Turkey-Savanna

=Turkey = Savanna


 * Crude Birth Rate:** 19
 * Crude Death Rate:** 6
 * Rate of Natural Increase:** 16
 * Infant Mortality Rate:** 24
 * Life Expectancy:** 76 years old
 * GNI PPP per capita:** $5400
 * Stage of Demographic Transition:** 4
 * [|Population Pyramid]

Refugee Data:** Refugees have always been a large source of immigration to Turkey because of the communism that spread during the second World War. Turkey's asylum laws (meaning the laws of accepting refugees) have been altered the past years; Turkey now accepts 4,500 applications per year from people wishing to seek refuge from their home country. However, those who are denied asylum are expected to find refuge outside the country. All refugees are given temporary refuge, but like those denied asylum, must also leave at some point. Most refugees are from Iran and Iraq. In an [|article] about refugees seeking asylum in Turkey, many accounts were noted where refugees (acknowledged by the UNHCR) were mistreated or forced to leave the country.


 * Net Migration**: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population. Turkey is placed #129 out of 219 countries with net migration information.

__Turkish Folk Culture:__
[|All About Turkey] (brief overview of Folklore) [|Enjoy Turkey] (details on literature, sports, dances, and proverbs) [|Turkish Folk Dance] (information on types of dances)

__**Language**__
The official language of Turkey is Turkish. The Turkish language originates from the Altay Mountains of Central Asia, and is prominently spoken in over nine countries. It is the decendent of Old Anatolian Turkish spoken by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. While the Ottomans were in power, Turkish adopted a Latin alphabet as opposed to script. It has 29 letters (8 vowels and 21 consonants). It is written [|phonetically]. This began in 1928, when numbers previously written in script were replaced by western versions; in fact many people wanted any non-Turkish words to be banned. By the end of the 1940's, teachers and writers began to protest this, and some Arabic and Persian words began to reappear. This instability over the years has caused problems in the history of Turkish litature. [|Quick Turkish lesson] [|Turkish Language Information] [|A girl speaking Turkish, with short lesson.]

__**Religion in Turkey**__
99% of the Turkish population is Muslim, however it is the only Islamic country that is secular. Along with the overwhelming Muslim population, there are also Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Protestants in the remaining 1%. 80% of the Muslims in Turkey are Sunni, which is moderately strict, followed by Alevi and Sii. There is also a sect of Islam that is practiced in Turkey called Beltasilik. Turkey became a secular state through the Ataturk Reforms which were based on "educational and scientific enlightenment". These reforms were intended to modernize Turkey. Islam arrived in Turkey in the 7th century AD when tribes moved to Turkey from Central Asia. These people were gazis, or "warriors of the Islamic faith", and as they moved through present day Turkey, they spread the faith. It was the main religion under the Ottoman Empire, but each religion was granted autonomy to exert their religious beliefs in their own dealings. This ended in the early 20th century, and many non-Muslims emigrated to other countries. The Turkish Constitution describes the conditions of secularism in the state; people are free to practice their own religious beliefs, but attempting to convert others is not permitted. The heads of the religious communities are government employees, and the government oversees all religious activity. One source of religious conflict in Turkey is the presence of Kurds, who occupy parts of Turkey. The two branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia, are causes for small conflict. There are also cases of fundamental Muslims who disagree with Turkey's secularism. There are also cases of anti-semitism in the Middle East. In 2003, two synagogues in Istanbul, one being Neve Shalom Synagogue, the largest in Istanbul, were attacked by suicide bombers. there are 103 casualties. www.center2000.org/ www.enjoy**turkey**.com/info/facts/**Religion**.htm www.**turkey**travelplanner.com/**Religion**/ www.photius.com/countries/**turkey**/society/**turkey**_society_development_of_ **islam**~11614.html
 * Sources:**

**__Ethnicity__**
80% of the population of Turkey is Turkish, the remaining 20% (estimate) is Kurdish. There are also [|'Circassians,][|Bosniaks], [|Albanians], [|Georgians], [|Arabs], [|Roma], [|Pomaks], [|Laz], [|Armenians], J[|ews], [|Greeks] and [|Hemshins] living in Turkey.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Turkey#Ethnic_groups)

__**Agriculture**__
Less than 40% of Turkey's land is arable, or able to be farmed. 90% of the cultivated land is used to produced grain, mainly for cereals. Turkey is also famous for its tobacco, and is one of seven countries authorized to grow opium poppies for medicinal purposes. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Turkey-AGRICULTURE.html

__**Industry**__
Turkish factories started by producing food products like sugar and flour. They also made consumer goods, 'such as textiles and footwear'. Now, Turkey's biggest industries are those steel and iron, as well as 'chemicals, cement, and fertilizer' pro duction. Industrial policy in Turkey also began with import-substitution, which wikipedia.org explains is 'based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products.' http://www.photius.com/countries/turkey/economy/turkey_economy_industry.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Import_substitution_industrialization

**__Urban Patterns__**
In Turkey, most people live in urban cities. 66% of Turkey's population (about 44 million) live in urban settings. 18% live in slums. This is a better statistic than Turkey's neighbor, Iran, where 44% of the population lives in slums. In many cases, these numbers are hard to record as slums can coincide within urban area. http://www.unhabitat.org/stats/Default.aspx