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Profiles in Turkish Polls, Surveys, and Statistics about Turkey -- and the Turkish people Bill "The Poll President" Clinton would feel right at home... Related Pages: The Turkish Kinsey Report Gossipy Turkish Who's Who The Lying Eyes Club of Turkey Turkish Culture -- Two Turkish traditions we especially like Turkish Culture -- 4 things you shouldn't do in Turkey Turkish Culture -- 5 things you should do in Turkey Turkish Superstitions Turkish Circumcision Ceremonies Circumcision and what many Turks believe about Westerners Also: Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies Turkish National Election, 2007 Movie Superhero Tarkan, historic and erotik Mature Dutch Bride in Turkey Mature British Bride in Turkey Mature Swedish Bride in Turkey We were rifling the magazine rack at the Cengiz Market in Ortamahalle the other day and came across a bright little paperback book (prepared in cooperation with the Turkish Branch of the Gallup Poll organization) entitled Türkiye Profili. And, in it, we found more than a few statistical charts (some, with accompanying cartoons) that we thought interesting. Hoping that you might appreciate them too, we created this new page (of mostly shameless copyings) that we'll try to supplement, from time to time -- with material from a range of 'appropriate' publications... How many Turks speak foreign languages? Which ones? Boss lady: What is it? Can't you guys agree? Human Resources berk: How is this possible?...We don't speak the same language. Poor slob: Er...sir...I don't understand, maybe you could explain it again? Türk İnsanın Yabancı Dili (Foreign Languages of the Turkish People)   1993 % (of people) 1997 % (of people) Yabancı dil bilmeyenler (People not knowing a foreign language) 84.4 84.1 Ingilizce bilenler (People knowing English) 8.3 8.4 Almanca bilenler (People knowing German) 3.5 2.2 Arapca bilenler (People knowing Arabic) 2.2 1.3 Fransızca bilenler (People knowing French) 1.1 0.8 İtalyanca bilenler (People knowing Italian) 0.2 0.3 Rusca bilenler (People knowing Russian) - 0.3 Diğer dilleri bilenler (People knowing other languages) 1.3 3.7 Do Turks understand about vacations/holidays, better then we do? Ol' Couch Potato Dad: Vacation? Tourist? Tourism? I don't think these are Turkish words.. Lil' Fella: But look, Dad. They're in the dictionary... Tourist, which comes from French, means a person who visits for seeing and resting... And Tourism, which comes from English, means making a visit for fun and entertainment... Ol' Couch Potato Dad: See what I mean? These words have nothing to do with Turkish or Turks... Türk insanının tatile çıkma sıklığı (Frequency of Turkish people going on vacation)   1993 % (of people) 1997 % (of people) Tatile çıkmayanlar (Those who don't ever go on vacation/holiday) 77.3 65.9 Yılda bir kezden daha az tatile çıkanlar (Those who go less than once a year) 6.0 11.7 Yılda bir kez tatile çıkanlar (Those who go once a year) 12.2 17.8 Yılda iki kez tatile çıkanlar (Those who go twice a year) 2.7 2.1 Yılda üç kez tatile çıkanlar (Those who go three times a year) 0.42 1.0 Yılda dört ve daha fazla tatile çıkanlar (Those who go four or more times a year) 1.4 1.5 How politically minded is the average Turk? Politician: Look at this guy, he keeps following me like a shadow. Check him out, will ya'?...What's he want? Who is he anyway? Pundit: He's the guy who voted for you, sir. Türk insanının siyasi olayları ve siyasi gelişmeleri izleme sıklığı (Percentage/frequency of Turkish people who follow political events and developments)   1993 % (of people) 1997 % (of people) Her zaman izleyenler (Those who always follow) 21.9 27.5 Genellikle izleyenler (Those who generally follow) 20.1 22.5 Ara sıra izleyenler (Those who follow now and then) 25.7 23.8 Hiç izlemeyenler (Those who never follow) 32.3 26.2 How do Turkish food prices compare with other European countries? Based on an article that appeared in Hürriyet Gazetesi October 6, 2000. In a shopping-basket prices-comparison among Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Turkey, the Italians fare best. Their sample shopping-basket cost the equivalent of about USD $32.57 (21,500,000 TL -- as shown on the chart below, at that time). In second place comes Germany at about $35.00 (23,100,000 TL). Turkey follows [rather] closely at about $42.77 (28,230,000 TL) -- and that sounds favorable to the Turks at first... until you notice the very low per capita income average for Turkish workers (USD $2,814). [Sad Note: Things got worse for the Turks in late February, 2001 -- when the Turkish Lira suffered a thirty percent (30%) devaluation...] That compares to $29,191 (in Germany), $19,121 (in Italy), and $18,913 (in the UK)... [Find per capita income figures next to the phrases that begin 'Milli Gelir' in the following charts -- on the same line as each country name...] Note that Great Britain brings up the rear in the 'competition'. A British shopping-basket costs a limey shopper a whopping $80.80 (53,325,000 TL) -- a shocking two and a half times more expensive than Italy... and almost twice as expensive as Turkey !!! Right click to 'View' or 'Zoom' image enlargement... Click the following links, if you're unfamiliar with country names or food item names in Turkish -- to reach our pages on those subjects, where you'll find helpful word lists... Right click to 'View' or 'Zoom' image enlargement... Related Pages: The Turkish Kinsey Report Gossipy Turkish Who's Who The Lying Eyes Club of Turkey Turkish Culture -- Two Turkish traditions we especially like Turkish Culture -- 4 things you shouldn't do in Turkey Turkish Culture -- 5 things you should do in Turkey Turkish Superstitions Turkish Circumcision Ceremonies Circumcision and what many Turks believe about Westerners Also: Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies Turkish National Election, 2007 Newsreaders Encyclopedic Dictionary, Index Movie Superhero Tarkan, historic and erotik Mature Dutch Bride in Turkey Mature British Bride in Turkey Mature Swedish Bride in Turkey TIME laid low by True Believers Freedom of Speech gets a fiendish French Twist The God-Awful State of Turkish-American Relations Language-Learning Related Pages: Translating Turkish, the basics Essential Turkish Vocabulary Turkish Verbs Essential Idioms, Index Essential Suffixes, Index Sentence Structure, Standard Turkish Pronunciation Turkish Accenting Numbers in Turkish Other Turkish Difficulties Unrelated fun: Frequently asked questions about Turkey and the Turkish language llustrated Nargile Users Guide -- and Encyclopedia Our Honda Generator -- A Member of the Family Habibullah and the Great Cannon Caper A simple Turkish 'thing'... Turkish Belly Dancers Sneeeezing in Turkish Turkish Terms Of Endearment Turkish Personal Names Politically Incorrect Turkish Humor Why Off-Color Turkish is important too Turkish Movies -- Conventional and 'Erotik', Index The World's Worst Sport Novelty Turkish Wedding Invitations Thanks to 'Türkiye Pofili' sponsered by Capital and Efes Pilsen and published by OMAŞ Matbaası, Istanbul (April 1999) and Hürriyet Gazetesi for all the source material used on this page.

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