Socio-Economic Characteristics of the GAP Region
SURFACE AREA AND POPULATION
Surface Area: Covering the provinces of Adiyaman, Batman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Siirt, Sanliurfa and Sirnak, the GAP region has a surface area of 75,358 km2, which corresponds to 9.7 % of the total surface area of Turkey.
Population: According to the provisional results of the 2000 General Population Census, the population of the GAP region is 6,604,205, which corresponds to 9.7 % of the total population of the country (67,844,903). 63 % of regional population lives in urban settlements and 37 % in rural areas.
In the period 1990 - 2000, the rate of population growth in the region was 2.5 % as annual average while it was 1.8 % for the country.
Looking at the rate of urban and rural population growth in the region and in the country, we see that in the period 1990-2000 the rate of urban population growth was 3.7 %. This is quite above the country average, which is 2.7 %. As to the rate of rural population growth, it is 0.7 % and 0.4 %, respectively, for the region and the country.
In 1990, the urban population had a share of 50 % in the total population of the region. In 2000, while the share of urban population rose to 63 %, that of rural population fell from 44 to 37 %.
This rather high rate of urban population growth in the GAP region not only exerts higher pressure on already insufficient urban infrastructure but will also bring along the problem of unemployment unless pertinent measures are taken.
BASIC MAGNITUDES IN GAP
Upon the completion of the project, facilities on the Euphrates and the Tigris which together flow 52.9 billion cubic meters of water annually will bring 28.5 % of total fresh water potential of the country under control and 1.7 million hectares of land, which is four and a half times of the size of Çukurova, will be opener to irrigation. On an installed capacity of 7500 megawatt, annual hydraulic energy output will reach 27 billion kWh. The envisaged irrigation are corresponds to 20 % of total irrigable land in Turkey while annual electricity production in the region makes up 22 % of total hydraulic energy potential.
Karakaya, Atatürk, Dicle, Kralkizi, Birecik, Karkamis and Batman HPPs, all remaining within the GAP Region, have an important share in the total hydraulic energy production of the country. Starting from the operation of these facilities and up to the end of 2005, the total energy produced reaches 253 billion kWh. The value of this amount in US $ is about 15 billion (1 kWh = 6 cents)
Of country’s total energy production of 39 billion kWh (2005) the GAP Region has a share of 47 % with an output of 18.7 billion kWh. (GAP’s energy production target is 27 billion kWh). The monetary value of this amount is about 1.1 billion US $.
Again in 2005, the GAP Region had a share of 11.5 % in the total energy production of the country (thermal, hydraulic and wind) which was 161.5 billion kWh.
Upon the completion of all irrigation projects under the GAP, which is presently the most ambitious regional development investment in Turkey, 1.7 million hectares of land will be brought under irrigation. As of the end of 2005, the size of area brought under irrigation by the DSİ was 236,019 hectares. In terms of physical realisation, presently 13.7 % of all irrigation projects are already in operation, 8.3 % are under construction, 21.8 % are ready for tendering and 56.2 % are at the stage of planning. When irrigation projects are fully completed, the area newly brought under irrigation will equal to the size of total land so far opened to irrigation by State initiatives. Enhanced agricultural and industrial potential of the region will contribute to economic output and provide employment opportunities to 3.5 million people in the region.
As of 1985 which was the base year of the GAP Master Plan, the Gross Domestic Product of the region on per capita basis is 47 % of Turkey’s per capita Gross Domestic Product.
While constituting 10 % of country’s total population, the GAP Region accounts for 5 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The regional product of the GAP was 4, 514 billion TL in 1990 (in 1987 prices). In 2001 it reached 6,077 billion TL. In the same period, Turkey’s total gross domestic product rose from 83,578 billion TL to 109,885 billion TL. In 2001, while per capita income of the country was 2,146 $, it was 1,186 $ in the region.
