Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) of Turkey and regional development applications

Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP: Guneydogu Anadolu Projesi in Turkish) is the largest regional development project in Turkey, and also one of the major projects in the world. There are 13 major projects in the lower Euphrates and Tigris basins that consist of dam's hydropower plants and irrigation schemes and accompanying growth of agriculture, transportation, industry, telecommunications, health and education sectors and services in the region. A total of 22 dams and 19 hydropower plants are to be constructed by DSI. After completion of the project, 1.7 million hectares of land will be irrigated and the ratio of irrigated land to the total GAP area will increase from 2.9 percent to 22.8 percent while that for rain-fed agriculture will decrease from 34.3 percent to 7 percent. The GAP area is bigger than Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg.