| Location | Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of 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 | Middle East |
| Area | total: 783,562 sq km land: 769,632 sq km water: 13,930 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than Texas |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,816 km border countries (8): Armenia 311 km, Azerbaijan 17 km, Bulgaria 223 km, Georgia 273 km, Greece 192 km, Iran 534 km, Iraq 367 km, Syria 899 km |
| Coastline | 7,200 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR 12 nm in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea |
| Climate | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
| Terrain | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Mount Ararat 5,137 m lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m mean elevation: 1,132 m |
| Natural resources | coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower |
| Land use | agricultural land: 49.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 26.7% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 19% (2018 est.) forest: 14.9% (2018 est.) other: 35.4% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 52,150 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 211.6 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van; landslides; flooding volcanism: limited volcanic activity; its three historically active volcanoes; Ararat, Nemrut Dagi, and Tendurek Dagi have not erupted since the 19th century or earlier |
| Geography - note | strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link the Black and Aegean Seas; the 3% of Turkish territory north of the Straits lies in Europe and goes by the names of European Turkey, Eastern Thrace, or Turkish Thrace; the 97% of the country in Asia is referred to as Anatolia; Istanbul, which straddles the Bosporus, is the only metropolis in the world located on two continents; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
