Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Official name	Ankara
Settlement type	City
Timezone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Map caption	Location of Ankara within Turkey.
Timezone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Turkey
Coordinates region	TR
Subdivision type1	Region
Subdivision name1	Central Anatolia
Subdivision type2	Province
Subdivision name2	Ankara
Population metro	4,431,719
Population as of	2010
Population density km2	1551.00
Area total km2	2516.00
Pushpin map	Turkey
Pushpin label position
Pushpin map caption	Location of Ankara
Elevation m	938
Postal code type	Postal code
Postal code	06xxx
Area code	312
Blank info	06
Blank name	Licence plate
Leader name	Melih Gökçek
Leader party	AKP
Leader title	Mayor
Leader title1	Governor
Leader name1	Alaaddin Yüksel
Website	http://www.ankara.bel.tr/ http://www.ankara.gov.tr/ }}

Ankara () is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.

Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city. It is the center of the Turkish Government, and houses all foreign embassies. It is an important crossroads of trade, strategically located at the centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city was famous for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), white rabbits and their prized wool (Angora wool), pears, honey, and the region's muscat grapes.

The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a rocky hill, which rises above the plain on the left bank of the ''Ankara Çayı'', a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East (), about to the southeast of Istanbul, the country's largest city. Although situated in one of the driest places of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation except for the forested areas on the southern periphery, Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, which is 72 m² per head.

Ankara is a very old city with various Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites. The hill which overlooks the city is crowned by the ruins of the old castle, which adds to the picturesqueness of the view, but only a few historic structures surrounding the old citadel have survived to the present day. There are, however, many finely preserved remains of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture, the most remarkable being the Temple of Augustus and Rome (20 BC) which is also known as the ''Monumentum Ancyranum''.

Etymology

As with many ancient cities, Ankara has gone by several names over the ages. It has been identified with the Hittite cult center Ankuwaš, although this remains a matter of debate. In classical antiquity and during the medieval period, the city was known as Ánkyra (, "anchor") in Greek and Ancyra in Latin; the Galatian Celtic name was probably a similar variant. Following its annexation by the Seljuq Turks in 1073, the city became known in many European languages as Angora, a usage which continued until its official renaming to "Ankara" under the Turkish Postal Service Law of 1930. Another proposed theory show that the original name of the city might be taken over from the Angara River of Asia by the invading Seljuk Turks.

History

The region's history can be traced back to the Bronze Age Hatti civilization, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the Hittites, in the 10th century BC by the Phrygians, and later by the Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Galatians, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks (the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm, the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.)

Ancient history

The oldest settlements in and around the city centre of Ankara belonged to the Hatti's civilization which existed during the Bronze Age. The city grew significantly in size and importance under the Phrygians starting around 1000 BC, and experienced a large expansion following the mass migration from Gordion, (the capital of Phrygia), after an earthquake which severely damaged that city around that time. In Phrygian tradition, King Midas was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but Pausanias mentions that the city was actually far older, which accords with present archaeological knowledge.

Phrygian rule was succeeded first by Lydian and later by Persian rule, though the strongly Phrygian character of the peasantry remained, as evidenced by the gravestones of the much later Roman period. Persian sovereignty lasted until the Persians' defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great who conquered the city in 333 BC. Alexander came from Gordion to Ankara and stayed in the city for a short period. After his death at Babylon in 323 BC and the subsequent division of his empire amongst his generals, Ankara and its environs fell into the share of Antigonus.

Another important expansion took place under the Greeks of Pontos who came there around 300 BC and developed the city as a trading centre for the commerce of goods between the Black Sea ports and Crimea to the north; Assyria, Cyprus, and Lebanon to the south; and Georgia, Armenia and Persia to the east. By that time the city also took its name ''Áγκυρα'' (''Ànkyra'', meaning ''Anchor'' in Greek) which in slightly modified form provides the modern name of ''Ankara''.

Celtic history

In 278 BC, the city, along with the rest of central Anatolia, was occupied by the Celtic race of Galatians, who were the first to make Ankara one of their main tribal centres, the headquarters of the Tectosages tribe. Other centres were Pessinos, today's ''Balhisar'', for the Trocmi tribe, and Tavium, to the east of Ankara, for the ''Tolstibogii'' tribe. The city was then known as ''Ancyra''. The Celtic element was probably relatively small in numbers; a warrior aristocracy which ruled over Phrygian-speaking peasants. However, the Celtic language continued to be spoken in Galatia for many centuries. At the end of the 4th century, St. Jerome, a native of Dalmatia, observed that the language spoken around Ankara was very similar to that being spoken in the northwest of the Roman world near Trier.

