Turkey (country)

I

Introduction

Turkey (country), officially the Republic of Turkey (in Turkish, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia, bordered on the north-west by Bulgaria and Greece; on the north by the Black Sea; on the north-east by Georgia and Armenia; on the east by Iran; on the south by Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea; and on the west by the Aegean Sea. The capital of Turkey is Ankara. The area of Turkey is 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq mi).

The modern Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from a portion of the Ottoman Empire, following the empire’s collapse as a result of World War I. Turkey became a secular state in 1928, and a multi-party system was established in 1946. Apart from a brief period of government by a military junta in 1960 and 1961, Turkey remained under civilian rule until 1980, when, in a period of political instability, inflation, and acts of terrorism, the army again took control. Civilian rule was restored to Turkey at the end of 1983.

II

Land and Resources

The main area of Turkey, known as Anatolia, is in Asia between the Mediterranean and Black seas. Turkish Thrace in Europe makes up about 3 per cent of the country’s area. Turkey has relatively rich agricultural resources and significant deposits of coal, lignite, iron ore, and chrome; some oil is found in the south-east. With several active seismic zones within its boundaries, Turkey is subject to frequent earthquakes.

A

Physiographical Regions

Turkey can be divided into seven geographical regions: Thrace and the borderlands of the Sea of Marmara; the Aegean and Mediterranean region; the Black Sea region; western Anatolia; the central Anatolian Plateau; the eastern highlands; and south-eastern Anatolia.

Thrace and the borderlands of the Sea of Marmara contain a central plain of gently rolling hills. It is a fertile, well-watered area of which slightly more than one quarter is farmed. The eastern portion of this region rises as high as 2,543 m (8,343 ft) at the summit of Mount Ulu (Olympus). The coastlands of the Aegean and Mediterranean region are narrow and hilly, and only about one fifth of the land is arable. To the east, much of Turkey’s cotton crop is grown in the Çukurova, a plain connected with the interior through the Taurus Mountains by a pass known since antiquity as the Cilician Gates (Külek Boğazı).

The Anatolian coastlands of the Black Sea region rise directly from the water to the heights of the Kuzey Anadolu Dağları (Northern Anatolian Mountains). Slopes are steep, and only about 16 per cent of this area is farmed. Western Anatolia consists of irregular ranges and interior valleys separating the Aegean coast from the central Anatolian Plateau; farming here is restricted to less than one fifth of the total area. The central Anatolian Plateau, the largest geographical region in Turkey, is surrounded on all sides by mountains. The highest point is the summit of Mount Erciyes (3,916 m/12,848 ft). Twenty-eight per cent of the region is cultivated.

The eastern highlands region is the most mountainous and rugged portion of Turkey; Mount Ararat (Agri Mountain) (Ağrı Dağı), mentioned in the Bible as the place where Noah’s ark came to rest, is the highest peak at 5,165 m (16,946 ft). Less than 10 per cent of this area is cultivated. The eastern highlands are the source for both the Tigris (Dicle) and Euphrates (Firat) rivers. South-eastern Anatolia is a rolling plateau enclosed on the north, east, and west by mountains. With about 19 per cent of its area farmed, south-eastern Anatolia is part of the so-called Fertile Crescent and has been important since antiquity.

B

Rivers and Lakes

Almost all the rivers of Turkey contain rapids and are thus unsuitable for navigation. A number of rivers do not flow during the dry summer. Some rivers are, however, important sources of hydroelectric power and water for irrigation. The Kızıl (more than 1,100 km/700 mi long), which empties into the Black Sea, is the longest river flowing entirely within national boundaries. The Büyük Menderes (Latin Maeander) drains western Anatolia into the Aegean Sea; its many loops and bends have given rise to the term “meander” in English. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow from eastern Turkey to empty ultimately into the Persian Gulf.

Lake Van is Turkey’s largest lake; its waters are saline, as are those of another large body of water, Lake Tuz. Freshwater lakes include Beyşehir, Eğridir, and Burdur—all in the south-west.