The surface area of Turkey is 783562 km 2 and approximately 11.4% of this area is occupied by lakes and marshlands. 28.8% is forest land, 35.8% is cropland, 19% is grassland, 5% is settlements and other land. Turkey is situated between the subtropical zone and temperate zone.

Turkey is surrounded by sea on three sides, extension of the mountains and diverse nature of the landscape result in significant differences in climatic conditions from one region to the other. In the coastal regions of Turkey, milder climate is experienced due to the influence of the sea, and continental climate characteristics are seen in the inner parts of Turkey.

Turkey’s population was 56.47 million in 1990, it reached 79.81 million in 2016. The population is estimated to reach about 104.8 million in 2050. The population density for 2016 is 104 person/km 2 . The urban population increases while a decline is observed in the rural population since 1990. In 2016, 87.9% of the population lived in urban areas, and 12.1% of the population inhabited in rural areas.

The Turkish economy generally demonstrated growth in 1990-2016 period excepting economic crisis years of 1994, 2001, and 2008. Turkey’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 862.74 billion US Dollars in 2016.

The per capita GDP in 2016 was USD 10,883. Manufacturing industry had the highest contribution in GDP with 16.6% in 2016. It is followed by wholesale and retail trade with 11.4%, construction with 8.6%, real estate activities and 7.7%, transport and storage and 7.6% agriculture, forestry and fishing with 6.2%.