For millennia it was home to ancient Anatolian peoples and may have even been the center from which Indo-European languages originated. Most of present-day Turkey lies on the Anatolian Peninsula, which is one of the oldest permanently inhabited regions in the world. Rocks along the shore of Lake Salda in this area were formed by microbes and provide some of the oldest known fossilized records of life on Earth.Įastern Turkey is prone to severe earthquakes, one of which struck near the city of Gaziantep in February 2023 and claimed tens of thousands of lives. The Lakes Region in Turkey is an area in which many of the country’s largest lakes can be found. The highest point in the country can be found at Mount Ararat, the summit of which has an elevation of 5,165 m (16,945 ft). In total, Turkey covers an area of 783,562 km 2 (302,535 mi 2).Ī predominantly mountainous country, the lowlands in Turkey can be found around its coastal areas. Geographically, Turkey can be divided into seven distinct regions, each with their own unique qualities. Geography of Turkey Mountain Ararat fron Saghmosavankĩ7% of Turkey is located in Asia, and the small part of its territory on European soil is separated from the rest of the country by the Bosphorus and other small bodies of water. In terms of total population, Istanbul Province is by far the largest, with a 2021 population of 15,840,900. The largest province in Turkey is Konya, which is 40,814 km 2 (15,758 mi 2). Each province is administered by a governor who is appointed by the Ministry of the Interior.

The administrative divisions of Turkey consist of 81 provinces, each of which is divided into a number of the country’s 973 total districts. Administrative Divisions of Turkey Turkey provinces map It also shares the Aegean Sea with neighboring Greece. It is one of six countries on the Black Sea, as well as one of many that border the Mediterranean Sea. Although it doesn’t border any open oceans, Turkey has three different maritime borders.

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