Turkey

Turkey is a paradise where one can experience
the four seasons simultaneously

Whether be fond of art, history, archeology or nature, you will feel the happiness beyond desires and hopes during your stay in Turkey.

The lands of Turkey are located at a point where the three continents making up the old world. Asia, Africa and Europe are closest to each other, and straddle the point where Europe and Asia meet.

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 northwest there is also an important internal sea, the Sea of Marmara, between the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, important waterways that connect the Black Sea with the rest of the world.

Although Turkey is situated in a geographical location where climatic conditions are quite temperate, the diverse nature of the landscape , and the existence in particular of the mountains that run parallel to the coasts, results in significant differences in climatic conditions from one region to the other. While the coastal areas enjoy milder climates, the inland Anatolian plateau experiences extremes of hot summers and cold winters with limited rainfall. The Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have cool, rainy winters and hot, moderately dry summers.

The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social State governed by the rule of law; bearing in mind the concepts of public peace, national solidarity and justice; respecting human rights and loyal to the nationalism of Ataturk.

Turkish foreign policy are to establish and to develop friendly relations with all countries, in particular with neighboring ones; to promote and to take part in regional and international cooperation; to resolve disputes through peaceful means and to contribute to regional peace, stability, security and prosperity. Soon becoming EU member.

As of 2000, Turkey has the first place in the world in terms of hard-shell nuts, fig and apricot production, fourth in fresh vegetables, grape and tobacco production and seventh in wheat and cotton production. Turkish delight and helva are famous throughout the world. Turkey is among the leading countries in the world in textiles and ready to wear clothing production. The exports of this sector constitute 37 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. High-quality handmade Turkish carpets are also one of the main export items of Turkey the most famous and finest pure silk carpets of the world are produced in the small town of Hereke, 60 km east of İstanbul. Turkey is Europe's third largest ceramic producer. Composition of GNP
Agriculture: 12.9 % , Industry : 25.3 % , Services : 61.8 %.

OFFICIAL NAME The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti) CAPITAL Ankara 4 million MAJOR CITIES İstanbul 10 million Izmir 3.4 million Bursa 2.1 million Konya 2.2 million Adana 1.8 million FOUNDER Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK ( 1881-1938 ) AREA 814 578 square kilometers (314 500 square miles) % 3 on the European continent % 97 on the Asian continent

REGIONS Turkey has 80 administrative provinces and seven geographical regions. The first four of the seven regions are given the names 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 POPULATION 67.8 million (as of 2002) LANGUAGE Turkish (uses Latin Alphabet) CURRENCY New Turkish Lira EDUCATION SYSTEM Primary Education: Eight years; includes the education of children in the 6-14 age-group. Compulsory for all male and female citizens. Secondary Education: Consists of general and vocational-technical high schools that offer at least three years of education. Higher Education: Includes all educational institutions where an educational programme of at least two years over and above secondary education is implemented. These educate students at associate's, bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree levels. RELIGION % 99 of the population is Muslim. Turkey is the only country among Islamic countries, which has included secularism in her Constitution and guarantees complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims. 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