1989 Edition

Climate

temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south

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

Coastline

7,200 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Texas

Disputes

complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR

Environment

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

subject to severe earthquakes, especially along major river valleys in west; air pollution; desertification

Extended economic zone

in Black Sea only — to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the USSR

Land boundaries

2,715 km total; Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km, USSR 617 km

Land use

20% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 47% other; includes 1% irrigated

30% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 12% meadows and pastures; 26% forest and woodland; 28% other; includes 3% irrigated

Natural resources

crude oil, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt

antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore

Note

strategic location in central Mediterranean; only 144 km from Italy across the Strait of Sicily; borders Libya on east

strategic location controlling the Turkish straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Turkey and Norway only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR

Terrain

mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara

mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)

Territorial sea

6 nm (12 nm in Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea)

Total area

780,580 km2; land area: 770,760 km2

Birth rate

28 births/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

29 births/ 1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

6 deaths/ 1,000 population (1990)

8 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

98% Arab, 1% European, less than 1% Jewish

85% Turkish, 1 2% Kurd, 3% other

Infant mortality rate

40 deaths/ 1 ,000 live births (1990)

74 deaths/ 1 ,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

2,250,000; 32% agriculture; shortage of skilled labor

1 8,800,000; 56% agriculture, 30% services, 14% industry; about 1,000,000 Turks work abroad (1987)

Language

Arabic (official); Arabic and French (commerce)

Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 70 years female (1990)

64 years male, 67 years female (1990)

Literacy

62% (est.)

70%

Nationality

noun — Tunisian(s); adjective — Tunisian

noun — Turk(s); adjective-^ Turkish

Net migration rate

0 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

0 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

about 360,000 members claimed, roughly 20% of labor force; General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), quasi-independent of Constitutional Democratic Party

10-15% of labor force

Population

8,095,492 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)

56,704,327 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)

Religion

98% Muslim, 1% Christian, less than 1% Jewish

98% Muslim (mostly Sunni), 2% other (mostly Christian and Jewish)

Total fertility rate

4.0 children born/ woman (1990) Tunisia (continued)

3.6 children born/ woman (1990)

Administrative divisions

23 governorates (wilSyat, singular — wilSyah); Al Kaf, Al Mahdlyah, Al MunastTr, Al Qasrayn, Al Qayrawan, ArySnah, Bajah, Banzart, Bin 'ArQs, Jundubah, Madanln, Nabul, Qabis, Qafsah, QibilT, Safaqis, SidT Bu Zayd, Silyanah, Susah, Tajawln, Tawzar, Tflnis, Zaghwan

67 provinces (iller, singular — il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Giimushane. Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kirklareli, Kirs,ehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kiitahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus,, Nev$ehir, Nigde, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Urfa, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak; note — there may be four new provinces named Aksaray, Bayburt, Karaman, and Kirikkale

Capital

Tunis

Ankara

Communists

a small number of nominal Communists, mostly students

strength and support negligible

Constitution

1 June 1959

7 November 1982

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Abdelaziz HAMZAOUI; Chancery at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005; telephone (202) 8621850; US— Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at 144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 TunisBelvedere; telephone [216] (1) 782-566

Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR; Chancery at 1606 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-3200; there are Turkish Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US — Ambassador Morton ABRAMOWITZ; Embassy at 1 10 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara (mailing address is APO New York 09254—0001); telephone [90] (4) 126 54 70; there are US Consulates General in Istanbul and Izmir, and a Consulate in Adana

Elections

President — last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994); results — Gen. Zine el Abidine Ben Aliwas reelected without opposition; National Assembly — last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994); results— RCD 80.7%, independents/ Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, others 2.4% seats— (141 total) RCD 141

Grand National Assembly — last held 29 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results— ANAP 36%, SHP 25%, CWP 19%, others 20%; seats— (450 total) ANAP 283, SHP 81, CWP 56, independents 26, vacant 4

Executive branch

president, prime minister. Cabinet

president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister. Cabinet

Flag

red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam

red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered on the hoist side

Independence

20 March 1 956 (from France)

29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)

Judicial branch

Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)

Court of Cassation

Leaders

Chief of State — President Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI (since 7 November 1987); Head of Government — Prime Minister Hamed KAROUI (since 26 September 1989) Political parties and leaders: Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (RCD), President Ben Ali (official ruling party); Movement of Democratic Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri; five other political parties are legal, including the Communist Party

Chief of State — President Turgut OZAL (since 9 November 1989); Head of Government — Prime Minister Yildirim AKBULUT (since 9 November 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Ali BOZER (since 31 March 1989) Political parties and leaders: Motherland Party (ANAP), Yildirim Akbulut; Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), Erdal Inonfl; Correct Way Party (CWP), Siileyman Demirel; Democratic Left Party (DLP), Biilent Ecevit; Prosperity Party (RP), Necmettin Erbakan; National Work Party (MCP), Alpaslan Tiirke$; Reform Democratic Party (I DP), Aykut Edibal!

