2.783 trillion (2022 est.)

Real GDP per capita
$35,300 (2024 est.)
$34,300 (2023 est.)
$32,700 (2022 est.)

Exports
$372.756 billion (2024 est.)
$357.588 billion (2023 est.)
$346.602 billion (2022 est.)

Exports - partners
Germany 9%, USA 6%, UK 6%, UAE 5%, Iraq 5% (2023)

Exports - commodities
garments, cars, gold, refined petroleum, vehicle parts/accessories (2023)

Imports
$367.022 billion (2024 est.)
$386.602 billion (2023 est.)
$383.7 billion (2022 est.)

Imports - partners
China 13%, Russia 9%, Germany 9%, Switzerland 6%, USA 5% (2023)

Imports - commodities
gold, refined petroleum, cars, plastics, natural gas (2023)

Human Development Index

The country's Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.853, ranking it 51st out of 193 countries tested. (more information)

World Happiness Report

The World Happiness Report ranked the country 110th out of 158 countries tested with a score of 4.879. (more information)