The lands of Turkey are located at a point where Asia, Africa and Europe are closest to each other, and straddle the point where Europe and Asia meet. Geographically, the country is located in the northern half of the hemisphere at a point that is about halfway between the equator and the north pole, at a longitude of 36 degrees North to 42 degrees North and a latitude of 26 degrees East to 45 degrees East. Turkey, as a country roughly rectangular in shape, has a width of approximately 550 kilometers and a length of approxiamately 1500 kilometers.

Because of its geographical location, the mainland of Anatolia has always found favor throughout history, and is the birthplace of many great civilizations. It has also been prominent as a centre of commerce because of its land connections to three continents and the sea surrounding it on three sides.

Istanbul, once known as the capital of capital cities, has many unique features. It is the only city in the world to straddle two continents, and the only one to have been a capital during two consecutive empires - Christian and Islamic. Once capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul still remains the commercial, historical and cultural pulse of Turkey, and its beauty lies in its ability to embrace its contradictions. Ancient and modern, religious and secular, Asia and Europe, mystical and earthly all co-exist here.

History

One of the great crossroads of ancient civilizations is a broad peninsula that lies between the Black and Mediterranean seas. Called Asia Minor (Lesser Asia) by the Romans, the land is the Asian part of modern Turkey, across Thrace. It lies across the Aegean Sea to the east of Greece and is usually known by its Greek name Anatolia.

Asia Minor juts westward from Asia to within half a mile (800 meters) of Europe at the divided city of Istanbul, where two suspension bridges over the strait of Bosphorus link the two continents. Asia Minor is also bordered by the Sea of Marmara on the northwest. The area of the peninsula is about 292,000 square miles (756,000 square kilometers)Asia Minor juts westward from Asia to within half a mile (800 meters) of Europe at the divided city of Istanbul, where two suspension bridges over the strait of Bosphorus link the two continents. Asia Minor is also bordered by the Sea of Marmara on the northwest. The area of the peninsula is about 292,000 square miles (756,000 square kilometers).

The interior is a high arid plateau, about 3,000 feet (900 meters) in elevation, flanked to the north and south by rugged mountain ranges. Within the plateau a number of ranges enclose broad, flat valleys, where several salty lakes have formed.A Mediterranean-type climate of hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters prevails in the coastal areas. The dry central plateau has hot summers and cold winters. During all seasons high winds are common; moist Mediterranean winds bring rain to the coastal regions in the winter. There is little summer rainfall.

In about 2000 BC Asia Minor was in the hands of the Hittites, who migrated from the area east of the Black Sea. Their civilization rivaled that of the Egyptians and Babylonians. In the 12th century BC their empire fell to the Assyrians. Small seaboard states grew up, only to fall to the Greeks, who colonized the entire coast in about the 8th century BC. According to legend, they first laid siege to the city-state of Troy during the Trojan War. In 560 BC Croesus mounted the throne of Lydia in Asia Minor and soon brought all the Greek colonies under his rule. Croesus was overthrown by Cyrus the Great of Persia. Two hundred years later Alexander the Great again spread Greek rule over the peninsula.

After its conquest by Rome in the 2nd century BC, Asia Minor enjoyed centuries of peace. During the Middle Ages, as a part of the Byzantine Empire, it became a center of Christianity and the guardian of Greek and Roman culture. One of the chief medieval trade routes passed through the region. As the power of the Empire declined, Arabs and Mongols invaded. In the 15th century the Ottoman Turks conquered the peninsula and made Istanbul (then known as Constantinople) the capital. The Ottoman Empire lasted until 1922. The next year Asia Minor became the larger part of the Turkish Republic under Kemal Atatürk. He had set up a government in Ankara, which became the new capital of Turkey.

Turkey’s recent performance suggests that as long as the public sector keeps its house in order, private sector is ready and has the potential to take the lead both in Turkey and all around the globe. Turkey’s strong macro-economic performance has been a reflection of both the dynamism of the region and the unlocking of the high potential of its economy. Turkey has proved that confidence, consistency and continuity in macro-economic policies are the key to produce better macro-economic results.

Turkey was able to attain a significant result in a relatively short time on the economic front. Behind this success rests “confidence” and “stability”. The Turkish Government has been very consistent in the implementation of economic policy. It has also been very transparent and detailed in explaining the essences of the followed economic policies.

Hence, predictability, transparency and delivering on its commitments helped Turkey build a huge confidence not only in the domestic market, but also among foreign business circles. Turkey's message to the outside world is quite clear: A resolute implementation of the adjustment policies and structural economic measures are the best way to tackle the difficulties and usher in a new period of prosperity with social benefits.

