Asia

Turkey

The Republic of Turkey or Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), is a bicontinental country located mainly in Asia Minor, with 3% of its land located in the Balkans. Its strategic location straddles the Bosphorus straits that separate Southwest Asia from Southeast Europe. The Anatolian peninsula comprises nearly all of its territory, and is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea to south, with the Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea (both branches of the Mediterranean) to the west. Because of its position straddling the continents of Europe and Asia and surrounded by three seas, Turkey has been a historical crossroads, the homeland of and battleground between several great civilisations, and a centre of commerce....Turkey General Introduction.

Full country name: Republic of Turkey
National name: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti
Area: 301,382 sq mi (incl. 9,121 in Europe) (780,580 sq km)
Population: 69,660,559 (growth rate: 1.1%); birth rate: 16.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 41.0/1000; life expectancy: 72.4; density per sq mi: 231
Capital City: Ankara, 3,582,000 (metro. area), 3,456,100 (city proper)
Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek
Ethnicity/race: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20% (estimated)
Religion: Islam (mostly Sunni) 99.8%, other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)
Government: Republican parliamentary democracy.
Head of State: Ahmet Necdet Sezer (2000)
Head of Government: Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2003)

History of Turkey

The Republic of Turkey was established on October 29, 1923 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. The origins of modern Turkey can be traced back to the arrival of Turks in Anatolia in the 11th century under the Seljuks. They would be superseded by the Ottoman dynasty in the late 13th and early 14th centuries -- this empire would last until 1923. The historical richness of people and the land laid the foundations of the current republic. Even though official history of the state began on May 19, 1919, with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's onset of the Independence War, the issues and unique answers of the republic's history cannot be understood without the background on the Ottoman Empire, the spirit of people who fought to build the state, or the history of the land (Anatolia) that unites everything on it.....Turkey's History.

Overview of Turkey's Economy

GDP: $508.7 billion
GDP per capita: $7,400
Annual Growth: 8.2%
Inflation: 9.3%.
Major Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Major Trading Partners: Germany, U.S., UK, Italy, France, Russia, Switzerland (2003).
Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore, arable land, hydropower.
Exports: $69.46 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment.
Imports: $94.5 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, chemicals, semifinished goods, fuels, transport equipment.

Also Read: Economy of Turkey

Political System of Turkey

- Government of Turkey
- Foreign Relations of Turkey
- Politics of Turkey

Climate, Vegetation and Fauna

- Language : Turkish (Türkçe) is a Turkic language spoken natively in Turkey, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus..more
- People : Modern Turkey spans bustling cosmopolitan centers, pastoral farming villages, barren wastelands..more
- Cuisine:Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of the Turkish people who controlled the eastern Mediterranean Sea region..more
- Art and Culture: Turkey has a very diverse culture derived from various elements of the Ottoman Empire, European, and the Islamic traditions.more..


Facts for the Traveler

Visas: A passport and visa are required. Currently, holders of all types of passports can purchase a 90-day sticker visa at the port of entry..more
Health risks: Turkish hospitals vary greatly. The new, private hospitals in Ankara and Istanbul have modern facilities..more
Time: GMT/UTC +2 ()
Weights Measures System: Metric
Environment:Geographically, Turkey forms a natural bridge between the continents of Middle East and Europe...more

When To Go

Spring and autumn are the best times to visit, since the climate will be perfect in Istanbul and on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. It will be cool in central Anatolia, but not unpleasantly so. Visiting before mid-June or after August may also help you avoid mosquitoes. The Black Sea coast is best visited between April and September; there will still be rain but not so much of it. With the exception of Istanbul, Turkey doesn't really have a winter tourism season. Places catering to backpackers usually see Anzac Day as the official start of the season; those catering to package holiday-makers get going in early May. Peak season is from July to mid-September, when most Turks take their holidays. The best time to visit eastern Turkey is from late June to September. Don't plan to venture east before May or after mid-October unless you're prepared for snow. Try to avoid travelling during Kurban Bayrami, Turkey's most popular public holiday; you may also want to avoid the fasting month of Ramadan

What to See in Turkey

Major Tourist Attractions in Turkey
With one foot in Europe and the other one in Middle East, Turkey symbolizes a heady blend . of oriental and modern, of splendor and sleekness and of dazzling urbanity with that of soothing natural beauty.

