GEOGRAPHY
Most first-time visitors come to Turkey
expecting to find deserts, palm trees and camel caravans. In fact, the country is
geographically diverse, with snow-capped mountains, rolling steppe, broad rivers, verdant
coasts and rich agricultural valleys.
It's interesting to note that Ankara, the country's
capital, is at a latitude similar to that of Naples, Lisbon, Beijing, and Philadelphia.
The southernmost shore of Turkey is similar in latitude to Tokyo, Seoul, Gibraltar and San
Francisco.
Distances
Turkey is big: the road distance from Edirne
on the Bulgarian border to Kars on the Armenian one is over 1700 km. From the Black Sea
shore to the Mediterranean coast it's almost 1000 km. Now, 1000 km on flat ground might
take only one very long day to drive, but Turkey has many mountain ranges which can
lengthen travel times considerably.
Geographic Statistics
Turkey is between 35° and 42° north
latitude, and 25° and 44° east longitude. It covers 779,452 sq. km and has borders with
Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The coastline totals almost 8400
km the Aegean coastline alone is 2800 km long. As for mountains, the highest is Ağrı
Dağı (Mt Ararat) at 5165m. Uludag (Mt Olympus) near Bursa is 2543m high. During imperial
times, snow and ice could be taken from Uludag, sailed across the Sea of Marmara, and
presented to the sultan in Istanbul to cool his drinks.
CLIMATE
Going from west to east, here's the lay of the
land. See also the climate graphs on the following page. For temperature conversion, see
the table at the back of the book.
Marmara
The Marmara region includes eastern Thrace
from Edirne to Istanbul, with rolling steppe and low hills good for grazing, some farming
and industry. The peninsula of Gelibolu (Gallipoli) forms the north shore of the
Çanakkale Boğazı (the Dardanelles or Hellespont). On the southern shore of the Sea of
Marmara are low hills and higher mountains (including Uludag). The land is very rich,
excellent for producing fruit such as grapes, peaches and apricots. Average rainfall is
668 mm; temperature extremes are 40.5°C maximum and -16.1°C minimum. This is Turkey's
second most humid region; with an annual average of 73% humidity.
Aegean
Fertile plains and river valleys, low hills
and not-so-low mountains make up the Aegean region. The ancient river Meander, now called
the Menderes, is a good example of the Aegean's rivers. When you see it from the heights
of ruined Priene, you'll know where the word `meander' comes from. When travelling, the
Aegean region presents constantly changing views of olive, fig and fruit orchards on
hillsides, and broad tobacco and sunflower fields in the valleys. The maximum temperature
is 42.7°C, the minimum is -8.2°C. Average humidity is 69%; average annual rainfall is
647 mm.
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean coast is mountainous without
much beach between Fethiye and Antalya, but then opens up into a fertile plain between
Antalya and Alanya before into mountains again. All along the south coast mountains loom
to the north.The great Taurus range stretches all the way from Alanya east to Adana.
Temperatures at Antalya are a few degrees warmer than at İzmir. The eastern Mediterranean
coast is always very humid. The maximum temperature is 44.6°C, and the minimum is
-4.6°C. Annual precipitation is 777 mm; average humidity is 69%.
Central Anatolia
The Turkish heartland of Central Anatolia is a
vast high plateau broken by mountain ranges, including some volcanoes with snow-capped
peaks. The land is mostly rolling steppe, good for growing wheat and grazing sheep.
Ankara's elevation is 900m above sea level. In summer, Ankara is hot and dry; in winter,
it's chilly and often damp. Late spring and early autumn are perfect. The maximum
temperature is 40°C, the minimum is -24.9°C. Annual rainfall is a low 382 mm; average
humidity is 62%.
Black Sea
The Black Sea coast, 1700 km long, has a
climate you might not expect to find in this part of the world. Rainfall is two to three
times the national average, and temperatures are moderate. You will see hazelnut groves
(on which the economy depends heavily), cherry orchards and tobacco fields. This is where
cherries originated, getting their name in Roman times: the root word of `cherry' is the
Latin cerasus (Turkish: kiraz). The cattle on the outskirts of every town provide milk,
cream and butter famous throughout Turkey. At the eastern end of the Black Sea coast, the
mountains come right down to the sea, and the slopes are covered with tea plantations.
Rainfall and humidity are highest here. All in all, the Black Sea coast is like central
Europe, but pleasantly warmer. The maximum temperature is 40.5°C, the minimum is -8°C.
Annual rainfall is 781 mm and average humidity is 72%.
South-East Anatolia
The region of south-east Anatolia is of
rolling steppe with outcrops of rock. The major rivers are the Tigris (Dicle) and the
Euphrates (Fırat), both of which have their sources in Turkey. With 576 mm rainfall per
year, it is very dry and hot in summer, with maximum temperatures reaching 46.5°C.
Minimums are around -12°C. Average humidity, at 52%, is the lowest in Turkey. The climate
produces bumper crops if there's water. The mammoth GAP hydroelectric project now provides
irrigation water in abundance.
Eastern Anatolia
A mountainous and somewhat forbidding zone,
this is a wildly beautiful region like no other in Turkey. The average temperature is a
cool 9.5°C, but varies between a hot 38°C and a daunting -43.2°C. It's cold out here
except from June to September. The rainfall is average for Turkey, about 560 mm per year.
The people are not as rich as in other regions, but they do well enough grazing sheep,
growing wheat and producing a few other crops.
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