| Geography and Climate |
Turkey is located in southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria. Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas. Total land boundary is 2,627 km, border countries are Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km.
Climate is temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior. Terrain consists mostly of mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia). Elevation extreme has the lowest point in Mediterranean Sea 0 m and highest point in Mount Ararat 5,166 m. Natural resources are antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore.
Land use: arable land: 32%, permanent crops: 4%, permanent pastures: 16%, forests and woodland: 26%, other: 22% (1993 est.). Irrigated land: 36,740 sq km (1993 est.). Natural hazards are very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van.
Environment—current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic
Geography—note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |