Turkey

The Republic of Turkey is a bicontinental country, located in Asia and Europe. It extends throughout the Anatolian peninsula and Thrace, in the Balkan peninsula. It is its strategic position that has placed it in different conflicts between cultures and civilizations throughout history. Today, however, it is this location between the two continents that makes such good international connections possible.

Location: Turkey is bordered to the northwest by Greece and Bulgaria, to the northeast by Georgia and Armenia, to the east by Iran and to the south by Iraq and Syria.

Territorial Division: Turkey is divided into 81 provinces headed by a «valilik» (Government Delegation).

Population: OVER 80 million The average age is 32 years.

Language: The only official language is Turkish (spoken by 90% of the population), although Kurdish – spoken by 15% – has a channel on public TV. There are also Armenian-speaking minorities, Arabic and various Caucasian languages.

Religion: Although the civil registry defines more than 99% of the population as «Muslim», about 20% of the population belongs to the Alevi faith.

Climate: The climate in Turkey varies according to the region. The Marmara region has a changing climate according to the season.

Winters are cold with temperatures that can reach -16 degrees Celsius.

In the case of the Aegean region, temperatures range from -8 degrees Celsius to 43 degrees Celsius with 69% humidity and 645 mm of rainfall per year.

Political system: Parliamentary-presidential republic.