Turkey forms a natural bridge between Europe and Asia, laying between 35-42° north
latitude and 25-44° east longitude with a total land area of 779,452 km2 and a population
of 73 million1.
In fact this country consists of the large, roughly rectangular peninsula of Anatolia
(Anadolu) in western Asia and the Eastern Thrace region (Trakya) in the southeastern
Europe, accounting respectively for 97% and 3% of the total area and physically
separated by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles.
Source:
http://www.turchia.it/ilpaese.htm
This particular location makes Turkey a country of significant geostrategic importance,
with land borders with other eight countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan (exclave of Nakhchivan), Greece and Bulgaria.
It is protected by high mountains along its eastern border and surrounded by the
sea - Black Sea (north), Marmara Sea (north-west), Aegean Sea (south-west) and Mediterranean
Sea (south)- on three sides.
Its capital city is Ankara, while its biggest city Istanbul represents the financial,
economic and cultural heart of the country. Its territory is subdivided into 81
provinces for administrative purposes, each of them is also organised into 7 regions,
that have only census proposes and therefore are not part of the administrative
structure.
The predominant religion in Turkey is Islam with small minorities of Christianity
and Judaism and the country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and
Zazaki languages are also spoken. The monetary unit is the Turkish Lira (TL), divided
to 100 Kurus.
1. 2009, World Bank.