Turkey Geography

What is the terrain and geography like in Turkey?

Overview

Aside from Russia, Turkey is the largest country in Europe. Its 296,185 square miles lie between the Aegean, Black, and Mediterranean Seas. It stretches about 950 miles from west to east and 400 miles from north to south. Thrace, the European portion of Turkey, ends at the Bosphorus Strait where Anatolia and Asia begin. Anatolia is a high plateau bounded by the Pontic Mountains on the north, the Taurus Mountains on the south, and stretches to the peak of Mount Ararat (nearly 17,000 feet high) among the Caucasus Mountains in the east. Mountain ranges give way to narrow coastal plains on the northeast and south, and to treeless valleys between rolling hills and low mountains in the center.

Geography - note

strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country

Turkey Use of Natural Resources

Geographic Location	Middle East
Total Area	302,533 Square Miles 783,562 Square Kilometers
Land Area	297,155 Square Miles 769,632 Square Kilometers
Water Area	5,378 Square Miles 13,930 Square Kilometers
Land Boundaries	1,645 Miles 2,648 Kilometers
Irrigated Land	20,618 Square Miles 53,400 Square Kilometers
Border Countries	Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 352 km, Syria 822 km
Coastline	4,474 Miles 7,200 Kilometers
Geographic Coordinates	39 00 N, 35 00 E
Terrain	high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges
Highest Point	5,166 Meters
Highest Point Location	Mount Ararat 5,166 m
Lowest Point Location	Mediterranean Sea 0 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
Time Zone	UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time	+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

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