-Ankara: Located in the middle of the central Anatolian semi-desert, the capital of Turkey bears little resemblance to the Ottoman town of Angora . its predecessor..more
-Antalya: Antalya, the city on Turkey.s central Mediterranean coast, has straddled the beauty of the pebbled beaches along with the nostalgia of the Roman-Ottoman days. Making this city the base, various beach towns and ancient regions can be explored by the visitors. In the 75 km east, there is the increasingly popular beach town of Side (here Anthony and Cleopatra had their romantic tryst), and further 40km east lies Alanya . a sea-sun-n sand joint. In Patara, the beach is simply marvelous and is dotted with sand dunes and ruins of the Roman Empire. The beach closes at dusk to ensure the safe return of the sea turtles to their nest.
-Bodrum: Bodrum, situated in the south of the Aegean sea, is a very pretty resort, dotted with palm trees, white sugar cube houses and magnificent villas. There is a yacht harbor and a port for the ferries to the Greek island of Kos. For the sports loving visitors, Bodrum offers a wide range of activities like boating, swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. This small town is very lively and boasts of a nightlife, which keeps much of the town awake, until day break.

Other Tourist Attractions in Turkey more..

Regions of the Middle East There are many interpretations of the term ‘the Middle East.’ One of the most common includes the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia, the Near East, the Iranian plateau, and occasionally North Africa. To view more information on the region of Asia and/or Africa, visit the Middle East article.Different Middle Eastern cultures are spread [...]
Eurocentrism in Middle East Some have criticized the term Middle East for its perceived Eurocentrism. The region is only east from the perspective of western Europe. To an Indian, it lies to the west; to a Russian, it lies to the south. The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the [...]
Borders of Middle East The term Middle East defines a cultural area, so it does not have precise borders. The most common and highly arbitrary definition includes: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Iran is [...]
History of the Middle East The Middle East is the birthplace and spiritual center of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The region saw both periods of relative tolerance and violence. In the 20th century, it has been at the center of world affairs, and has been strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. It possesses significant [...]
Characteristics of Middle East The Middle East is generally thought of as a predominantly Islamic Arabic community. However the area encompasses many distinct cultural and ethnic groups, including the Arabs, Berbers, Jews, Iranians, Syriacs (also called: Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Maronites), Kurds, Druze and Turks. The main language groups include: Arabic, Aramaic Hebrew, Persian, Kurdish and Turkish. [...]
Introducation of Middle East The Middle East is a political and cultural subregion of Asia, or of Africa-Eurasia. The core of the region comprises the lands between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf along with the Anatolian, Arabian and Sinai peninsulas. Sometimes, it is used in a broader sense which can include areas stretching from [...]
Religion in Asia A large majority of people in the world who practice a religious faith practice one founded in Asia. Religions founded in Asia and with a majority of their contemporary adherents in Asia include: Baha’i Faith (slightly more than half of all adherents are in Asia) Buddhism (Japan,Sri Lanka, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, [...]
History of Asia The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Central Asian steppe. The coastal periphery was home to some of the world’s earliest known civilizations, with each of the three regions developing [...]
Economy of Asia The economy of Asia comprises more than 4 billion people (60% of the world population), living in 46 different states. In addition to this there are six further states that lie partly in Asia, but are considered to belong to another region economically and politically. As in all world regions, the wealth of Asia [...]
Geography of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries. It has an area, including islands, of roughly 49,694,700 km². Asia is joined to Africa by the Isthmus of Suez and to Europe by a long border generally following the Ural Mountains. Main Geographical Features The mean elevation of the continent is [...]

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