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The territory of Turkey extends from 36°
to 42° N and from 26° to 45° E in
Eurasia. It is roughly rectangular in
shape and is 1,660 kilometers (1,031 mi)
wide. Turkey's area inclusive of lakes
is 814,578 square kilometres (314,510 sq
mi), of which 790,200 square kilometres
(305,098 sq mi) occupies the Anatolian
peninsula (also called Asia Minor) in
Asia, and 3% or 24,378 square kilometres
(9,412 sq mi) are located in Europe.
Many geographers consider Turkey
politically in Europe, although it is
rather a transcontinental country
between Asia and Europe. The land
borders of Turkey total 2,573 kilometres
(1,599 mi), and the coastlines (including
islands) total another 8,333 kilometres
(5,178 mi).
Turkey is generally divided into seven
regions: the Marmara, the Aegean, the
Mediterranean, Central Anatolia, East
Anatolia, Southeast Anatolia and the
Black Sea region. The uneven north
Anatolian terrain running along the
Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt.
This region comprises approximately 1/6
of Turkey's total land area. As a
general trend, the inland Anatolian
plateau becomes increasingly rugged as
it progresses eastward. |
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Turkey forms a bridge between
Europe and Asia, with the
division between the two running
from the Black Sea (Karadeniz)
to the north down along the
Bosporus (Istanbul Boğazı)
strait through the Sea of
Marmara (Marmara Denizi) and the
Dardanelles (Çanakkale Boğazı)
strait to the Aegean Sea (Ege
Denizi) and the larger
Mediterranean Sea (Akdeniz) to
the south. The Anatolian
peninsula or Anatolia (Anadolu)
consists of a high central
plateau with narrow coastal
plains, in between the Köroğlu
and East-Black Sea mountain
range to the north and the
Taurus Mountains (Toros Dağları)
to the south. To the east is
found a more mountainous
landscape, home to the sources
of rivers such as the Euphrates
(Fırat), Tigris (Dicle) and the
Araks (Aras), as well as Lake
Van (Van Gölü) and Mount Ararat
(Ağrı Dağı), Turkey's highest
point at 5,137 metres (16,853 ft). |
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Turkey is
also prone to very severe earthquakes.
The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles owe
their existence to the fault lines
running through Turkey, leading to the
creation of the Black Sea. There is an
earthquake fault line across the north
of the country from west to east. Within
the last century there were many
earthquakes along this fault line, the
sizes and locations of these earthquakes
can be seen on the Fault lines &
Earthquakes image. This image also
includes a small scaled map that shows
other fault lines in Turkey.
The climate is a Mediterranean temperate
climate, with hot, dry summers and mild,
wet and cold winters, though conditions
can be much harsher in the more arid
interior.
(Source:http://dis.comu.edu.tr/yogrenci/turkey.htm) |
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