Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1437

 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS — MONEY, WEIGHTS, ETC. 1315

Internal Communications.

The length of railway line in European

follows : — Miles open |

European —

Salonica-Monastir^. . 136

Constantinople-Salonica 1. 317

Oriental Railways. . 786

. 1,239

358 283 25 165 156

and Asiatic Turkey in 1912 was as

Miles open Smyrna-Aidin. . . 320 Konia-Eregli-Persian Gull'. 125 Mersina-Adana. . .42 Beirut-Damascus. . . 96 Rayak-Aleppo 1. . . 1^95 Damascus-Medina. , 812 Jaffa- Jerusalem. .54

Haifa-Deraa. . .105

Total Asiatic. . . 2,836

Total Ottoman Empire .4,075

Total European

Asiatic — ■ Haidar- Pasha- Angora^

Eshki-Shekir-Konia^.

Mudania-Brussa. ' Smyrna-Cassaba ^

Alasheir-Afion-Karahissar

1 These railways have a kilometric guarantee. The guarantees paid by the debt council amounted to £T528,918 in 1911 ; £T420,141 in 1911.

The German concession of the Baghdad Railway is to extend the Anatolian line from Konia to Adana, ]\[osul, Baghdad, and Busra, with many branch lines and an extension to a port on the Persian Gulf. It has been constructed as far as Bulgurlu, about 15 miles beyond Eregli, ana a company has been formed to carry it 840 km. (520 miles) further. The Haifa railway has been extended to Deraa, where it joins the Mecca Railway.

Schemes are under consideration for the construction of 628 miles of railway and 440 miles of junction lines in Europe, and 4,940 miles of rail- way in Asia ; total, 6,008 miles in the Turkish Empire. Salonica.
 * Electric tramways are working in Smyrna, Damascus, Beyrouth, and

' There are 929 Turkish post-offices in the Empire. In the year 1910-11 the inland service transmitted 30,731,000 letters and 1,709,000 post-cards, and 15,376,000 samples and printed papers ; the international service trans- mitted 14,069,000 letters and 3,052,000 post-cards, and 4,327,000 samples and printed papers. A parcel-post system has been introduced into Turkey, and works fairly well.

Foreign post-offices are maintained in most of the large coast towns by nations commercially interested.

The length of telegraph lines in Turkey is about 28,890 miles, and the length of wire about 49,200 miles. There are 1,017 telegraph offices. Messa^res in the year 1910-11, 7,145,138.

! Money, Weights, and Measures of Turkey.

! The Imperial Ottoman Bank, with a capital of £T10,000,000, had, on Nov. 30, 1910, a note circulation of £T941, 250, and cash on hand amounting to£T3,586,834. ^

The nominal value of the coinage (including recoinage) of Turkey since 1844 is: Gold, £T42,123,321 ; silver, £T10,521,665 ; copper (in 1906), £T148,015. In 1907 silver pieces were coined to the nominal value of 30,110,000 piastres. Nickel coins of 20 parns and 10 parns have been introduced into the coinage during 1911.


 * m,. £ 5. d.

\ The Turkish Lira, or gold Medjidie. . .0 18 0-064

Piastre, 100 to the Lira 2*16

or £T11 = £10 approximately.

j ,-11-2