The Republic of Turkey is a sovereign Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Southwest Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) at the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula in Southern Europe.^[1] Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west, Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhichevan), and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea and Archipelago are to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. Separating Anatolia and Thrace are the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and the Dardanelles), which are commonly reckoned to delineate the border between Asia and Europe, thereby making Turkey transcontinental.^[2]

Located astride two continents, Turkey's culture has a distinct blend of Eastern and Western tradition. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasian landmass with strong historic, cultural and economic influence in the area between the European Union in the west and Central Asia in the east, Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south, Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.^[3][4]

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe (1949), NATO (1952), OECD (1961), OSCE (1973) and the G20 industrial nations (1999). Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member since 1963, and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995. Meanwhile, Turkey has continued to foster close political, economic and industrial relations with the Eastern world, particularly with the states of the Middle East, Central Asia and East Asia.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Turkey:

Contents 1 General reference 2 Geography of Turkey 2.1 Environment of Turkey 2.1.1 Natural geographic features of Turkey 2.2 Regions of Turkey 2.2.1 Ecoregions of Turkey 2.2.2 Administrative divisions of Turkey 2.2.2.1 Provinces of Turkey 2.2.2.2 Districts of Turkey 2.3 Demography of Turkey 3 Government and politics of Turkey 3.1 Branches of the government of Turkey 3.1.1 Executive branch of the government of Turkey 3.1.2 Legislative branch of the government of Turkey 3.1.3 Judicial branch of the government of Turkey 3.2 Foreign relations of Turkey 3.2.1 International organization membership 3.3 Law and order in Turkey 3.4 Military of Turkey 3.5 Local government in Turkey 4 History of Turkey 5 Culture of Turkey 5.1 Art in Turkey 5.2 Sports in Turkey 6 Economy of Turkey 7 Education in Turkey 8 Infrastructure of Turkey 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] General reference

• Pronunciation:
• Common English country name: Turkey
• Official English country name: The Republic of Turkey
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Turkish
• Demonym(s): Turks (in Turkish language: Türkler)
• Etymology: Name of Turkey
• International rankings of Turkey
• ISO country codes: TR, TUR, 792
• ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:TR
• Internet country code top-level domain: .tr

[edit] Geography of Turkey

• Turkey is: a country
• Location: transcontinental (most of it lies in Asia, but a small part is within Europe)
  • Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
  • Eurasia
    • Asia
      • Southwest Asia
        • Anatolia (also known as the "Anatolian Peninsula")
    • Europe
      • Balkans (also known as "Southeastern Europe")
    • Greater Middle East
  • Time zone: Eastern European Time (UTC+02), Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03)
  • Extreme points of Turkey
    • High: Mount Ararat 5,137 m (16,854 ft)
    • Low: Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea 0 m
  • Land boundaries: 2,648 km

 Syria 822 km

 Iran 499 km

 Iraq 352 km

 Armenia 268 km

 Georgia 252 km

 Bulgaria 240 km

 Greece 206 km

 Azerbaijan 9 km

• Coastline: 7,200 km

• Population of Turkey: 70,586,256 (December 31, 2007) - 17th most populous country
• Area of Turkey: 783562 km²
• Atlas of Turkey

[edit] Environment of Turkey

• Climate of Turkey
• Environmental issues in Turkey
• Ecoregions in Turkey
• Renewable energy in Turkey
• Geology of Turkey
• Protected areas of Turkey
  • Biosphere reserves in Turkey
  • National parks of Turkey
• Wildlife of Turkey
  • Flora of Turkey
  • Fauna of Turkey
    • Birds of Turkey
    • Mammals of Turkey

[edit] Natural geographic features of Turkey

• Fjords of Turkey
• Glaciers of Turkey
• Islands of Turkey
• Lakes of Turkey
• Mountains of Turkey
  • Volcanoes in Turkey
• Rivers of Turkey
  • Waterfalls of Turkey
• Valleys of Turkey
• World Heritage Sites in Turkey

[edit] Regions of Turkey

Main article: Regions of Turkey

[edit] Ecoregions of Turkey

Main article: Ecoregions in Turkey

[edit] Administrative divisions of Turkey

Main article: Administrative divisions of Turkey

• Provinces of Turkey
  • Districts of Turkey

[edit] Provinces of Turkey

Turkey is divided into 81 provinces, called iller in Turkish

[edit] Districts of Turkey

The provinces of Turkey are divided into 923 districts (ilçeler; sing. ilçe).

