Essential Information about Turkey
From 5000 BC to the present day...
Republic
of Turkey,
Founded in 1923 by
M. K. Ataturk
Capital : Ankara
Population : 71 Million
Religion: Officially 98% of Turks are Sunni Muslim,
and 2% are Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant Christians and
Jews.
Time: Turkish Standard Time is 2 hours ahead of Greenwich
Mean Time. It advances by one hour in summer (Apr-Oct) to
GMT +3.
Government Type : Republican Parliamentary
Democracy
Currency
: Turkish Lira (TL)
Official
Language : Turkish, Ural-Altay origin,
the closest European Languages are Finnish
and Hungarian
Calendar : Gregorian Calendar
Alphabet : Latin Alphabet
Major
Cities : Istanbul,
Ankara, Izmir, Bursa,
Adana, Antalya
Borders : Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia,
Iran, Iraq, Syria
Geography
Area : 780 580 sq. km.
Climate : Three climate zones; Mediterranean,
Continental and Black sea (Hot Dry summers with
mild, wet winters, harsher in interior)
The Highest Mountain : The Mt. Ararat, approx.
5165 m. It is believed to be resting place of
Noah's Ark.
The
Largest Lake : Lake Van - 8000 sq. km.
The Longest River : River Kizilirmak - 1355 km.
Economy Overview
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of
modern industry and commerce along with
traditional agriculture. It has a strong and rapidly
growing private sector.
Industries : Auto industry, textiles, food
processing, mining, steel, petroleum,
construction, lumber, paper, tourism.
