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Turkey is situated in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern
Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically
part of Europe, and east is part of Asia), bordering the Black
Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean
Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria. The
geographic coordinates of the country lies: 39°00' N 35°00'
E
Area: 780,580 km² land: 770,760 km² water:
9,820 km²
Turkey is a large, roughly rectangular peninsula situated
bridge - like between southeastern Europe and Asia. Turkey
extends more than 1,600 kilometers from west to east but generally
less than 800 kilometers from north to south. Total land area
is about 779,452 square kilometers, of which 755,688 square
kilometers are in Asia and 23,764 square kilometers in Europe.
The European portion of Turkey, known as Trakya (Thrace),
encompasses 3 percent of the total area but is home to more
than 10 percent of the total population. Thrace is separated
from the Asian portion of Turkey by the Istanbul Bogazi (Bosporus
Strait), the Marmara Denizi (Sea of Marmara), and the Çanakkale
Bogazi (Dardanelles Strait). The Asian part of the country
is known by a variety of names--Asia Minor, Asiatic Turkey,
the Anatolian Plateau, and Anatolia (Anadolu). The term Anatolia
is most frequently used in specific reference to the large,
semiarid central plateau, which is rimmed by hills and mountains
that in many places limit access to the fertile, densely settled
coastal regions.
External boundaries
Land boundaries: 2,627 km border countries: Greece 206 km,
Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan
9 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km
Coastline: 7,200 km Maritime claims: exclusive economic
zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon
with the former USSR territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea;
12 nm in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea
Turkey is bounded by eight countries and six bodies of water.
Surrounded by water on three sides and protected by high mountains
along its eastern border, the country generally has well-defined
natural borders. Its demarcated land frontiers were settled
by treaty early in the twentieth century and have since remained
stable.
The boundary with Greece was confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne
in 1923, which resolved persistent boundary and territorial
claims involving areas in Thrace and provided for a population
exchange (see: War of Independence). Under the agreement,
most members of the sizable Greek-speaking community of western
Turkey were forced to resettle in Greece, so as the majority
of the Turkish-speaking residents of Thrace, which was not
forced out during the Balkan wars were removed to Turkey.
The boundary with Bulgaria was confirmed by the Treaty of
Lausanne in 1923.
Since 1991 the more than 500-kilometer boundary with the
former Soviet Union, which was defined in the 1921 Threaty
of Moscow and Threaty of Kars, has formed Turkey's borders
with the independent countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Georgia. Armenia objects this boarder.
Boundary with Iran was confirmed by treaty in 1937.
Boundary with Iraq was confirmed by Treaty of Angora (Ankara)
in 1926. Turkey's two southern neighbors, Iraq and Syria,
had been part of the Ottoman Empire up to 1918. According
to the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey ceded all its
claims to these two countries, which had been organized as
League of Nations mandates under the governing responsibility
of Britain and France, respectively. Turkey and Britain agreed
on boundary with Treaty of Angora (Ankara).
Turkey's boundary with Syria has not been accepted by Syria.
As a result of the Treaty of Lausanne, the former Ottoman
Sanjak (province) of Alexandretta (present-day Hatay Province)
was ceded to Syria. However, France agreed in June 1939 to
transfer Hatay Province to Turkish sovereignty, despite the
strong objections of Syria's political leaders. Since achieving
independence in 1946, Syria has harbored a lingering resentment
over the loss of the province and its principal towns of Antakya
and Iskenderun (formerly Antioch and Alexandretta). This issue
has continued to be an irritant in Syrian-Turkish relations.
