Geography - Turkey

Turkey Itself

Turkey is a Eurasian country. Asian Turkey which includes 97% of the country is separated from the European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles which together form the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
The territory of Turkey is more than 1,000 miles long and wide, with a roughly rectangular shape. The area includes lakes and mountains that occupies about 800,000 square kilometres, Turkey is the world's 37th-largest country in terms of land area. The country is encircled by seas on three sides: the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.

Mountains

Perhaps one of the most famous and interesting sights is Mt Ararat, this is a huge and non active volcano which is found at the most eastern part of Turkey between the borders of Armenia and Iran. Mount Ararat is a snow-capped but dormant volcanic in Turkey, the mountain has two peaks, Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat with only a few thousand feet between them in height. Mount Ararat is located in the Iğdır Province, which is in the eastern province of Turkey's Eastern Anatolia Region. Its summit is located some 10 miles west of the Iranian and 20 mile south of the Armenian border.

Local Cuisine

Turkish cuisine has been influenced by the Ottoman cuisine, described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Neighbouring nations have been influenced by Turkish cuisine and Western Europe. The Ottomans merged together various culinary traditions of their own with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia, creating specialities, many have strong regional associations.

Apart from common Turkish specialities that can be found throughout the country, there are also many region-specific specialities. The Black Sea region in the northern area of Turkey has its cuisine based on corn, fish and anchovies. The southeast is famous for its kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, kadayıf and künefe. Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees are grown abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions display basic characteristics of Mediterranean cuisine as they are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia is famous for its pasta specialties, such as keşkek, mantı from Kayseri and gözleme.