Turkey, Come Explore

Turkey is a vast and varied country boasting incredible landscapes and natural wonders bordered by four different seas. Well known as a great destination for relaxing beach holidays, it also offers many sporting activities, some of the world’s most important ancient monuments, welcoming Turkish hospitality and a delicious and varied national cuisine. Istanbul is also gearing up to be European Capital of Culture 2010 so it has never been a better time to visit this magical city!

Nature and Geography of TURKEY

Turkey is a vast peninsula, covering an area of 814,578 square kilometres or 314,510 square miles and linking Asia to Europe through the Sea of Marmara and the Straits of Istanbul and Çanakkale. Across the Sea of Marmara, the triangular shaped Trace is the continuation of Turkey on the European continent. Anatolia is rectangular in outline, 1500 kilometres long and 550 kilometres wide.


Agri Mountain

It is characterised by a central plateau surrounded by chains of mountains on the north, west and south and a rugged mountainous region in the east with an average elevation of 1050 metres. In the west, the mountains descend gently towards the sea. The northern Anatolia mountain range, and the Taurus range in the south, stretches like arcs, becoming ever denser in the east. Turkey’s highest mountain peak at 5165 metres or 16,946 feet is Agri Dagi, situated in the north east. It is believed to have been the resting place for Noah’s Ark.
Turkey has a quite large river system that allows for important hydroelectric power generation and irrigation. The country’s longest rivers, the Sakarya, the Kizilirmak and the Yesilirmak, flow from the Central Anatolia towards the Black Sea. The famous Dicle (Tigris) and Firat (Euphrates) flow from the eastern Anatolia south into Syria and Iraq. Four other rivers: the Büyük Menderes and Gediz flow from the Anatolian Plateau into the Aegean Sea; the Meric, which forms the border between Turkey and Greece; and the Seyhan, which runs from the eastern highlands all the way into the Mediterranean, all round out the major rivers of Turkey.

Van Lake

Turkey has over 300 natural and 130 artificial lakes. In terms of numbers of lakes, the Eastern Anatolian region is the richest including Lake Van, (the largest of the country with its 3,713 square kilometres surface), and the lakes of Ercek, Cildir and Hazar. There are also many lakes in the West Taurus Mountains area: the Beysehir and Egirdir lakes, Burdur and Acigoller lakes. The lakes of Sapanca, Iznik, Ulubat, Manyas, Terkos, Kucukcekmece and Buyukcekmece are in Marmara region, and the  second largest lake of Turkey, Tuzgolu and The lakes of Aksehir and Eber are located in the Central Anatolia region. A number of dams have been constructed during the past thirty years, which have resulted in the formation of several large dam lakes including the Atatürk, Keban and Karakaya.

Turkey is like a mosaic made up of many different reliefs and formations: parallel mountain ranges, extinct volcanoes, plateaux fissured by valleys and plains. Surrounded on its three sides by warm seas, it falls in the temperate climate zone. The climate varies considerably however from region to region: a temperate climate in the Black Sea Region, a Mediterranean climate on the southern coast and the Aegean, a continental and arid climate on the central plateau and a harsh mountain climate in eastern Turkey. Because of these variations in climate, the fauna and flora are some of the richest in Europe and the Middle East.
Turkey is separated into seven geographical regions, which are, in order of size: East Anatolia (21 %), Central Anatolia (20%), Black Sea (18%), Mediterranean (15%), Aegean (10%), Marmara (8.5%) and Southeast Anatolia (7.5%).

White Narcissus

There are more than 10,000 species of plants in Turkey, 20% of which are found only in these lands. The abundant rainfall in the Black Sea region allows the growth of rich forest vegetation. The Çanakkale Strait forms a transition between the Black Sea and the Aegean regions and therefore has a mixture of temperate and Mediterranean type of vegetation. Thrace has fine forests which are subject to the continental influence of the Balkans. The coasts of the Aegean and the Mediterranean, from the Canakkale Strait to the Gulf of Iskenderun, have typically Mediterranean vegetation which extends to the plains and western slopes of mountains as high as 1000 metres. The southern coast has very hot and dry summers and the vegetation in some places is subtropical with banana trees and date palms. In the Taurus Mountains, the vegetation consists of pine and cedar forests, with even junipers at higher altitudes. Central and eastern Anatolia are isolated from all maritime influence by mountains. Rainfall is low, the summers hot and dry and the winters harsh. In certain areas, the vegetation is steppe-like but also with forests of pine, oak and beech. The region around the Salt Lake is almost entirely barren. The climate in eastern Turkey is even harsher, although the rainfall in the Southeast allows birches, walnuts and oaks to thrive.

