About Turkey

Geographical & Political Location. Turkey, a country of utmost strategic importance in the world with its geopolitical location, is on the intersection point of Asia, Europe and Africa continents, which are referred to as the Lands of the Old World”. This country, with the generous divine gifts of all sorts of scenic wonders, is a unique bridge between Eastern and Western civilizations as well as for inter-faith dialogue.

Turkey is linked to the oceans through the Black Sea, Marmara and Mediterranean seas, which encircle it on three sides. It is like a neighbor to the entire world and has been the epicenter of major trade and migration routes throughout history. The Black Sea is linked to the world via the Straits and momentous shipping routes pass through the Marmara, an interior sea. The country borders Georgia, Armenia, Nakhichevan and Iran to the east, Bulgaria and Greece to the west, and Iraq and Syria to the south.

Turkey, a founding member of the United Nations Organization and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, is also a NATO member and is undergoing a process of joining the EU.

Area and Surface Formations. Turkey, a rectan- gularly shaped country, has a surface area of 814,578 square kilometers. It is the possessor of vaster acreage in comparison to all of its neighbors except Iran, and all European countries except the Russian Federation. The land segment on the European continent with 3% of its total area is called Thrace, and the remaining 97% landmass in Asia is called Anatolia.

The length of the land borders of the country is 2,875 kilometers; its coastline is 8,333 kilometers long, while its landmass is approximately 550 kilometers wide and about 1,500 kilometers long.

Turkey is located in the temperate zone between the 36 and 42nd degrees of northern latitudes and 26 and 45th degrees of eastern longitudes; and there is a 76-minutes time difference between its easternmost and westernmost tips.

Turkey, an elevated and mountainous country with all types and ages of geological formations, is even higher than the highest continent Asia with an average altitude of 1,132 meters, the latter being 1,010 meters. It is surrounded by high mountains in the north and south. The North Anatolian Mountains along the Black Sea coast and the Taurus Mountains in the south set Turkey’s high elevation characteristics. The Kaçkar Peak, the highest summit in the North Anatolia Mountains, is followed by the Ilgaz and Köroğlu mountains. The Samanlı Mountains, Uludağ, Istranca Mountains and Tekir Mountains are located in the Marmara region; the Kozak, Yunt and Aydın mountains in the Aegean; the Kızıldağ, Mount Hasan and the İdris, Elma and Ayaş mountains in Central Anatolia; and the Karacadağ and Raman Mountain in Southeastern Anatolia. The Ağrı Mountain (Mt. Ararat) is the highest peak in Turkey with 5,165 meters, and along with it the inactive volcano Mount Süphan, Nemrut and Alaca mountains are also located in Eastern Anatolia.

Turkey is replete with seas, rivers and plains as well as lands fit for husbandry and raising livestock. The mountain ranges in the north and south are separated from each other by the large plains in Central Anatolia. The most fertile lands in the Black Sea Region are the Bafra, Çarşamba and Merzifon plains in addition to the Konya plain in Central Anatolia, the Çukurova Plain in Southern Anatolia, the Muş Plain in Southeastern Anatolia and the Bakırçay,

Turkey is located within the Alpine-Himalayan zone, one of the most prominent seismic zones in the world, and eight considerably high scale earthquakes have occurred along the North Anatolian Fault since 1939. The Marmara and Düzce earthquakes which occurred on August 17 and October 12, 1999 resulted in over 18,000 casualties and also enormous physical damage. The Marmara earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 and referred to as the “Disaster of the Century” was the second biggest seismic event in Turkish history after the 1939 Erzincan earthquake.