 Turkey
is at the center of “Eurasia”, where three
regions of the world, Europe, the former Soviet Union
and the Middle East intersect. Granted a unique location
at the heart of Euro-Asia, Turkey has far been discovered
by tourists from all parts of the world. Geographically,
the country is located in the northern half of the hemisphere
at a point that is about halfway between the equator and
the North Pole, at a longitude of 36 degrees N to 42 degrees
N and latitude of 26 degrees E to 45 degrees E. Turkey
is roughly rectangular in shape and is 1,660 kilometers
wide. Because of its geographical location the mainland
of Anatolia has always found favor throughout history,
and is the birthplace of many great civilizations. It
has also been prominent as a centre of commerce because
of its land connections to three continents and the sea
surrounding it on three sides. Turkey
is generally divided into seven regions: the Black Sea
region, the Marmara region, the Aegean, the Mediterranean,
Central Anatolia, the East and Southeast Anatolia regions.
The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black
Sea resembles a narrow but long belt. The land of this
region is approximately 1/6 of Turkey's total land area.
The land borders of Turkey are 2,573 kilometers in total,
and coastlines (including islands) are another 8,333 kilometers,
Turkey has two European and six Asian countries for neighbors
along its land borders. The land border to the northeast
with the commonwealth of Independent States is 610 kilometers
long; that with Iran, 454 kilometers long, and that with
Iraq 331 kilometers long. In the south is the 877 kilometers-long
border with Syria, which took its present form in 1939,
when the Republic of Hatay joined Turkey. Turkey's borders
on the European continent consist of a 212-kilometre frontier
with Greece and a 269-kilometre border with Bulgaria.
|