Legal system

based on French civil law system and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session

derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

unicameral Grand National Assembly (Biiyiik Millet Meclisi)

Long-form name

Republic of Tunisia; note — may be changed to Tunisian Republic

Republic of Turkey

Member of

AfDB, Arab League, AIOEC, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, I FAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, EC (associate member), ECOSOC, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB — Islamic Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, I MO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OECD, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

National holiday

National Day, 20 March (1956)

Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923) Turkey (continued)

Suffrage

universal at age 20

universal at age 21

Type

republic

republican parliamentary democracy

Agriculture

accounts for 16% of GDP and one-third of labor force; output subject to severe fluctuations because of frequent droughts; export crops — olives, dates, oranges, almonds; other products — grain, sugar beets, wine grapes, poultry, beef, dairy; not self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 99,200 metric tons (1986)

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $694 million; Western (nonUS) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.6 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $684 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $410 million

Budget

revenues $2.9 billion; expenditures $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.8 billion (1989 est.)

Currency

Tunisian dinar (plural — dinars); 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes

Electricity

1,493,000 kW capacity; 4,210 million kWh produced, 530 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1— 0.9055 (January 1990), 0.9493 (1989), 0.8578 (1988), 0.8287 (1987), 0.7940(1986), 0.8345(1985)

Exports

$3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities— hydrocarbons, agricultural products, phosphates and chemicals; partners—EC 73%, Middle East 9%, US 1%, Turkey, USSR

External debt

$7.6 billion (December 1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$8.7 billion, per capita $1,105; real growth rate 3.1% (1989 est.)

Imports

$4.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities— industrial goods and equipment 57%, hydrocarbons 1 3%, food 1 2%, consumer goods; partners — EC 68%, US 7%, Canada, Japan, USSR, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria

Industrial production

growth rate 3.5% (1988)

Industries

petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore), textiles, footwear, food, beverages

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10% (1989)

Overview

The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates, and tourism for continued growth. Two successive drought-induced crop failures have strained the government's budget and increased unemployment. The current account fell from a $23 million surplus in 1988 to a $390 million deficit in 1989. Despite its foreign payments problems, Tunis appears committed to its IMF-supported structural adjustment program. Nonetheless, the government may have to slow its implementation to head off labor unrest. The increasing foreign debt — $7.6 billion at yearend 1989 — is also a key problem. Tunis probably will seek debt relief in 1990.

The economic reforms that Turkey launched in 1980 continue to bring an impressive stream of benefits. The economy has grown steadily since the early 1980s, with real growth in per capita GDP increasing more than 6% annually. Agriculture remains the most important economic sector, employing about 60% of the labor force, accounting for almost 20% of GDP, and contributing about 25% to exports. Impressive growth in recent years has not solved all of the economic problems facing Turkey. Inflation and interest rates remain high, and a large budget deficit will continue to provide difficulties for a country undergoing a substantial transformation from a centrally controlled to a free market economy. The government has launched a multimillion-dollar development program in the southeastern region, which includes the building of a dozen dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to generate electric power and irrigate large tracts of farmland. The planned tapping of huge quantities of Euphrates water has raised serious concern in the downstream riparian nations of Syria and

Unemployment rate

25% (1989)

Airports

30 total, 28 usable; 1 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 7 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Civil air

13 major transport aircraft

Defense expenditures

2.7% of GDP, or $235 million (1989 est.) 400 k-r Black Sea jf ANKARA Siv(1, Erxurum Mediterranean Sea Spe rrcJonal map VI

Highways

17,700 km total; 9,100 km bituminous; 8,600 km improved and unimproved earth

Merchant marine

21 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 160,172 GRT/2 18,970 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 4 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 5 bulk

Military manpower

males 1 5-49, 1,997,197; 1,149,141 fit for military service; 88,368 reach military age (20) annually

Pipelines

797 km crude oil; 86 km refined products; 742 km natural gas

Ports

Bizerte, Gabes, Sfax, Sousse, Tunis, La Goulette, Zarzis

Railroads

2,154 km total; 465 km 1.435meter standard gauge; 1,689 km 1.000meter gauge

Telecommunications

the system is above the African average; facilities consist of open-wire lines, multiconductor cable, and radio relay; key centers are Safaqis, Susah, Bizerte, and Tunis; 233,000 telephones; stations— 18 AM, 4 FM, 14 TV; Turkey 4 submarine cables; satellite earth stations—I Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT with back-up control station; coaxial cable to Algeria; radio relay to Algeria, Libya, and Italy Defense Forces