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Turkey
AsiaWestern Asia
784 Thousand km²
Quick Facts
Capital
Ankara
Area
783,562 km²
Language
Turkish
Currency
Turkish Lira (TRY)
Calling Code
+90
Drives On
Right
Internet
.tr
Timezone
TRT (UTC+3)
Script
Latin
Government
Unitary Presidential Republic
Independence
1923
Map tiles by CARTO. Data by OpenStreetMap.
Turkey is the hinge of history. Literally straddling Europe and Asia, with Istanbul split by the Bosphorus strait, it has been the crossroads of civilizations for 10,000 years. Catalhoyuk, one of the world's oldest towns, was thriving here 9,000 years ago. Troy, the city Homer wrote about, stood on Turkey's western coast. The Hittites, Lydians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans all built empires here. Constantinople was the greatest city on Earth for a thousand years. When the Ottomans took it in 1453, they renamed it Istanbul and kept right on building.
Modern Turkey is a country of dizzying contrasts. Istanbul is one of the world's great megacities - 16 million people, mosques with minarets piercing the skyline, bazaars selling everything from Turkish delight to counterfeit designer goods, and a food culture so rich it could fill a library. Cappadocia's fairy chimneys look like they were carved by aliens. The turquoise coast (which gave the color its name from the French turquois, meaning Turkish) has beaches to rival anything in the Mediterranean. The cuisine - kebabs, mezes, baklava, Turkish breakfast - is among the most varied and refined in the world. Turkey is not a bridge between East and West so much as the place where both meet and argue over tea.
Largest Cities in Turkey
1
Istanbul
City on two continents where the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, and Bosphorus create one of the world's most extraordinary skylines
16,000,000
2
Ankara
Capital since 1923, home to Ataturk's mausoleum and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations spanning 10,000 years of history
5,700,000
3
Izmir
Aegean port city with a vibrant waterfront promenade, Turkey's most liberal and cosmopolitan city after Istanbul
4,400,000
4
Bursa
First Ottoman capital at the foot of Uludag Mountain, famous for its silk bazaar, thermal baths, and the Iskender kebab
3,100,000
5
Antalya
Gateway to the Turkish Riviera with a stunning old town, Roman ruins, and turquoise Mediterranean waters
2,600,000
6
Konya
Spiritual center of Turkey and home of Rumi's mausoleum, where the Whirling Dervishes have spun in meditation for 800 years
2,300,000
Famous People from Turkey
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
PoliticsFounder of the Turkish Republic who transformed the Ottoman remnants into a modern secular state, replacing Arabic script with Latin
Rumi
LiteratureThough born in Afghanistan, Rumi lived and wrote in Konya, Turkey, where his Sufi poetry and the Whirling Dervishes originated
Orhan Pamuk
LiteratureNobel Prize-winning novelist whose My Name Is Red and Istanbul captured the beauty and melancholy of Turkish culture
Sinan
ArtChief architect of the Ottoman Empire who designed over 300 structures including the Suleymaniye Mosque, considered a masterpiece
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
FilmDirector who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Winter Sleep, making Turkish cinema a major force in world film
Hakan Sukur
SportTurkey's all-time leading goalscorer who scored the fastest goal in World Cup history at 11 seconds in the 2002 third-place match
Nazim Hikmet
LiteratureRevolutionary poet described as the Romantic Communist, whose free verse transformed Turkish poetry and was translated into 50 languages
Aziz Sancar
ScienceNobel Prize-winning biochemist for his work on DNA repair mechanisms, one of Turkey's most celebrated scientists
Traditional Cuisine of Turkey
Kebab
Not one dish but hundreds - from Adana's spicy minced meat on a skewer to Iskender's sliced doner on bread with tomato sauce and yogurt
Turkish Breakfast
An extravagant spread of cheeses, olives, eggs, honey, clotted cream, sucuk sausage, tomatoes, and fresh bread that can last hours
Lahmacun
Paper-thin crispy flatbread topped with spiced minced meat and herbs, rolled with lemon and parsley - Turkish pizza
Manti
Tiny Turkish dumplings filled with spiced meat, served with garlic yogurt and red pepper butter sauce
Baklava
Layers of tissue-thin filo filled with pistachios and soaked in syrup, Gaziantep's baklava is considered the world's finest
Pide
Boat-shaped flatbread filled with cheese, meat, or egg, baked in stone ovens - Turkey's answer to pizza
Kofte
Grilled meatballs of minced lamb or beef mixed with spices and onion, served everywhere from street carts to fine restaurants
Turkish Tea
Strong black tea served in tulip-shaped glasses, consumed roughly 10 times a day, Turkey drinks more tea per capita than any country
Nature & Landmarks in Turkey
Cappadocia
LandmarkSurreal landscape of fairy chimneys, underground cities, and cave churches, best seen from a hot air balloon at dawn
Pamukkale
LandmarkWhite travertine terraces of thermal pools cascading down a hillside, a UNESCO World Heritage Site beside the ancient city of Hierapolis
Mount Ararat
MountainTurkey's highest peak at 5,137 meters, traditionally considered the resting place of Noah's Ark, an iconic snow-capped volcano
Turquoise Coast
CoastStunning Mediterranean coastline from Antalya to Fethiye, whose color gave the world the word turquoise
Nemrut Dag
MountainSummit shrine with giant stone heads of gods built by a forgotten king in 62 BC, a UNESCO site at 2,134 meters
Sumela Monastery
LandmarkByzantine monastery carved into a cliff face 300 meters above a forest valley in the Pontic Mountains of the Black Sea coast
Lycian Way
Coast500-kilometer long-distance trail rated one of the world's best, following the ancient Lycian coast past ruins and beaches
Lake Van
LakeTurkey's largest lake and the world's largest soda lake, surrounded by mountains and home to the 10th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross
Sports in Turkey
Football
Third place at the 2002 World Cup, with clubs Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas creating one of Europe's most passionate fan cultures
Wrestling
Oil wrestling (yagli gures) is Turkey's national sport, the Kirkpinar tournament has been held annually since 1362, making it the oldest sporting competition in the world
Basketball
Runner-up at the 2010 FIBA World Cup, with a growing basketball culture and players in the NBA and EuroLeague
Volleyball
Women's league is one of the strongest in the world, attracting top international players to Istanbul clubs
Did You Know?
1
Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents - Europe and Asia, connected by three bridges and a tunnel
2
Turkey drinks more tea per capita than any other country in the world - over 3 kg of tea per person annually
3
The Kirkpinar oil wrestling festival has been held every year since 1362, making it the oldest continuously running sporting event
4
The word turquoise comes from the French pierre turquoise meaning Turkish stone, after the color of Turkey's Mediterranean coast
5
Santa Claus was born in Patara, Turkey - Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop in the ancient Lycian city of Myra
6
Turkey has 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites spanning from Neolithic settlements to Ottoman mosques
7
Catalhoyuk in central Turkey is one of the oldest known human settlements, dating to approximately 7500 BC
8
Turkish coffee, prepared in a cezve pot, is UNESCO-recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
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