The Turkish language is spread over a large geographical area in Europe and Asia; recent studies show that this language goes back 5500 years,and perhaps even 8500. At the same time, it is one of the most widely spoken tongues in the world - the seventh most widely spoken, to be precise. It is spoken in the Azeri, the Türkmen, the Tartar, the Uzbek, the Baskurti, the Nogay, the Kyrgyz, the Kazakh, the Yakuti, the Cuvas and other dialects. Turkish belongs to the Altaic branch of the Ural-Altaic family of languages, and thus is closely related to Mongolian, Manchu-Tungus, Korean, and perhaps Japanese. Some scholars have maintained that these resemblances are not fundamental, but rather the result of borrowings, however comparative Altaistic studies in recent years demonstrate that the languages we have listed all go back to a common Ural-Altaic

About 80% of people in Turkey follow the Sunni branch of the Islamic religion with most of the remainder belonging to the Alawi understanding of the Muslim religion. There are small minorities of Shia followers of the Muslim religion. All sects of the Muslim religion believe in One God and believe in the teachings of the prophets from other religions including Jesus, Moses and Abraham. All Muslims in Turkey view their religion as the completion of the same message revealed by other religions. The foundation of the Muslim religion is belief in One God and that Muhammad was the last messenger therefore Islam is the last divine religion. The book of the Muslim religion is the Quran which was revealed by God through Muhammad while he was in an inspired state. There are many old Qurans and manuscripts of religion in the museums of Turkey.

Members of other religions in Turkey only make up 1% of the population and most of these belong to the Christian religion. Armenians are the biggest community that follow the Christian religion in Turkey. Armenian followers of the Christian religion belong to one of three branches: Catholics, Protestants and Gregorian. Other branches of the Christian religion in Turkey are the Greek orthodox followers who live on the West of Turkey close to Greece, although there are also followers of the Byzantine Catholic religion in the same area of Turkey.

There is a small community of followers of the Jewish religion in Turkey who live mainly around Istanbul and the west coast. These Sephardic Jews had lived in Spain until they fled to Turkey after being persecuted in Europe because of their religion. The followers of the Jewish Religion in Turkey number between 5-10,000 although they are free to practice their religion freely in Turkey without any trouble

Although Turkey is situated in a geographical location where climatic conditions are quite temperate, the diverse nature of the landscape, and the existence in particular of the mountains that run parallel to the coasts cause significant differences in climatic conditions between regions. While the coastal areas enjoy milder climates, the inland Anatolian plateau experiences extremes of hot summers and cold winters with limited rainfall.

The official currency of Turkey is the Turkish lira (TL), although the money was called the Turkish pound in Ottoman Turkey. There are 100 Kurush to every unit of Turkish currency (TL) but because inflation is so high in Turkey Kurush are rarely used. Metal currency in Turkey consists of coin money that comes in 500, 1000, 2500 and 5000 Turkish lira. Paper currency in Turkey comes in 1000, 5000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 money notes although with inflation continuously on the rise it is likely that money of higher denominations will be introduced in future.

It is best to take the currency you have from your country and exchange it for Turkish currency in Turkey because the rates are better there. When you go to exchange your currency for Turkish money make sure you take your passport with you as other forms of identification may not be accepted. You can exchange your money for Turkish currency in any post office although there are currency exchanges in most big towns and cities in Turkey. Depending on what type of currency you take with you to Turkey you will find many shops willing to exchange your money for Turkish currency but at a lower rate than usual. If you are staying in Turkey for a long time its better to exchange your currency for Turkish money once every few days in order to get better rates. This is because the value of Turkish currency is always dropping.

If you decide to take travellers cheques instead of using money in Turkey be sure to keep the receipts as you may need this when you are exchanging Turkish money back to your currency at the end of your trip. The best place to exchange traveller’s cheques for Turkish currency is in one of the main banks although they are likely to take some money as a commission so it’s worth shopping around. There are some banks that consider it a hassle to give you money for your traveller’s cheques and will prefer you to go elsewhere. Most of the four and five star hotels will give you Turkish currency for you traveller’s cheques although the rate is generally poor.

• Time: GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
• Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
• Country code: 90

On Entry:

The following items may be brought into the country duty free:personal effects of the tourist.

