Location: Southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Iran

Map references: Africa, Europe, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 780,580 sq km
land area: 770,760 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Texas

Land boundaries: total 2,627 km, Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km

Coastline: 7,200 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only - to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR
territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea, 12 nm in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea

International disputes: complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior

Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)

Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore

Land use:
arable land: 30%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 12%
forest and woodland: 26%
other: 28%

Irrigated land: 22,200 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution; deforestation
natural hazards: subject to very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,

Note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas

NOTE: The information regarding Turkey on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Turkey Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Turkey Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.