Turkey is for anyone seeking an uncommon holiday. It is a land of mystery and deep historical significance, rich in culture and robust in modern infrastructure. When you visit Turkey, you stand where civilization began. Turkey, known as "the cradle of civilization", hosted the first human settlement on its soil, which has been dated as 12,000 years old. Turkey is also the home of ancient cultures, including the Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Urartians, Lycians, Lydians, Ionians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk’s and Ottomans.

Following the decline of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal, known as Atatürk, an army general and World War 1 hero, founded the modern republic of Turkey in 1923. Atatürk is revered in Turkeyand is cited as one of the world's greatest statesmen.

"Mosaic" is the best word to describe modern Turkey: its many facets form a picture of great beauty and depth. Whatever you like in a vacation, you'll find it here. A sultan's palace, a great imperial mosque or a museum filled with artistic treasures of ancient Greece and Rome. Dinner with a sea view, followed by a cosy lounge, lively disco or a dance club... It might be a typical day's list of pursuit on a vacation in Turkey. The vast opportunities of outdoor possibilities involve of the Aegean and Mediterranean coast-lines, which are sprinkled with posh resorts and quaint fishing villages from which you can set out for sailing excursions, sea kayaking, windsurfing, water skiing, or almost any other water sport. On land, Turkey is strong in hiking and trekking trails to conquer or ski down.

ATATÜRK 

You will see images of this man everywhere you go in Turkey, Schools, banks, shops, bars and restaurants.

 Born Mustafa in 1881 in Thessalonica… During his schooling he was given the nickname of Kemal meaning “Perfection”. He joined the Military and was soon proving his abilities as a master of strategies in the First World War at Gallipoli. In 1920 he was elected President of the Grand National Assembly.

He made many changes to Turkey, including giving votes to women in 1934, before France, which gave women the right to vote in 1944. He banned the wearing of the Fez, Adopted the Latin alphabet he was said to have changed it in just eleven days. Traditional clothing was replaced with western style clothing. Turkish people had to take a surname, Mustafa Kemal chose Atatürk meaning Father of Turks. He adopted a new Civil Law code, established a Republic and suppressed religious brotherhoods. Without Atatürk Turkey would not be what it is today. All Turks love Atatürk, and on the anniversary of his death November 10th at 09.05 the whole country observes a silence.

HISTORY OF ANATOLIA         

Anatolia is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions in the world, and it has repeatedly served as a battleground for foreign powers. The earliest major empire in the area was that of the HITTITES, from the 18th through the 13th century BC. Subsequently, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy until their kingdom was destroyed by the CIMMERIANS in the 7th century BC. The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states was LYDIA. Greeks meanwhile settled coastal Anatolia (IONIA). The entire area was overrun by the Persians during the 6th and 5th centuries and fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms (including BITHYNIA, CAPPADOCIA, PERGAMUM, and PONTUS), all of which had succumbed to Rome by the mid-1st century BC. In AD 324 the Roman emperor CONSTANTINE I chose Constantinople, now Istanbul, as the capital of the Roman Empire. It subsequently became the capital of the Eastern Roman or BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

In 1055 a group of Central Asiatic Turks, the SELJUKS, conquered Baghdad and established a Middle Eastern and Anatolian empire. When this empire was broken up by the Mongol invasion, one of the remaining local powers became known as the Ottoman dynasty, after its leader OSMAN I. The OTTOMAN EMPIRE spread from north-western Anatolia and captured Constantinople in 1453. At the peak of their power the Ottomans controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean. The Ottomans had a sophisticated system of internal administration and also organized the first standing army in Europe.

As the Ottoman Empire began to collapse under its own weight in the 18th and 19th centuries, it became a battleground for rival European powers, wedged as it was between the Russian and Austrian empires. By the outbreak of World War I the Ottoman Empire had essentially been divided into spheres of influence by the great European powers, but a reform movement was active within the Ottoman Empire itself. The YOUNG TURKS brought about a revolution in 1908 and were successful in introducing civil and social reforms of far-reaching consequence.

In 1922, however, the Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Kemal ATATURK) and Ismet INONU, defeated the armies occupying Anatolia. Inonu then won what has been called "the greatest diplomatic victory in history" when the Treaty of Lausanne recognized the Republic of Turkey. The republic was declared on Oct. 29, 1923, and Atatürk was elected its first president. Turkey remained neutral in World War II until it joined the Allies in February 1945. Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT TURKEY                                                             

GEOGRAPHY

Location: South-western Asia (that part west of the Bosphorus is included with Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria
Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 35 00 E
Map references: Europe and Asia
Area:
total: 780,580 sq km   
land: 770,760 sq km
water: 9,820 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 2,627 km
border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km
Coastline: 7,200 km

Climate: It is commonly said that you can experience each of the four seasons on the same day in some part of Turkey. During the spring months early tourists bask in the Mediterranean sunshine of the south while on the lofty mountain tops above people are skiing. The Black Sea region glistens under spring rains while Southeastern Anatolia still sleeps under a blanket of snow. In some areas the temperature variation over 24 hours can be as much as 20º C. Average precipitation from region to region also varies enormously. For a country located in a temperate climatic zone, this variety is unusual, and is due to the diverse nature of Turkey’s landscape, ranging as it does from low-lying plains to towering peaks, and in particular to the existence of mountain ranges running parallel to the coast.

The Mediterranean region, to the joy of the millions of sun worshipers who visit it annually, experiences the hot, dry summers typical of southern Greece and Italy, and its mild winters last only from December to March. The climate of the Aegean is similar though with lower temperatures. The climate of the Marmara Sea and Istanbul, influenced by the Balkan Peninsula, is less appealing. Warm, humid summers are followed by cool, rainy winters with lots of grey sky but not much snow. The Northern slopes of the Black Sea ranges and the narrow strip of land are misted over with rain year-round and are known for the resulting luxuriant green vegetation. The summers of the Central Anatolian plateau are hot and dry and the winters cold but fairly dry. Further east, the altitude increases and blazing hot summers follows harsh winters with heavy snow between October and May. In the Southeast a Middle Eastern influence exerts itself with cool dry winters and torrid summers

Terrain:
Mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Ararat 5,165 m
Natural resources:
Antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore
Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 16%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 22%
Irrigated land: 36,740 sq km (1993 est.)
Geography note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas
 

PEOPLE         

Population Projection 

The first census after the foundation of the Republic was conducted in 1927, the second in 1935 and then every 5 years until the last general census of 1990 when the population was 57 million. It has been decided to conduct censuses every ten years since 1990.

Population projection over the years is as follows:

1997…. 66,835,052

1998…. 68,372,258

1999…. 69,944,820

2000…. 71,553,551

2006…. 74.000.000

Turkey is the 17th most densely populated country in the World. The majority of the population consists of young people, about 40% of whom are under the age of fifteen. 72% are below the age of 35. In more developed countries this rate is much lower.

Birth rate                       2.8%

Death rate                      0.8%

Population growth          2.3%

The rate of birth is different throughout the country. It is dependent on the education of people and socio-economic conditions. The rate is higher in the rural and eastern areas compared to urban and those of the West.

Male population              50.4%

Female population          49.6%