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.