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General information on Turkey

For several years Turkey is one of the major tourist destinations around the world and is part of the top 3 destinations of European tourists. Because of the Mediterranean climate, especially the coastal resorts such as Bodrum, Alanya, Marmaris, Kusadasi and Antalya are popular, the Turkish west and south coast is also known as the Turkish Riviera.

The Turkey before the coming of the Turks is usually called Anatolia or Asia Minor. Anatolia has a history that goes back thousands of years, in which peoples as the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Urarteans, Armenians and Greeks took a big part.

Language: In Turkey, Turkish (90.5%) is the only official language. In the tenth century the Turkish language was brough to Turkey by the westward migratory nomads in Asia Minor. Since 1928 the Turks has the Latin alphabet. The current Turkish has many loan words taken from French and Arabic.

Religion

Turkey can be described as an Islamic country. This is reflected in the fact that the majority of the population adheres to the Sunni form of Islam. Islam is an important part of everyday life. Thus Turkey has the most mosques in the world and national holidays are based on major Islamic days (Feast of Sacrifice, the Sugar Feast (Breaking the Fast)).

Geography

• Surface: 783.562 km ²
  
  
• Borders: 2627 km,
  of which with Armenië 268 km,
  Azerbaijan 9 km,
  Bulgaria 240 km,
  Georgia 252 km,
  Greece 206 km,
  Iran 499 km,
  Iraq 331 km,
  Syria 822 km
  
  
• Coastline: 7200 km
  
  
• Highest point: Ararat, 5165 m

Cities of Turkey

• Ankara (capital with 4,1 million inhabitants)
• Istanbul 12,5 million
• Izmir 3,1 million
• Bursa 2,1 million
• Adana 1,6 million

Geology

Turkey lies in an area with a complex tectonic structure. Most of Turkey lies on the Anatolian plate. This small tectonic plate in the east is wedged between the Eurasian plates and Arabian plates wich are moving towards each other. In the north, along the southern shores of the Black Sea, the Anatolian plate bounded by the Eurasian Plate.

Turkey lies not only culturally but also with its environment at a crossroad. The East of the country and central Anatolia have a pronounced continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters with lots of snow. The areas along the Mediterranean Sea have a Mediterranean climate while the northern coast has a warm maritime climate. East, except the mountains in the extreme southeast, is mostly dry and even desert-like local, Turkey has very low rainfall areas, where salt lakes are formed. From Izmir going from west to east, the rainfall slowly decreases, but along the north and south coast there is a relatively high rainfall, particularly in the coastal Mountains up north. The climatic conditions high in the Turkish mountains compare quite well with those in the Alps, although heat and cold can be more extreme.

Turkey is characterized by vast plains which are defined by the Mountains on all sides. Through these plains rivers rol with waeving patterns, into flow backs, river, many marshes. These swamps may extend over larger areas, like the dusty sand deserts in the central and southeastern part. Central Turkey receives little rain but on the otherside has a strong evaporation leaving the middle triangle Konya - Ankara - Kayseri as a large salt lake, Lake Tuz Gülü . In the west the landscape resembles that of Greece, partly woodland hills, local and mountain scenery, with much smaller and a single larger river, the Menderes, or Meander

The flora of Turkey is extremely rich - according to a recent list there are 9222 different species of higher plants. This can only be explained in conjunction with the above range of isolated mountains that rise like islands above the intermediate (high) protruding plains. These plateaus are only partially cultivated, although the decrease of the surface to "waste land" becomes acceptable. Very rich in species, the orchids and several types of bulbs including tulips.The tulips famous for the Netherlands al originate in Turkey and neighboring countries. Bulbs are indeed eminently associated with drier areas and so you cant explain the Netherlands to be the original country.

The fauna of Turkey has not yet been exhaustively examined, however the last 50 years significant progress has been made. Large mammals and birds witch are very rare elsewhere are still found in Turkey, although they are also under increasing pressure: European wolf, brown bear, vulture, bearded vulture, golden eagle, eagle owl and Lannervalk are some examples. Along rivers in the northeast one will find the giant stern, while in the scrounge more Mediterranean areas, hop, bee-eater and several species kingfishers occur. Turkey is rich in butterflies and insects are numerous: from Dutch entomologists expeditions to Turkey reveiled in the past decades, several not yet described species.

Gastronomy

Food in Turkey is really something social and this makes an important part of Turkish culture. The Turkish cuisine is also an internationally acclaimed cuisine with a long tradition. The cuisine is varied by the different ethnic groups making up the Ottoman Empire existed, and the cultural traditions of the Ottomans themselves were brought from Central Asia and the exposure to different cultures that they took in their journey to the West had met. Traditional foods such as yoghurt still makes an important part of Turkish cuisine. In Turkey each region has its own, often ethnic, cuisine. The Turkish cuisine we know in the West uses a wide range of spices, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Usually a meal is a combination of different dishes. Many soups, rice dishes and breads are almost always part of the Turksish meal for everyday.

Holidays and commemorative days

Turkey offers a wide variety of festivals and holidays, some are national, others local and some religious. Some holidays are annually on the same day, others are related to the lunar calendar and change of date. In 1935, the national day of rest became Sunday instead of the traditional Muslim Friday.

National holidays and memorial days in Turkey

• April 23: Day of the Child (Çocuk Bayrami) recalls the first meeting of the National Assembly of the Turkish republic on that day in 1923. On this day children symbolicly take place in the mayor seat for the politicians to recall the future next generations.
• May 19: Youth and Sports Day (Gençlik ve spor Bayrami) recalls the landing of Ataturk in Samsun in 1919. Since 1938 this day is celebrated on the basis of a law and large sporting events are held in stadiums.
• August 30: Victory Day (Zafer Bayrami) recalls the days of the Dumlupinar victory over the Greeks in 1922.
• October 29: Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayrami) is the national holiday that commemorates the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.
• November 10: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Memorial. On the anniversary of Atatürk decent the life in Turkye comes to a halt at 9.05 hours to complete an one minutes silence. Pedestrians stop and remain silent in the street. Cardrivers stop their vehicles. Later in the day school children walking in procession around with flags.

Religious holidays in Turkey

• Feast of Sacrifice (Kurban Bayrami) is 70 days after the end of the Ramadan celebration.
• Sugar Feast (Seker Bayrami) is celebrated at the end of Ramadan and lasts three days. Eating sweets is central to the first day.