19 th century bookbinding, Turkish National Library
THIS SECTION ALSO INCLUDES:
– Turkish Statistical Institute
A GUIDE TO TURKISH STATISTICS PUBLICATIONS
History of Statistics in Turkey
THE PERIOD PRECEDING THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
“The modern Turkish State is a descendent of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire, founded in the late 13th century, was an extension of the Seljuk Empire. It was one of the major powers of its era, in terms of territory, military might, economics and technology. Its difficulties in the 19th and 20th centuries derived from the gradual decline of its power during the preceding two hundred years and the consequent disintegration of what had once been a vast supra-national empire.
Collecting statistics has a considerably long past in Turkish history. We learn from historical documents that the Seljuks in Persia and the Ilhanids in India collected some information regarding population. The Ottomans conducted many censuses and regularly collected information on population and land. But in practice, statistical controls were usually relatively weak, and the compilations were never completed. Moreover, the counts were undertaken to determine labor and military obligations and were usually limited to the head of households, males of military age and landowners.
Statistical studies began in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. Special importance was given to collecting information about agriculture and land. . For this purpose, between the years of 1326-1360 and 1360-1389 some land-population censuses were carried out. Later, between 1512-1520, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent initiated a general census and had it written in the constitution that it should be repeated every 100 years. publications on economic, social and cultural subjects were published by this institute to provide necessary information.
With the introduction of Development Planning after 1960, it became clear that some statistical data needed for formulating and implementing economic plans were missing, and some of those available were inadequate. The need for improvements in the statistical system of the country became critical. Proposals were developed for reorganizing the GDS into a State Institute of Statistics (SIS) with wider authority and responsibilities, and more resources. For this purpose, Law No. 53 was enacted in June 1962 to set up the State Institute of Statistics (SIS) under the Office of the Prime Minister.
For this reason, the State Institute of Statistics and its functions have been further reorganized and rearranged by the legal decrees numbered 219 and 357 in 1984 and 1989 respectively, taking into consideration Turkey’s newly emerging needs and circumstances.
