Turkey is a huge, geographically and culturally diverse country, sharing borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Nakhitchevan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. There are no other countries in the world that share borders with that many countries.

Turkey's landmass is 314.630 sq miles. (or 201.000 acres) The European and Asian sides are divided by the Istanbul Bogazi (Bosphorus) and the Canakkale Bogazi (Dardanelles). Turkey is slightly larger than the state of Texas. Turkey has several mountain ranges, the highest peak being 16941 ft. (Mount Ararat). While the mountain ranges running parallel to the North Coast (The Black Sea) and the South Coast (The Mediterranean) create a barrier for the rain clouds moving inlands, they cause abundant rainfall on the mountain slopes facing the coastal areas.

On the West Coast (The Aegean) which is not as mountainous, the ranges run perpendicularly towards the coast and are divided by broad valleys which have been created by several rivers which allow the maritime climate to prevail several hundred kilometers inland. Allusion carried by the rivers has created fertile plains in this region which makes the Aegean one of the most prosperous regions of Turkey. These ranges start getting closer thus the elevation gets higher as we move further to the East. There are various high plateus and plains in Central Anatolia region from 2100 to almost 3400 ft.

As we travel further East, we rise up to an average of 6077 ft in the province of Erzurum, yet in Southeastern Anatolia, we would be between 1800 - 2000 ft. Turkey has several peaks between 13.000 - 15.000 ft. Mt Ararat is the highest one (16.941 ft) than comes Kackar (12.870) ft and then comes Erciyes (ancient Argeus) that is 12.850 ft, there are over 100 peaks that are 10.000 ft and over. Anatolia is mainly broken by the valleys of about 15 rivers, including the Dicle (Tigris) and the Firat (Euphrates) in the Southeast and the Meander in the West Coast. The longest river that starts and ends within the borders of Turkey is Kizilirmak or the so called x?.

There are numerous lakes and some, such as Lake Van, are as large as inland seas. The combination of all these factors has resulted in a diversity of native plant animal species which is one of the highest in the world.

Turkish Geography in numbers:

Area

Total area: 314.630 sq m.

Land Area: 297.700 sq m.

Thrace (Europe): 9.200 sq m.

Anatolia (Asia): 291.884 sq m.

Max length: 840 miles

Average width: 296 miles

Coastline

Total: 4518 miles

Aegean: 1513 miles

Mediterranean: 851 miles

Black Sea: 914 miles

Marmara: 500 miles

Salinity

The Black Sea: 1.7 %

The Marmara: 2.2 %

The Aegean: 3.8 %

The Mediterranean: 3.8 %

Land Boundaries

Total: 1485 miles

Syria: 473 miles

Former USSR (Georgia, Armenia, Nakhitchevan): 330 miles

Iran: 245 miles

Iraq:178 miles

Bulgaria: 145 miles

Greece: 114 miles

Land use

Arable land: 30%

Permanent crops: 4%

Meadows & pastures: 12%

Forest & woodland: 26%

Other: 28%

Lakes

Total area: 3639 sq m

In order of size: Lake Van, Salt Lake, Beysehir Lake, Egirdir Lake, Aksehir Lake

Mountains

Ararat: 16.941 ft

Kackar: 12.870

Erciyes (Argeus) 12.850ft

B. Hasan: 10.720 ft

Uludag: 8.350 ft

Average altitude: 3710 ft

Land above 1500 ft: 80%

Rivers

Euphrates: 681 miles (in Turkey)

Kizilirmak: 638 miles

Sakarya: 444 miles

Murat: 389 miles

Meander: 315 miles

Seyhan: 302 miles

Tigris: 282 miles

Islands

There are 159 islands in turkey and most of them are not inhabited.The most important ones are:

Aegean: Imbros, Thenedos, Uzunada, Alibey.

Marmara: Avsa Isles: Eknik, Koyun, Pasalimani.

Princes Isles: Buyukada, Heybeliada, Burgaz, Kinaliada, Sedef.

Mediterranean: Karaada, Salih, Kekova.

Straits

Bosphorus & Dardanelles

Geographical Regions (7)

Marmara

Aegean

Mediterranean

Black Sea

Central Anatolia

Eastern Anatolia

South Eastern Anatolia