Turkey

This article is about the country. For the bird, see Turkey (bird).
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye) is a country in both Europe and Asia.
The area of Turkey is about 780,000 square kilometres.
Republic of Turkey
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Turkish)
Turkey is a republic. There are 81 provinces in Turkey. The
money of Turkey is called Turkish Lira. The capital city is
Ankara, a city in central Anatolia. The cultural and economic
center is in the European side of Istanbul. In the past Istanbul
was called Constantinople. The republic was founded in 1923,
National emblem [note 1]
after World War I and a war of independence (Kurtuluş Savaşı). Flag
Before that, Turkey was the core of theOttoman Empire.
Anthem: İstiklal Marşı
"Independence March"
Many civilizations were located in the area that is now Turkey,
like the Hittites, the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
Many important events in the history of Christianity happened
in Turkey. Because it lies in both Europe and Asia, some people
see Turkey as the "door" between Europe and Asia.

Modern Turkey's warm and varied climate lets many kinds of

food crops grow, and livestock and forestry are important
industries. Turkey makes enough food to feed itself. Turkish
manufactures include airplanes, electronics, cars, clothing and
textiles for home and for other countries.

Turkey is a popular place for tourists to visit. It has hundreds of

kilometers of beautiful beaches on its Aegean and
Mediterranean coasts, and many important historical places. Capital Ankara
Largest city Istanbul
41°1′N 28°57′E

Official languages Turkish

Contents Ethnic groups No official estimates (see
demographics section)
History
Demonym Turkish
People
European Union Government Unitary parliamentary
constitutional republic
Economy
• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Provinces • Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
Culture • Speaker of the Deniz Baykal (interim)
Language Parliament
Lifestyle Legislature Grand National Assembly
Majority and minorities
Succession to the Ottoman Empire[note 2]
Education
• Government of the 23 April 1920
Earthquakes Grand National
Other websites Assembly
• Treaty of Lausanne 24 July 1923
Notes
• Declaration of Republic 29 October 1923
References • Current constitution 7 November 1982
 Area
• Total 783,562 km2
History (302,535 sq mi) (37th)
• Water (%) 1.3
People have been living in Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey -
Population
also called Asia Minor) longer than almost anywhere else in the
• 2014 census 77,695,904 [1] (18th)
world, except Africa. • Density 101[1]/km2 (261.6/sq mi)
(107th)
The first major empire in the area was the Hittites (from the
18th century to the 13th century BC). The Hittites, who spoke GDP (PPP) 2015 estimate
• Total $1.569 trillion[2] (17th)
one of the Indo-European languages, developed a high culture
• Per capita $20,188[2] (61st)
in Central Anatolia. Their kingdom was destroyed by the
Cimmerians in the 7th century BC and the successor states were GDP (nominal) 2015 estimate
Lydia, Caria and Lycia.
• Total $752 billion[2] (18th)
• Per capita $9,680[2] (66th)
From 1950 BCE, Greeks and Assyrians inhabited parts of Gini (2013) ▼ 40.0[3]
southeastern Turkey. The Assyrian capital was named Tushhan medium · 56th
(900-600 BC). The Assyrians ruled over southeastern Turkey
HDI (2013) 0.759[4]
until the Assyrian Empire was conquered by Babylonia in the high · 69th
year 612 BC. Then Anatolia became home for various
Currency Turkish lira (₺) (TRY)
kingdoms including the Achaemenid Empire, Hellenistic
kingdoms, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Time zone FET (UTC+3)
Empire), Seljuk Empire, and Mongol Empire. Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

During the 14th century, after the fall of the Mongol Empire,
Drives on the right
Lord Osman built a new empire named after himself: the Calling code +90
Ottoman Empire. It became one of the longest existing empires ISO 3166 code TR
of all time. The Empire also stretched across the Balkans,
Internet TLD .tr
(Yugoslavia and Bulgaria) in Europe. The Kingdom was ruled
by Muslim law, but other religions had certainminority rights.

In World War I the Ottoman Empire was one of the Central Powers. During the
war, 500,000 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were massacred in the so-called
Armenian Genocide. Turkey denies that the event was genocide. The Central
Powers lost the war and the Ottoman Empire was destroyed, but after that Ataturk
led the army to get rid of foreign enemies, like the Greeks. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
was the first President of Turkey. He made many changes that made Turkey more Topographical map of Turkey
modern. But some people did not like some of the things he did because they
thought they were against Islam. Religious secondary schools were gotten rid of,
for example.

For many years Kurdish guerrillas (usually called the "PKK") led by Abdullah
Öcalan have been fighting the Turkish government. They said they were fighting so
that the Kurds in the south east of Turkey could have autonomy and decide more
things for themselves. But the government and most countries in the world call them Turkey Regions
terrorists.

On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted.

People
About 80 million people live in Turkey. Most of them are ethnic Turks. About 15%
are ethnic Kurds. Many refugees from Syria (over 2 million) live in Turkey because
they have run away from theSyrian civil war.

The vast majority of Turks are Muslim. The biggest city in Turkey is Istanbul which
has the biggest population of any city in Europe.

Turkish people have many ethnic and famous foods, such as mantı (Turkish ravioli),
döner, kebabs, Turkish delight, baklava, börek, köfte, and other foods.
Oil-wrestling at Kırkpınar
Much of the population in Turkey is made up of teenagers and young adults.

According to a study, Anatolia is genetically more closely related to the Balkan

populations than to the Central Asian populations. The Turks of Anatolia (Asian part of Turkey) have only 13% of genes from
populations from Central Asia.[5] The population is mainly from theGreeks, Armenians and Kurds.

