|
People
Culture
Bridging Europe and Asia Minor, Turkey is a land of geographic, economic, and social contrasts. Slightly larger than Texas, modern Turkey spans bustling cosmopolitan centers, pastoral farming villages, barren wastelands, peaceful Aegean coastlines, and steep mountain regions. More than half of Turkey's population lives in urban areas that juxtapose Western lifestyles with traditional-style mosques and markets. Most Turks, however, work in agriculture. Although Turkey is still a developing country, recent improvements in services have resulted in the proliferation of electricity nationwide and telephone connections for all its 34,500 villages.
Turkish culture, rich in Ottoman and folkloric elements, is traditional and modern. Turkish carpet weaving is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Ceramics and other Ottoman-era crafts retain their varied regional character.
Modern Turkish cultural life dates from the 1923 founding of the republic and early efforts to Westernize Turkish society. As a result, the arts, literature, drama, and classical and contemporary music have flourished. State support of cultural activities is extensive and encompasses a national network of theaters, orchestras, opera and ballet companies, university fine arts academies, and various conservatories. Public funds also are used to provide partial support for private theater groups and for major art exhibits and festivals.
Cultural Demography
Turkey's estimated total population is approximately 73 million. Approximately 80 percent of the population is ethnic Turks. Turks of Kurdish origin constitute both an ethnic as well as a linguistic group. Estimates of their population range up to 20 percent of the total population. Although an increasing number have migrated to the cities, the traditional home of the Kurds is in poor, remote areas of the east and southeast, where incomes are less than half the national average and all other economic and social indicators lag.
Turkish is the official language. Kurdish, Arabic, Albanian, Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Domani, Romani, Ladion, Serbian and Tartar are living languages in Turkey.
In terms of religious affiliations, it is estimated that over 99 percent of the population is Muslim. Turkey, however, has been a secular state since 1924. Turkish Muslims are predominantly Sunni; however, Turkey is also the home to Alawi Muslims. As well, small minorities of Christian and Jewish communities are also residents. The appeal of political Islam and the Kurdish insurgency continue to fuel public debate on several aspects of Turkish society, including the role of religion, the necessity for human rights protections, and the expectation of security.
Human Development
According to recent estimates, residents of Turkey have an average life expectancy at birth of 71.8 years (69.41 years for males, 74.3 years for females). The infant mortality rate is 44.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. Research estimates range from 82 to 86.5 percent literacy for the total population, age 15 and older. By gender, this range amounts to approximately 94.3 percent of males, 78.7 percent of females being able to read and write. Access to water and sanitation in this country is regarded to be very good. A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Turkey in the high human development category at 83rd place. Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com . See Bibliography for list of general research sources.
|