Geology
Turkey's varied landscapes are the product of complex earth
movements that have shaped Anatolia over thousands of years
and still manifest themselves in fairly frequent earthquakes
and occasional volcanic eruptions. Except for a relatively
small portion of its territory along the Syrian border that
is a continuation of the Arabian Platform, Turkey geologically
is part of the great Alpine belt that extends from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Himalaya Mountains. This belt was formed during
the Tertiary Period (about 65 million to 1.6 million B.C.),
as the Arabian, African, and Indian continental plates began
to collide with the Eurasian plate, and the sedimentary layers
laid down by the prehistoric Tethyan Sea buckled, folded,
and contorted. The intensive folding and uplifting of this
mountain belt was accompanied by strong volcanic activity
and intrusions of igneous rock material, followed by extensive
faulting during the Quaternary Period, which began about 1.6.
million B.C. This folding and faulting process is still at
work, as the Turkish and Aegean plates, moving south and southwest,
respectively, continue to collide. As a result, Turkey is
one of the world's more active earthquake and volcano regions.
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Topographic map of Turkey
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Earthquakes range from barely perceptible tremors to major
movements measuring five or higher on the open-ended Richter
scale. Turkey's most severe earthquake in the twentieth century
occurred in Erzincan on the night of December 28-29, 1939;
it devastated most of the city and caused an estimated 160,000
deaths. Earthquakes of moderate intensity often continue with
sporadic aftershocks over periods of several days or even
weeks. The most earthquake-prone part of Turkey is an arc-shaped
region stretching from the general vicinity of Kocaeli to
the area north of Lake Van on the border with Armenia and
Georgia.
Turkey's terrain is structurally complex. A central massif
composed of uplifted blocks and downfolded troughs, covered
by recent deposits and giving the appearance of a plateau
with rough terrain, is wedged between two folded mountain
ranges that converge in the east. True lowland is confined
to the Ergene Plain in Thrace, extending along rivers that
discharge into the Aegean Sea or the Sea of Marmara, and to
a few narrow coastal strips along the Black Sea and Mediterranean
Sea coasts.
Nearly 85 percent of the land is at an elevation of at least
450 meters; the median altitude of the country is 1,128 meters.
In Asiatic Turkey, flat or gently sloping land is rare and
largely confined to the deltas of the Kizilirmak River, the
coastal plains of Antalya and Adana, and the valley floors
of the Gediz River and the Büyükmenderes River,
and some interior high plains in Anatolia, mainly around Tuz
Gölü (Salt Lake) and Konya Ovasi (Konya Basin).
Moderately sloping terrain is limited almost entirely outside
Thrace to the hills of the Arabian Platform along the border
with Syria.
More than 80 percent of the land surface is rough, broken,
and mountainous, and therefore is of limited agricultural
value (see Agriculture, ch. 3). The terrain's ruggedness is
accentuated in the eastern part of the country, where the
two mountain ranges converge into a lofty region with a median
elevation of more than 1,500 meters, which reaches its highest
point along the borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
Turkey's highest peak, Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi)--about 5,166
meters high--is situated near the point where the boundaries
of the four countries meet.
Regions
Distinct contrasts between the interior and periphery of
Turkey are manifested in its landform regions, climate, soils,
and vegetation. The periphery is divided into the Black Sea
region, the Marmara region, the Aegean region, and the Mediterranean
region. The interior is also divided into three regions: the
Pontus and Taurus mountain ranges, the Anatolian Plateau,
and the eastern highlands. The seventh region of the country
is the Arabian Platform in the southeast, adjacent to the
Syrian border.
Black Sea
The Black Sea region has a steep, rocky coast with rivers
that cascade through the gorges of the coastal ranges. A few
larger rivers, those cutting back through the Pontus Mountains
(Dogukaradeniz Daglari), have tributaries that flow in broad,
elevated basins. Access inland from the coast is limited to
a few narrow valleys because mountain ridges, with elevations
of 1,525 to 1,800 meters in the west and 3,000 to 4,000 meters
in the east, form an almost unbroken wall separating the coast
from the interior. The higher slopes facing northwest tend
to be densely forested. Because of these natural conditions,
the Black Sea coast historically has been isolated from Anatolia.