[edit] Demography of Turkey

Main article: Demographics of Turkey

[edit] Government and politics of Turkey

Main article: Government of Turkey and Politics of Turkey

• Form of government:
• Capital of Turkey: Ankara

• Elections in Turkey
  • (specific elections)
• Political parties in Turkey
• Political scandals of Turkey
• Taxation in Turkey

[edit] Branches of the government of Turkey

[edit] Executive branch of the government of Turkey

• Head of state: President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül
• Head of government: Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• Cabinet of Turkey

[edit] Legislative branch of the government of Turkey

• Grand National Assembly of Turkey (unicameral)

[edit] Judicial branch of the government of Turkey

There are three supreme courts in Turkey:

• Constitutional Court of Turkey
• High Court of Appeals of Turkey
• Supreme Council of Public Accounts

[edit] Foreign relations of Turkey

• Diplomatic missions in Turkey
• Diplomatic missions of Turkey
• United States-Turkey relations

[edit] International organization membership

The Republic of Turkey is a member of: ^[1]

Asian Development Bank (ADB) (nonregional member) Australia Group Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Black Sea Economic Cooperation Zone (BSEC) Council of Europe (CE) Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (observer) European Union (EU) (applicant) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G20) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) International Development Association (IDA) International Energy Agency (IEA) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) International Finance Corporation (IFC) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) International Labour Organization (ILO) International Maritime Organization (IMO) International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) International Monetary Fund (IMF) International Olympic Committee (IOC) International Organization for Migration (IOM) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Organization of American States (OAS) (observer) Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) United Nations (UN) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Universal Postal Union (UPU) Western European Union (WEU) (associate) World Customs Organization (WCO) World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) World Health Organization (WHO) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Trade Organization (WTO) Zangger Committee (ZC)

[edit] Law and order in Turkey

Main article: Law of Turkey

• Capital punishment in Turkey
• Constitution of Turkey
• Crime in Turkey
• Human rights in Turkey
  • LGBT rights in Turkey
  • Freedom of religion in Turkey
• Law enforcement in Turkey

[edit] Military of Turkey

Main article: Military of Turkey

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief:
    • Ministry of Defence of Turkey
• Forces
  • Army of Turkey
  • Navy of Turkey
  • Air Force of Turkey
  • Special forces of Turkey
• Military history of Turkey
• Military ranks of Turkey

[edit] Local government in Turkey

[edit] History of Turkey

Main article: History of Turkey, Timeline of the history of Turkey, and Current events of Turkey

• Economic history of Turkey
• Military history of Turkey

[edit] Culture of Turkey

Main article: Culture of Turkey

• Architecture of Turkey
• Cuisine of Turkey
• Ethnic minorities in Turkey
• Festivals in Turkey
• Humor in Turkey
• Languages of Turkey
• Media in Turkey
• National symbols of Turkey
  • Coat of arms of Turkey
  • Flag of Turkey
  • National anthem of Turkey
• People of Turkey
  • Turkish names
• Prostitution in Turkey
• Public holidays in Turkey
• Records of Turkey
• Religion in Turkey
  • Buddhism in Turkey
  • Christianity in Turkey
  • Hinduism in Turkey
  • Islam in Turkey
  • Judaism in Turkey
  • Sikhism in Turkey
• World Heritage Sites in Turkey

[edit] Art in Turkey

• Art in Turkey
• Cinema of Turkey
• Literature of Turkey
• Music of Turkey
• Television in Turkey
• Theatre in Turkey

[edit] Sports in Turkey

Main article: Sports in Turkey

• Football in Turkey
• Turkey at the Olympics

[edit] Economy of Turkey

Main article: Economy of Turkey

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 17th (seventeenth)

• Agriculture in Turkey
• Banking in Turkey
  • National Bank of Turkey
• Communications in Turkey
• Companies of Turkey

• Currency of Turkey: Lira
  • ISO 4217: TRY

• Economic history of Turkey
• Energy policy of Turkey
• Mining in Turkey
• Oil industry in Turkey
• Tourism in Turkey
• Transport in Turkey

• Turkey Stock Exchange

[edit] Education in Turkey

Main article: Education in Turkey

[edit] Infrastructure of Turkey

• Communications in Turkey
  • Internet in Turkey
• Energy in Turkey
• Health care in Turkey
• Transportation in Turkey
  • Airports in Turkey
  • Rail transport in Turkey
  • Roads in Turkey
• Water supply and sanitation in Turkey

[edit] See also

• Index of Turkey-related articles
• List of international rankings
• List of Turkey-related topics
• Member state of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
• Member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Member state of the United Nations
• Outline of Asia
• Outline of Europe
• Outline of geography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wikimedia Atlas of Turkey

Government

• Presidency of the Republic
• The Grand National Assembly
• The Prime Minister's Office
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of Interior Affairs
• Turkish Armed Forces
• Ministry of Defense
• Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Public institutions

• Directorate General of Press and Information
• Turkish Statistical Institute
• Central Bank
• Treasury
• Competition Authority
• Undersecretariat of Customs
• National Intelligence Organisation
• State Planning Organisation
• Turkish Standards Institution
• The Scientific and Technological Research Council

Additional profiles

• by the BBC News
• by the CIA Factbook
• by the Economist
• by the US Department of State

Other

• Outline of Turkey travel guide from Wikitravel
• Official site of Turkish Culture and Tourism Office

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