On Exit:

• Gifts and souvenirs: for a new carpet, a proof of purchase; and for old items, a certificate from a directorate of a museum is necessary.
• The export of antiques from Turkey is forbidden.
• Valuable personal items can only be taken out of the country providing they have been registered in the owner's passport on entry, or providing they can show they have been purchased with legally exchanged currency.
• Minerals may only be exported from the country with a special document obtained from the MTA (General Directorate of Mining Exploration and Research)

Getting Around Turkey

Getting There by Air: The Turkey ’s national airline is Turkish Airlines (THY): It has regular flights in Boeing 737-400's, 737-500's, RJ-100's, and Airbus 310-200's, 310-300's, and 340-300's for Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Adana, Trabzon and Dalaman from the principal capitals and major cities of the world.Most international airlines have regular flights from all major cities of the world to Turkey's international airports.

Getting There by Rail: Train journeys can be made to Istanbul directly from and via some of the major cities Europe.

Getting There by Water: Apart from numerous cruises in the Mediterranean, several foreign shipping companies have regular services to the ports of Trabzon, Samsun, Istanbul, Dikili, Izmir, Çesme, Kusadasi, Bodrum, Marmaris, Antalya, Alanya, Mersin and Iskenderun using passenger ferries.There are several car ferries for tourists who wish to take their cars while sightseeing: Venice, Ancona, Brindisi, Bari, Istanbul, Izmir, Cesme, Kusadasi, Marmaris, Antalya.

Getting There by Road: Private car: London - Istanbul, approximately 3,000 km. Northern Route: Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.Southern Route: Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy, with a ferry to Turkey.

1. Nationals of the following countries can enter Turkey with a valid passport; a visa is not required:

   • Up to 3 Months (Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Granada, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Qatar, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, St.Lucia, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad, Tunisia, Turkish, Repubic of Northern Cyprus, Vatican city, United Arab Emirates,and Uruguay)
   • Up to 2 Months (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Indonesia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia)
   • Up to 1 Month (Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan,Maldives,South Africa)
2. For the countries mentioned above and Bulgaria,a transit visa is not required,but a transit fee is paid.
3. Nationals of the following countries require a visa.

   • Those from Austria,Belgium, Brazil, Holland, Hong Kong, Ireland,Italy, Portugal,Spain the U.K. and the U.S.A. can obtain a multiple-entry sticker visa at border gates for up to 3 months (renewable,except for Hong Kong).Those from Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic,Estonia, Hungary, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Poland, Russian- Federation, Slovakia, Tadzhikistan,Taiwan,,Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, White Rusia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can obtain a sticker visa at border gates for up to 1 month.Nationals of Albania,Georgia,Guatemala, and Srilanka can obtain a visa for up to 15 days at border gates.Nationals of Srilanka must also acquire a letter of recommendation from the honorary Turkish consul in colombo.
   • Nationals of all other countries require a visa, which can be obtained from the nearest Turkish embassy or consulate

Note: Citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakgstan, Kirghizstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Rusian, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and White Russia may also use their Turkish visa, sticker in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).Citizens of Germany, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Malta, Switzerland, and Greece may enter Turkey, and bring their vehicles as well as, with the proper identity cards in lieu of a passport.

Pergamon (or Pergamum), once a great center of culture, survives as one of Turkey’s finest archeological sites. It is located 100 km north of Izmir.The city experienced its golden age until the end of the 3rd century AD during Hellenistic and Roman times. In the Acropolis, above the modern town, are the remains of the library, a steep and impressive theatre, the temples of Trajan and Dionysos, the monumental Altar of Zeus, the sanctuary of Demeter, a gymnasium and the Agora. The Asclepion, located to the southwest of the lower city, was a medical center dedicated to the god of health, Asclepios. Patients were treated with water and mud baths, with massages and with medicinal herbs. The center also had a small theather, a library, a sacred fountain, temples as well as two meeting rooms and lavatories for women and for men.

Sultanahmet Mosque is the most famous monument in both the Turkish and the Islamic worlds. It was built in the classic Turkish architectural style between 1609-1616 by the architect Mehmet. The building is also known as Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior paneling of more than 20,000 blue and white Iznik tiles. The inside is a single immense space into which the light pours from 260 windows. The dome 141 feet high, is supported by four enormous circular pillars 16 feet in diameter and are known as elephant feet. As it is located across Hagia Sophia, the mosque was designed to be as large and as magnificent as this Byzantine structure.

Dolmabahçe Palace was built in the mid-19th century by Sultan Abdülmecit 1, stretches for 600 meters along the European shore of the Bosphorus. The palace has survived intact with its original decorations, furniture, silk carpets, curtains and everything else. It is said that 14 tons of gold and 40 tons of silver were used for the decoration of the palace.The palace contains 285 rooms, 43 salons and six baths. Its walls and ceilings are covered with paintings by the famous artists of that age.Rare handmade art objects from Europe and the Far East decorate every room in the palace.