Running from Zonguldak in the west to Rize in the east, the
narrow coastal strip widens at several places into fertile,
intensely cultivated deltas. The Samsun area, close to the
midpoint, is a major tobacco-growing region; east of it are
numerous citrus groves. East of Samsun, the area around Trabzon
is world-renowned for the production of hazelnuts, and farther
east the Rize region has numerous tea plantations. All cultivable
areas, including mountain slopes wherever they are not too
steep, are sown or used as pasture. The mild, damp climate
of the Black Sea coast makes commercial farming profitable.
The western part of the Black Sea region, especially the Zonguldak
area, is a center of coal mining and heavy industry.
The North Anatolian Mountains in the north are an interrupted
chain of folded highlands that generally parallel the Black
Sea coast. In the west, the mountains tend to be low, with
elevations rarely exceeding 1,500 meters, but they rise in
an easterly direction to heights greater than 3,000 meters
south of Rize. Lengthy, troughlike valleys and basins characterize
the mountains. Rivers flow from the mountains toward the Black
Sea. The southern slopes--facing the Anatolian Plateau--are
mostly unwooded, but the northern slopes contain dense growths
of both deciduous and evergreen trees.
Marmara
The European portion of Turkey consists mainly of rolling
plateau country well suited to agriculture. It receives about
520 millimeters of rainfall annually.
Densely populated, this area includes the cities of Istanbul
and Edirne. The Bosporus, which links the Sea of Marmara and
the Black Sea, is about twenty-five kilometers long and averages
1.5 kilometers in width but narrows in places to less than
500 meters. Both its Asian and European banks rise steeply
from the water and form a succession of cliffs, coves, and
nearly landlocked bays. Most of the shores are densely wooded
and are marked by numerous small towns and villages. The Dardanelles
Strait, which links the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea,
is approximately forty kilometers long and increases in width
toward the south. Unlike the Bosporus, the Dardanelles has
few settlements along its shores.
The most important valleys are the Kocaeli Valley, the Bursa
Ovasi (Bursa Basin), and the Plains of Troy. The valley lowlands
around Bursa is densely populated.
Aegean
On its Asian side, the Aegean region has fertile soils and
a typically Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and
hot, dry summers. The broad, cultivated valley lowlands contain
about half of the country's richest farmland. Major crops
are olives, citrus, nuts (especially almonds), and tobacco.
The valley lowlands are densely populated, particularly around
Izmir, the country's third largest city and a major manufacturing
center.
Mediterranean
The narrow coastal plains of the Mediterranean region, separated
from Anatolia by the Taurus Mountains, which reach elevations
of 2,000 to 2,750 meters, are cultivated intensively. Fertile
soils and a warm climate make the Mediterranean coast ideal
for growing citrus fruits, grapes, figs, bananas, various
vegetables, barley, wheat, and, in irrigated areas, rice and
cotton. The Çukurova in the east is a plain that is
the most developed agricultural area of the Mediterranean
region. It is a significant cotton-growing center and also
supports a major cotton-based textile industry. In general,
summers are hot and dry in the Mediterranean region. The weather
in combination with the region's numerous sandy beaches has
encouraged the development of a tourist industry.
Toward the east, the extensive plains around Adana, Turkey's
fourth largest city, consist largely of reclaimed flood lands.
In general, rivers have not cut valleys to the sea in the
western part of the region. Historically, movement inland
from the western Mediterranean coast was difficult. East of
Adana, much of the coastal plain has limestone features such
as collapsed caverns and sinkholes. Between Adana and Antalya,
the Taurus Mountains rise sharply from the coast to high elevations.
Other than Adana, Antalya, and Mersin, the Mediterranean coast
has few major cities, although it has numerous farming villages.
Paralleling the Mediterranean coast, the Taurus (Toros Daglari)
is Turkey's second chain of folded mountains. The range rises
just inland from the coast and trends generally in an easterly
direction until it reaches the Arabian Platform, where it
arcs around the northern side of the platform. The Taurus
Mountains are more rugged and less dissected by rivers than
the Pontus Mountains and historically have served as a barrier
to human movement inland from the Mediterranean coast except
where there are mountain passes such as the Cilician Gates
(Gülek Bogazi), northwest of Adana.
