Turkey has hard Coal (anthracite and bituminous) reserves of around 1.1 billion short tons, plus lignite reserves around 8 billion short tons. Around 40 percent of Turkeys lignite is located in the Afsin-Elbistan basin of southeastern Anatolia, while hard coal is mined only in one location -- the Zonguldak basin of northwestern Turkey. Turkeys state-owned coal company, TTK, produces, processes, and distributes hard coal, while Turkish Coal Enterprises produces most of Turkeys lignite. In addition, Turkeys Electricity Generating Authority produces lignite for three power plants, Between 1990 and 2000, the number of workers in Turkeys coal sector fell from 63,993 to 35,665. Turkish coal, which is used mainly for power generation, is generally of poor quality and highly polluting.