Turkey

Abstract

Turkey occupies a territory of 783,562 km² that lies both between the Middle East and Europe, and between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The arid Anatolian Plateau, at an altitude of about 1,000 m, is flanked to the north and south by respectively the Pontus and Taurus mountain ranges, the latter rising to about 2,500 m. The highest point in the country is the snow-capped volcanic peak of Mt Ararat, which reaches 5,165 m in the northeast of the country, known for being where the biblical ark supposedly made its landfall. The territory of Thrace in the northwest is separated from the rest of the country by an important waterway, made up of the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, which connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. Relatively narrow and fertile coastal strips adjoin the Mediterranean to the west and the Black Sea to the north. The Mediterranean coast is indented and adjoined by a number of islands.