All About Turkey

Firstly, if I had any mistake please tell me on comments!

I divided this blog to 8 portions:

1)Origin of the Name

2)Flag

3)Political Geography

4)Physical Geography

5)History

6)Imports, Exports and GDP

7)Cuisine

8)Fun Facts

So let’s go to the blog!

Actually the word Turkey means “Land of the Turks”. Turkey the country is named before turkey the bird. Some portion of the western world learned the animal from Turkish traders and started to call animal as “Turkey bird”. That’s the reason. But how did the Turkey (country) got its name? Middle English usage of Turkye is evidenced in an early work by Chaucer called The Book of the Duchess (c. 1369). The phrase land of Torke is used in the 15th-century Digby Mysteries. Later usages can be found in the Dunbar poems, the 16th century Manipulus Vocabulorum ("Turkie, Tartaria") and Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum (Turky). The modern spelling "Turkey" dates back to at least 1719. The Turkish name Türkiye was adopted in 1923 under the influence of European usage.

Red colored background with a white crescent and star flag formed on the first adopted in 1844, was enacted in 1936 as the national flag of the Republic of Turkey.

Legend has it that the red on the flag is blood-red and represents the shed blood of the martyrs. At midnight, the image of the Turkish flag is formed with a crescent-shaped moon and a star reflected on these bloods. This legend is said to have taken place in the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389.

Turkey has 8 neighbouring country. It shares borders with Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea to the west.

Turkey has 81 provinces. Istanbul is the financial centre and most populous city in Turkey with 16 million people. Ankara is the capital and the second most populous city. Other important cities are Izmir, Bursa and Antalya.

Turkey is a transcontinental country bridging Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. The Eastern Anatolia Region mostly corresponds to the western part of the Armenian Highlands (the plateau situated between the Anatolian Plateau in the west and the Lesser Caucasus in the north) and contains Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest point at 5,137 metres (16,854 feet), and Lake Van, the largest lake in the country. Eastern Turkey has a mountainous landscape and is home to the sources of rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras. The Southeastern Anatolia Region includes the northern plains of Upper Mesopotamia.

The first settlement on the lands of Turkey started by the Aeolians, Dorians, Ionians, Thracians and Persians was launched in Paleolithic age. Then with the rule of III. Alexandros, the Hellenistic period, then the Roman and Byzantine periods were experienced. As a result of the Seljuks settling in Anatolia in the 11th century, the Turkification movement started on the lands and the Byzantine supremacy in Anatolia lost power in favor of the Turks with the victory after the 1071 Battle of Malazgirt.

Founded after the collapse of the Seljuks, the Anatolian Seljuks ruled the region until the Mongol invasion in 1243. After the invasion, many small Turkish principalities were formed in Anatolia. Being one of these principalities, the Ottomans became the rulers of Anatolia from the end of the 13th century. In addition, they gained great power in Eurasia and Africa, establishing a great empire with territories over Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. After the 17th century, the Ottoman Empire entered a period of decline. He then succumbed empire was destroyed in World War I, as a result of the War of Independence against the occupying forces in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the Republic of Turkey.

In 2019 Turkey was the number 19 economy in the world in terms of GDP.  The top exports of Turkey are cars, refined petroleum, delivery trucks, jewellery and vehicle parts. The top imports of Turkey are gold, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, vehicle parts and scrap iron. Top trade partners are Germany, United Kingdom, Iraq, Italy and United States.

Turkish cuisine includes meat, pastry, vegetables (mostly pepper, tomato and onion), rice, chickpea, cheese and dairy products.

Stuffed leaves with olive oil: It is the sarma made with vine leaves stuffed with a rice-spice mixture and cooked with olive oil.

Manti: Turkish pasta that consists of folded triangles of dough filled with minced meat, often with minced onions and parsley. It is typically served hot topped with garlic yogurt.

2) Tünel is the world’s second oldest underground railway.

3) Turkey introduced tulips to the world.

4) Agriculture began in Turkey.

5) Oldest Christian church is in Antakya, Turkey.

6) Oldest known settlement is in Turkey, and it called Göbeklitepe.

7) World’s biggest mosaic museum is in Turkey and it contains 1700 m2 (or 18.000 sq ft) of mosaic!

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