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GEOGRAPHY
Because of the location, Turkey is not only a passageway from which
the ancient Asian Turkish culture is transmitted to the Europe, but
also counted as a window of Western Culture opening to meet the
Eastern Culture. Turkey is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea, Black
Sea and Aegean Sea brings the country to the neighborhood of the
whole world, not only to the neighborhood of the nearby regions.
Because of these long coastal borders and being a bridge between the
continents of Asia and Europe, Turkey had been the center of the
major commerce and immigration roads.
Turkey is located between Europe and Asia continents and displays
the view of a rectangle generally. The region with the size of 790
thousand and 200 km2 are located at the Anatolian Peninsula which
could be called as Little Asia, and the remaining region with the
size of 24 thousand and 378 km2 is located at Thrace, which is
located at the east of Balkan peninsula. The total surface area
covered is 814 thousand and 578 km2. With its shores, which are at
the length of 8 thousand and 272 kilometers, Turkey is a naval
country located at the middle of the most ancient main continents of
the world.
The First Geography Summit gathered in Ankara at 1941 has separated
Turkey into seven major geographic regions after a long and hard
study. The first four of this seven pre - determined regions are
named by the neighboring seas (Black Sea Region, Marmara Region,
Aegean Region and Mediterranean Region). The remaining three regions
are named in accordance with their geographic locations inside the
total Anatolia (Central Anatolia Region, Eastern Anatolia Region and
Southeastern Anatolia Region).
Geography Formations
Turkey is counted as a high country as the mountains cover the
majority of the surface, however various plains such as lowlands,
plateaus and sediment areas also cover a high ratio. This property
diversifies the encountered climate types and also effects the order
of the settlements and the economic conditions. Turkey had been
separated into seven major geographic regions in accordance with the
factors like climate, natural plantation and the distribution of the
agricultural activities. These seven major geographic regions are as
follows: Mediterranean Region, Aegean Region, Marmara Region, Black
Sea Region, Central Anatolia Region, Eastern Anatolia Region and
Southeastern Anatolia Region.
As the majority of Turkey is covered with mountains, the major
mountain chains present at the northern and southern regions
generally draws wide arches, which are parallel to the shore. The
mountains at the north are the Northern Anatolia Mountains and the
mountains at the south are the Toros (Taurus) Mountains . These
mountain chains are separated from each other by the wide plain
areas, which are at the central parts of Anatolia. The mountain
chains become frequented at the eastern parts of the country and
form high altitude peaks. The altitude at the Western part
decreases. Mountain chains are uncommon in Aegean and Marmara
Regions, this regions mostly display the property of being hollow.
There are wide plains in Southeastern Anatolia, as displayed in the
central parts of the country, because this region is far from the
reach of the expansions of the Toros (Taurus) Mountain chain. The
highest mountain of Turkey is Great Ağrı Mountain (5137 meters) and
Süphan Mountain which is an extinct volcano is located inside the
borders of Eastern Anatolia Region. Karacadağ, Raman and Sof
Mountains are the major mountains of Southeastern Anatolian Region.
There are numerous rivers in Turkey. The majority of the rivers are
used in the energy production processes. Fırat and Dicle rivers
flowing in Eastern Anatolia reaches and joins with the Basra Gulf,
Yeşilırmak, Kızılırmak and Sakarya rivers flowing in Central
Anatolia reaches and joins with Black Sea, Susurluk Creek in west
and Biga and Gönen creeks reach and join with Marmara Sea; Gediz,
Big and Small Menderes rivers reaches and joins with Aegean Sea.
The total surface area of the lakes in Turkey reaches up to 9200 km2
. Eastern Anatolia Region is the richest region of Turkey when the
number of lakes are taken into consideration. The biggest lake of
Turkey, Van Lake (3713 km2) and Erçek, Çıldır and Hazar lakes are
located inside this region. The biggest lakes of Central Anatolia
Region are mostly shallow and contain salt in high amounts. The
second biggest lake of the country, Tuzgölü (Salt lake) (1500 km2)
and Akşehir and Eber lakes are inside the borders of this region.
The ferry transportation is executed on Van lake.
Marmara and the Straits are the most important water passages
connecting Black Sea to the outer world. Marmara Sea, which is
located totally inside the national borders is connected to the
Black Sea by Istanbul Bosphorus and is connected to Aegean Sea and
Mediterranean by Çanakkale Strait. The Aegean and Western
Mediterranean shores of Turkey are generally intended and there are
numerous gulfs on these shores.
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