Turkiye in Brief:

Official Name

The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti)

Founder

Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK ( 1881-1938 )

Capital

ANKARA

Population 

65.3 million (as of 2000)

Language

Turkish (uses Latin Alphabet)

Currency

Turkish Lira ( TL )

Flag

Red background with a white crescent and star in the middle

Location

Eastern Mediterranean. Located on two continents Europe and Asia. The European part of Turkey is called Thrace, while the Asian part is called Anatolia or ( Asia Minor )

Area

814 578 Km2 (314 500 square miles)

% 3  
% 97  

on the European continent
on the Asian continent

Major Cities

Istanbul
Ankara
Izmir
Konya
Adana
Bursa

9.2 million
3.7 million
3.1 million
1.9 million
1.7 million
1.2 million

Religion

The predominant religion is Muslim . Turkey is a secular state that quarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.

National Anthem

“ Istiklal Marsi ”   ( Independence March )
Lyrics by : Mehmet Akif Ersoy 
Adopted as Turkey’s National Anthem on March 12,1921

Government

Turkey is democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law; committed to the nationalism of Atatürk and based on the principle of the separation of powers;

Legislative Power
Executive Power 
Judicial Power  

:The Turkish Grand National Assembly
:President and the Council of Ministers.
:Independent courts and supreme
 judiciary organs.

Coastline

8333 Km. (5000 miles)
Turkey is surrounded by sea on three sides, by the Black Sea in the North, the Mediterranean in the south and the Aegean Sea in the West. In the north-west there is also an important internal sea, the Sea of Marmara, between the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus

Geographical Regions

Turkey has 80 administrative provinces and seven geographical regions. The first four of the seven regions are given the names of the seas which are adjacent to them.

- Black Sea Region
- Marmara Region
- Aegean Region
- Mediterranean Region

The other three regions are named in accordance with their location in the whole of Anatolia.

- Central Anatolia Region
- Eastern Anatolia Region
- Southeastern Anatolia Region

Famous Landmarks

Ayasofya Museum, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Dolmabahçe Palace, ancient City of Troy, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Pergamon, Pamukkale, Göreme- Cappadocia, Mt.Nemrut, Safranbolu

Some important products

As of 1998, Turkey has the first place in the world in terms of hard-shell nuts, fig and apricot production, the fourth place in fresh vegetables, grape and tobacco production and the seventh place in wheat and cotton production. Turkish delight and helva are famous throughout the world.

Turkey is among the leading countries in textiles and ready to wear clothing production. The exports of this sector constitutes 36 percent of total industrial exports. The leather processing industry is also very developed in Turkey both in terms of technological level and high production capacity and comes after textiles in terms of export figures.

Other Useful Information

Time

Local time is equal to GMT + 2 hours. Same time zone all over the country ( seven hours ahead of U.S. -eastern standard time- )

Electricity

220 volts a.c. all over Turkey

Weights and Measures

Metric and Kilo system