European Union
Turkey is trying to join the European Union (EU). The EU says that before Turkey can join, it must start trading with the Republic of
Cyprus and improve human rights.

Economy
Turkey is in the OECD and the G-20 and is one of the 20 largest economies. The Turkish currency is called the Lira. The first coins
were made in Turkey.

In the 1970s, many Turks moved to other countries, like Germany, to escape the bad economy at the time and to get better jobs. They
often come back to Turkey for their summer holidays. Today, many of the people who left in the 1970s want to move back to Turkey.

Until the 1980s the government owned most companies, but then Prime Minister Turgut Özal sold them. Before, foreigners were
usually not allowed to buy companies, land or property
. Earthquakes in 1994, 1999, and 2001 slowed economic growth a bit.

Turkey mostly buys and sells with the EU, the United States, the Russian Federation, and Japan. Turkey and the EU agreed not to put
a lot of tax on what they buy and sell to each other. After that it was easier for Turkish factories to sell products to the EU and for
business people in the EU to buy companies in T
urkey.

Turkey's exports in 2010 were worth 117 billion United States dollars.

Turkey has no petroleum or natural gas so it buys them from other countries, like Russia. In 2010, oil was found in the Turkish City
of Diyarbakir, but there was not enough oil to extract. Turkey is searching for natural gas in Northern Turkish Cyprus.

Provinces
The capital and second-largest city of Turkey is Ankara. The largest and the most crowded city is Istanbul which is the only city in
the world that has land on two different continents. The third largest city is the coastal city of Izmir which is the main port of the
country. Turkey is divided into 81 provinces. Each province has its own little government but they can only make decisions about
small things: the government in Ankara decides important issues. The provinces are in 7 regions. Each province is divided into
districts. There are 923 districts altogether.

Culture

Language
 Main article: Turkish language
Most people in Turkey speak Turkish. It belongs to the Turkic language group, which also includes many other languages spoken
across Asia, such as Azerbaijani and Tatar. The Turkish language came from central Asia, but now it is a bit different from the
languages spoken in central Asia.

In Turkey there are also minorities who speak languages such as Arabic,Kurdish, Armenian, Greek or Ladino, and many others.

Many of the young adults can also speakEnglish, which is taught throughout Primary, Middle and High school.

Lifestyle
Turkey has a modern culture. The life style of the Turks is similar to that of the Europeans. Turkish culture is a cross between
Western countries and modern Islamic culture.

Different parts of Turkey have similar but not exactly the same lifestyles. The Lifestyle in the West, South West and North West is
more modern. People living in that area have modern accents. Southern Turkey also has a modern life style but Turks living by the
Mediterranean have southern, much thicker, and more masculine accents than western Turkey. Northerners, by the Black Sea have
softer accents and also have modern lifestyles. Eastern and South Eastern Turkey is made up of mostly Kurds. They generally have
less modern and more Islamic lifestyles.

Rich cities in Turkey include Istanbul, İzmir, Ankara, Mersin (also known as Icel), andAntalya.

Majority and minorities

The majority of Turkey is made up of Turks. The largest minority is Kurds. Kurds live mostly in South Eastern and Eastern Turkey.
The second largest minority are Arabs.

Education
Main article: Education in Turkey
Turkey's literacy rate is currently 95%. People in Turkey are required to go to school for 12 years.

İstanbul University was the first university in Turkey. It was established in 1453. Ankara University was the first university that was
started after Turkey became a republic. It was established in 1946.

There were 6065 high schools in Turkey in 2002 according to Ministry of National Education.[1] In 2011, there were 166 universities
in Turkey.[6]

Earthquakes
The 1999 İzmit earthquake was an approximately 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999, at
about 3:02 am local time. 18.000 people died in the earthquake. Many people have been killed by earthquakes inurkey.
T

The New York Times estimated that over 570 people died in the Erzincan earthquake of March 13 1992.[7] The earthquake was a 6.8
on the Richter Scale.[8]

Other websites
CIA World Factbook - Turkey
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Turkey.
Notes
 1. Not specified by law, as appears on the Turkish passports, ID cards and diplomatic missions of Turkey.
2. as stated in the Treaty of Lausanne

References
1. "The Results of Address Based Population Registration System, 2014" . Turkish Statistical Institute. 29 January 2015.
Retrieved 29 January 2015.
2. "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF World Economic Outlook Database, April 2015. 14 April 2015.
Retrieved 9 June 2015.
3. "Gini Coefficient by Equivalised Household Disposable Income". Turkstat. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
4. "2014 Human Development Report"(PDF). 14 March 2013. pp. 21–25. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
5. "Alu insertion polymorphisms and an assessment of the genetic contribution of Central Asia to Anatolia with respect
to the Balkans". [Link] Berkman CC1, Dinc H, Sekeryapan C, T ogan I,. 2008 May. Check date
values in: |date= (help); External link in |website= (help)
6. University numbers on the rise in Turkey ([Link]
umbers-on-the-rise-in-turkey-2011-09-04)(Hürriyet Daily News, 4 September 2011)
7. "More Than 570 Die In Quake in Turkey", New York Times, retrieved 2010-03-14
8. et al. Grosser, Helmut (October 1998)."The Erzincan (Turkey) Earthquake (Ms 6.8)of March 13, 1992 and its
Aftershock Sequence" ([Link] Pure and Applied Geophysics
(Birkhäuser Basel) 152 (3): 465-505. [Link] Retrieved March 13,
2010.

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