Geography, Weather, and Population

The Republic of Turkey is a Eurasian (Euro-Asian) country that stretches from east to west. It has become a strategic region due to its special geographical location, serving as the crossing point of North-West Asia and Europe. Around 97% of the country’s land is located in the Asian part (Southwest Asia and the Middle East), which is called Anatolia, while the remaining 3% is situated in the European part (Southeastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula), known as Eastern Thrace.

Türkiye, with an area of 785,347 square kilometers, is located between six Asian countries and two European countries. Turkey’s land borders are 2753 km long – with the countries of Georgia, Nakhchivan, and Iran in the east – Greece and Bulgaria in the west – Syria in the south and Iraq in the southeast. It has the longest land border with Syria and the shortest with Nakhchivan.

Turkey is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, and by the Marmara and Aegean Seas to the west. In the southwest, it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey also contains the strategic straits of Bosphorus (İstanbul Boğazı) and Dardanelles (Çanakkale Boğazı), which connect the country to the open seas.

Turkey shares land borders with several neighboring countries, including Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Nakhchivan, and Iran. The length of the common border between Iran and Turkey is approximately 500 km, spanning the West Azerbaijan province in Iran and the Agra, Igdir, Van, and Hakari provinces in Turkey. The Iran-Turkey border includes the Bazargan, Razi, and Serow border crossings in West Azarbaijan province.

Turkey has a population of more than 82 million people and is divided into seven general regions, which include 21 main departments, 81 provinces, and 919 cities. The provincial capitals in Turkey have the same name as their provinces, with the exceptions of Hatay (with the center of Antakya), Kocaeli (with the center of Izmit), and Sakarya (with the center of Adapazari). The capital of Turkey is Ankara, which covers an area of 25,437 square kilometers and has a population of about 5,500,000 people. It is the political center and the second most populous city in Turkey.

The seven regions of Turkey and their respective departments are:

1. The Black Sea region

2. The Sea of Marmara region

3. The Aegean region

4. The Mediterranean region

5. The Central Anatolia region

6. The Eastern Anatolia region

7. The Southeast Anatolia region

The Sea of Marmara region is the most populated, with approximately 2,360,000 people, while the Eastern Anatolia region is the least populated, with around 5,600,000 people.

Most of the regions of Turkey have a Mediterranean climate and experience four distinct seasons. However, certain regions may have extreme hot or cold weather conditions. Overall, Turkey is a relatively mountainous and rainy country.

Language

The official language of Turkey is Istanbul Turkish or Turkey Turkish, and its script is based on the modern Turkish alphabet, which is derived from the Latin alphabet. In 1923, after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the beginning of his reforms, the Turkish alphabet was changed from the Ottoman script, which was a combination of Persian and Arabic writing, to the new Turkish alphabet based on the Latin alphabet. A distinctive characteristic of the Turkish language is the harmony of vowels. The typical word order in a sentence is subject-object-verb. Turkish grammar does not have gender or class of nouns. In addressing people, Turkish uses titles and honorifics based on social levels, age, familiarity, and politeness. It also employs plural verbs and pronouns for the second person in some cases.