Central Anatolia
Stretching inland from the Aegean coastal plain, the Central
Anatolian occupies the area between the two zones of the folded
mountains, extending east to the point where the two ranges
converge. The plateau-like, semiarid highlands of Anatolia
are considered the heartland of the country. The region varies
in elevation from 600 to 1,200 meters from west to east. The
two largest basins on the plateau are the Konya Ovasi and
the basin occupied by the large salt lake, Tuz Gölü.
Both basins are characterized by inland drainage. Wooded areas
are confined to the northwest and northeast of the plateau.
Rain-fed cultivation is widespread, with wheat being the principal
crop. Irrigated agriculture is restricted to the areas surrounding
rivers and wherever sufficient underground water is available.
Important irrigated crops include barley, corn, cotton, various
fruits, grapes, opium poppies, sugar beets, roses, and tobacco.
There also is extensive grazing throughout the plateau.
The Central Anatolia receives little annual rainfall. For
instance, the semiarid center of the plateau receives an average
yearly precipitation of only 300 millimeters. However, actual
rainfall from year to year is irregular and occasionally may
be less than 200 millimeters, leading to severe reductions
in crop yields for both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture.
In years of low rainfall, stock losses also can be high. Overgrazing
has contributed to soil erosion on the plateau. During the
summers, frequent dust storms blow a fine yellow powder across
the plateau. Locusts occasionally ravage the eastern area
in April and May. In general, the plateau experiences extreme
heat, with almost no rainfall in summer and cold weather with
heavy snow in winter.
Frequently interspersed throughout the folded mountains,
and also situated on the Anatolian Plateau, are well-defined
basins, which the Turks call ova . Some are no more than a
widening of a stream valley; others, such as the Konya Ovasi,
are large basins of inland drainage or are the result of limestone
erosion. Most of the basins take their names from cities or
towns located at their rims. Where a lake has formed within
the basin, the water body is usually saline as a result of
the internal drainage--the water has no outlet to the sea.
East Anatolia
Eastern Anatolia, where the Pontus and Taurus mountain ranges
converge, is rugged country with higher elevations, a more
severe climate, and greater precipitation than are found on
the Anatolian Plateau. The region is known as the Anti-Taurus,
and the average elevation of its peaks exceeds 3,000 meters.
Mount Ararat, at 5,166 meters the highest point in Turkey,
is located in the Anti-Taurus. Many of the Anti-Taurus peaks
apparently are recently extinct volcanoes, to judge from extensive
lava flows. Turkey's largest lake, Lake Van, is situated in
the mountains at an elevation of 1,546 meters. The headwaters
of three major rivers arise in the Anti-Taurus: the east-flowing
Aras, which empties into the Caspian Sea; the south-flowing
Euphrates; and the south-flowing Tigris, which eventually
joins the Euphrates in Iraq before emptying into the Persian
Gulf. Several small streams that empty into the Black Sea
or landlocked Lake Van also originate in these mountains.
Most of eastern Anatolia comprises the area known historically
as Kurdistan. In addition to its rugged mountains, the area
is known for severe winters with heavy snowfalls. The few
valleys and plains in these mountains tend to be fertile and
to support diverse agriculture. The main basin is the Mus
Valley, west of Lake Van. Narrow valleys also lie at the foot
of the lofty peaks along river corridors.
Southeast Anatolia
Southeast Anatolia south of the Anti-Taurus Mountains. It
is a region of rolling hills and a broad plateau surface that
extends into Syria. Elevations decrease gradually, from about
800 meters in the north to about 500 meters in the south.
Traditionally, wheat and barley were the main crops of the
region, but the inauguration of major new irrigation projects
in the 1980s has led to greater agricultural diversity and
development.
Land use
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 16%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 22% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 36,740 sq km (1993 est.)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m
Natural hazards
Very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along
an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van. On August
17th 1999, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck northwestern
Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
Environment
Current issues
Water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents;
air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation;
concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic.
International agreements
Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Environmental Modification.
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