All about...#35 - Turkey
First published: Wednesday August 18th, 2021
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ALL ABOUT TURKEY
Brought to you by MrBLOGGER
Introduction
Turkey is a beautiful and big country located in western Asia and eastern Europe with its capital at Ankara, and its largest city, Istanbul. It has a rich & fascinating history of tribes, wars, empires, and republics, as it has moved on to the modern world. Millions of people visit the country each year to see its attractions and sites, such as numerous mosques, churches, and buildings. The history and people of Turkey have made it a powerful country progressing into the 21th century. Let me explain more.
Physical geography/Economy
Turkey is a mostly mountainous transcontinental country, which means it spans 2 continents. It makes sense, because the area of the country covers over 300 thousand square miles (780 thousand square kilometers). The country has numerous mountains, bodies of water, and features that we will all cover here. Also, Turkey has a big economy which profits through natural resources and man-made products.
Bodies of Water
Turkey, being a large country is bordered by many bodies of water. It is vast borders the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean sea to the south, and the Aegean sea to the west. There are also the Turkish straights - the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. The Halys is the longest river of Turkey. Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey.
Land Geography
Turkey is a hilly and mountainous country, with its highest point being at Mt.Ararat. The country doesn't have any major deserts, but its main mountian range is the Tauras mountains
Climate
The areas of Turkey near the sea have a mainly Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. The Black Sea area has the greatest number of precipitation. The Mountain areas of the country have a continental climate. But those areas also have harsh Plateau areas with very low temperatures.
Biodiversity
Turkey is home to a wide range of species of flora and fauna. Turkey is home to over 40 national parks, which include deer, bobcats, rabbits, and other forest animals.
Political geography
Turkey has a large population which is divided up into MANY states and cities. In fact, Turkey has 13 cities with over 500k people. Read here to learn about all the places and sights.
| LARGEST CITIES IN TURKEY | |
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Istanbul | 14.0m |
| Ankara | 4.5m |
| Izmir | 2.8m |
| Bursa | 1.8 |
| Adana | 1.5 |
Population stats
Turkey is a large country - it has been growing and currently has over 83 million people. It also has 7 cities with over a million people. About 75% of the population of Turkey lives in urban centers, and that number is growing.
Divisions & Regions
Administratively, turkey is divided into 81 provinces and then divided into 973 districts. Note that the districts are subdivisions of the provinces. As you may have known, Turkey is a large country and covers many lands, such as 2 continents. The European side of Europe is called Thrace, and the Asian side, which is larger in the area is called Anatolia, or Asia Minor.
Cities
Turkey's largest city, as well as its economic and service center, with the most tourists, is the grand city of Istanbul. Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia and has played a very important part in Turkey's history. The city is filled with numerous sites that have been around for centuries from different time periods. The most famous is the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The city is also famous for its "hamams" or public baths where you can get a serious scrub(lol). However, the capital, located in central Turkey is Ankara. Ankara is where the government is held and the leader of the country lives. Another large city is Izmir. One of the more important cities is Cappadocia because of all of its ancient ruins. Yes...you will find a lot of ruins in the beautiful country.
Sites:
Sadly, I can't explain everything but know that Turkey has many ancient ruins such as the Gobleki Tepe, hope to ancient human ruins. But they are also very modern, with many malls and skyscrapers.
People/Demographics/Culture
Turkey, although mostly Turkish, is starting to become more of a melting pot. This can be both a good and a bad thing. Many refugees have been moving over and now the Demographics has changed. The country of Turkey is home to many different ethnic groups in which we will discuss here that make Turkey what it is now. But with people, comes the culture!
Demographics & Ethnicities
The country has a majority of Turkish people at 65%. They are the ones that mostly control the government and the big companies. The next largest group, a controversial ethnic group with no sovereign land is the Kurds, at around 19%. Other groups include the Crimean Tatars, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, and the Yoruks.
Religion
The country is more than 97% Muslim. 82% of them are Sunni and 15% are Shiite. 2% are non-religious, and the rest are of other religions. Surprisingly, Islam is not the official state religion and there is some extent of freedom of religion.
Culture
There are lots of farmers in the country that have harvest and selling seasons. There are many people in the country that work at street shops that get lots of customers because they are in packed cities.
I am not going to sugarcoat it...but there are some cases in which men rule the family and have master decisions, and some of the women's actions are limited. However, that is not enforced.
The dresses of Turkish people include Turkish baggy trousers and lots of people wear cloth on their heads. There are numerous colorful dresses for all the different ethnic groups of the country.
History timeline/relations
Turkey, whether as a tribe, republic, or empire has been around for thousands of years. In that time span, it has made relations, got into wars, gained lands, and loosed lands. Here, we will break all of that down for you and compare each time period of Turkey in a timeline.
- Neolithic people settle in the Anatolia region and start farming and trading.
- The settlement of Çatalhöyük forms.
- The Hittites conquer the region because they had very good irons made of smelted meteorites.
i> - The Assyrians invade, but soon defeated by the ruling Achaemenid empire, the first time where Turkey as a whole was conquered
- Alexander the Great takes the area
- The mighty ROMANS come and take the area. Not much happens in the region until the emperor Constantine takes present day Istanbul and calls it New Rome and puts the 2nd capital of the empire there. During this time, many religious councils take place in Turkey
- The Roman empire splits and Turkey becomes part of the Byzantine empire. The Byzantine empire becomes very rich because of trade. Justinian takes over
- The Seljuks take over
- The mighty crusade happens. The Byzantine Empire, although on the side of the Christians, falls drastically in power and becomes very weak. Constantinople is sacked.
- The mighty Ottomans are in rule for hundreds of years. The capital name is changed to Istanbul. Turkey enters a golden age of architecture, art, war, and scientific advancements. Many great ottoman rulers
- World War One and the Ottoman empire falls apart.
- World War Two, and the founding of Turkey by Ataturk, a powerful ruler that helped with the foundation of Modern Turkey
- By 2002, Erdogan, the countries (you say it) comes to power
Fun facts
- The first Neolithic paintings found on man-made walls were discovered in the ancient ruin city of Catalhoyuk.
- The world’s most precious silk carpet is stored in the Mevlana Museum in Konya.
- Istanbul was previously known as Constantinople, New Rome, and Byzantium.
- Ice cream street vendors also perform circus-clown performances to attract customers
- People in Turkey like to eat lots of soup.
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