Turkey has a great variety of wild animals, with over 114 species of mammals. The forest belt in the north is home to grey hears and in the south to wild goats. Sea turtles and seals play in the waters of the Mediterranean and the Aegean, just as in other parts of the world, some species have become extinct or on the verge of extinction such as the wild Asian donkeys, lions and tigers. Some 400 species of indigenous or migratory birds live in Turkey, some of which are extinct in Europe such as the black vulture.

Turkey is an important stopover for birds migrating between Africa, Asia and Europe, with the predatory birds stop in these places before continuing on Istanbul Strait and Artvin being the preferred sites. According to the International Office of Aquatic Birds and Areas, there are some 800 aquatic species in Turkey spanning sixty different areas. The shores of Lake Manyas near Balıkesir are home to over 200 species of indigenous or migratory aquatic birds. This lake is considered to be one of Europe s richest aquatic bird centres. Over 250 indigenous or migratory birds live in the Sultan Marshes (Sultan Sazligi) near Kayseri; 20 of these are considered endangered species, although they come here to mate and breed. The Sultan marshes are thought to be the only place where flamingos, cranes, herons and pelicans breed together. The protected salt marshes near Izmir are like a natural museum, with some 190 species of birds living in its marshes, lakes and hills. The hills also shelter rabbits, foxes and even boars. The İztuzu sand beaches near Dalyan are the main breeding area for sea turtles.

Geography of Turkey

Turkey is a transcontinental[68] Eurasian country. Asian Turkey (made up largely of Anatolia), which includes 97% of the country, is separated from European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (which together form a water link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea). European Turkey (eastern Thrace or Rumelia in the Balkan peninsula) comprises 3% of the country.[69]

The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a roughly rectangular shape.[66] It lies between latitudes 35° and 43° N, and longitudes 25° and 45° E. Turkey’s area, including lakes, occupies 783,562[70] square kilometres (300,948 sq mi), of which 755,688 square kilometres (291,773 sq mi) are in Southwest Asia and 23,764 square kilometres (9,174 sq mi) in Europe.[66] Turkey is the world’s 37th-largest country in terms of area. The country is encircled by seas on three sides: the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.[71]

Ölüdeniz Beach near Fethiye on the Turkish Riviera

The European section of Turkey, Eastern Thrace, forms the borders of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country, Anatolia, consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, between the Köroğlu and Pontic mountain ranges to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Eastern Turkey has a more mountainous landscape and is home to the sources of rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras, and contains Lake Van and Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest point at 5,165 metres (16,946 ft).[71][72] Lake Tuz, Turkey’s third-largest lake, is a macroscopically visible feature in the middle of the country that ironically happens to look like a turkey.

Turkey is divided into seven census regions: Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Mediterranean. The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately one-sixth of Turkey’s total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward.[71]

Ağrı Mountain is the highest peak in Turkey at 5,165 m (16,946 ft)

Turkey’s varied landscapes are the product of complex earth movements that have shaped the region over thousands of years and still manifest themselves in fairly frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. The Bosporus and the Dardanelles owe their existence to the fault lines running through Turkey that led to the creation of the Black Sea. There is an earthquake fault line across the north of the country from west to east, which caused a major earthquake in 1999.[73]

Climate


The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Black Sea have a temperate Oceanic climate with warm, wet summers and cool to cold, wet winters. The Turkish Black Sea coast receives the greatest amount of precipitation and is the only region of Turkey that receives high precipitation throughout the year. The eastern part of that coast averages 2,500 millimeters annually which is the highest precipitation in the country.

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Sea of Marmara (including Istanbul), which connects the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, have a transitional climate between a temperate Mediterranean climate and a temperate Oceanic climate with warm to hot, moderately dry summers and cool to cold, wet winters. Snow does occur on the coastal areas of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea almost every winter, but it usually lies no more than a few days. Snow on the other hand is rare in the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea and very rare in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea.

Conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the central Anatolian plateau of the interior of Turkey a continental climate with sharply contrasting seasons.

Winters on the plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of −30 °C to −40 °C (−22 °F to −40 °F) can occur in eastern Anatolia, and snow may lie on the ground at least 120 days of the year. In the west, winter temperatures average below 1 °C (34 °F). Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures generally above 30 °C (86 °F) in the day. Annual precipitation averages about 400 millimetres (15 in), with actual amounts determined by elevation. The driest regions are the Konya plain and the Malatya plain, where annual rainfall frequently is less than 300 millimetres (12 in). May is generally the wettest month, whereas July and August are the driest.[74]