| Turkey , is a bicontinental country located mainly in the Anatolian peninsula, with 3% of its territory located in the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe. Turkey borders eight countries: Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia, Armenia and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan and to the northeast; Iran (Persia) to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south. The Republic of Turkey is a democratic laic constitutional republic, whose political system was established in 1923. Turkey is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, OSCE, OECD, OIC and the Council of Europe.
Turkey straddles the Bosphorus straits that separate Southwest Asia from Southeast Europe. Anatolia is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea to south, with the Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea (both branches of the Mediterranean) to the west. Some geographers consider Turkey to be, also a part of Europe due to certain cultural, political and historical characteristics. Because of its geographical position between Europe and Asia and three seas, Turkey has been a historical crossroads, the homeland of and battleground between several great civilizations, and a centre of commerce.
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Turkey Geography
Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (iller in Turkish; singular il). Each province is divided into subprovinces (ilçeler; singular ilçe). The province usually bears the same name as the provincial capital, also called the central subprovince; exceptions are Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: İzmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazarı). Major provinces include: Istanbul 11 million, Ankara 4 million, Izmir 3.5 million, Bursa 2.1 million, Konya 2.2 million, Adana 1.8 million.
The capital of Turkey is the city of Ankara, but the largest city is İstanbul. Other important cities include İzmir, Bursa, Adana, Trabzon, Malatya, Gaziantep, Erzurum, Kayseri, İzmit (Kocaeli), Konya, Mersin, Diyarbakır, Antalya and Samsun. See the list of cities in Turkey.
The climate is a Mediterranean temperate climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet and cold winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior.
Tourism sector
Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fast developing sectors in Turkey. According to the travel agencies TUI and Thomas Cook, 31 hotels out of 100 best hotels of the world are located in Turkey.
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