Roman history

The city was subsequently conquered by Augustus in 25 BC and passed under the control of the Roman Empire. Now the capital city of the Roman province of Galatia, Ancyra continued to be a center of great commercial importance. Ankara is also famous for the ''Monumentum Ancyranum'' (''Temple of Augustus and Rome'') which contains the official record of the ''Acts of Augustus'', known as the ''Res Gestae Divi Augusti'', an inscription cut in marble on the walls of this temple. The ruins of Ancyra still furnish today valuable bas-reliefs, inscriptions and other architectural fragments.

Augustus decided to make Ancyra one of three main administrative centres in central Anatolia. The town was then populated by Phrygians and Celts—the ''Galatians'' who spoke a language somewhat closely related to Welsh and Gaelic. Ancyra was the center of a tribe known as the ''Tectosages'', and Augustus upgraded it into a major provincial capital for his empire. Two other Galatian tribal centres, Tavium near Yozgat, and Pessinus (Balhisar) to the west, near Sivrihisar, continued to be reasonably important settlements in the Roman period, but it was Ancyra that grew into a grand metropolis.

An estimated 200,000 people lived in Ancyra in good times during the Roman Empire, a far greater number than was to be the case from after the fall of the Roman Empire until the early 20th century. A small river, the Ankara Çayı, ran through the centre of the Roman town. It has now been covered and diverted, but it formed the northern boundary of the old town during the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Çankaya, the rim of the majestic hill to the south of the present city center, stood well outside the Roman city, but may have been a summer resort. In the 19th century, the remains of at least one Roman villa or large house were still standing not far from where the Çankaya Presidential Residence stands today. To the west, the Roman city extended until the area of the Gençlik Park and Railway Station, while on the southern side of the hill, it may have extended downwards as far as the site presently occupied by Hacettepe University. It was thus a sizeable city by any standards and much larger than the Roman towns of Gaul or Britannia.

Ancyra's importance rested on the fact was that it was the junction point where the roads in northern Anatolia running north-south and east-west intersected. The great imperial road running east passed through Ankara and a succession of emperors and their armies came this way. They were not the only ones to use the Roman highway network, which was equally convenient for invaders. In the second half of the 3rd century, Ancyra was invaded in rapid succession by the Goths coming from the west (who rode far into the heart of Cappadocia, taking slaves and pillaging) and later by the Arabs. For about a decade, the town was one of the western outposts of one of the most brilliant queens of the ancient world, the Arab empress Zenobia from Palmyra in the Syrian desert, who took advantage of a period of weakness and disorder in the Roman Empire to set up a short-lived state of her own.

The town was reincorporated into the Roman Empire under Emperor Aurelian in 272. The tetrarchy, a system of multiple (up to four) emperors introduced by Diocletian (284-305), seems to have engaged in a substantial programme of rebuilding and of road construction from Ankara westwards to Germe and Dorylaeum (now Eskişehir).

In its heyday, Roman Ankara was a large market and trading center but it also functioned as a major administrative capital, where a high official ruled from the city's Praetorium, a large administrative palace or office. During the 3rd century, life in Ancyra, as in other Anatolian towns, seems to have become somewhat militarised in response to the invasions and instability of the town. In this period, like other cities of central Anatolia, Ankara was also undergoing Christianisation.

Early martyrs, about whom little is known, included Proklos and Hilarios who were natives of the otherwise unknown village of Kallippi, near Ancyra, and suffered repression under the emperor Trajan (98-117). In the 280s AD we hear of Philumenos, a Christian corn merchant from southern Anatolia, being captured and martyred in Ankara, and Eustathius.

As in other Roman towns, the reign of Diocletian marked the culmination of the persecution of the Christians. In 303, Ancyra was one of the towns where the co-Emperors Diocletian and his deputy Galerius launched their anti-Christian persecution. In Ancyra, their first target was the 38-year-old Bishop of the town, whose name was Clement. Clement's life describes how he was taken to Rome, then sent back, and forced to undergo many interrogations and hardship before he, and his brother, and various companions were put to death. The remains of the church of St. Clement can be found today in a building just off Işıklar Caddesi in the Ulus district. Quite possibly this marks the site where Clement was originally buried. Four years later, a doctor of the town named Plato and his brother Antiochus also became celebrated martyrs under Galerius. Theodotus of Ancyra is also venerated as a saint.

However, the persecution proved unsuccessful and in 314 Ancyra was the center of an important council of the early church; which considered ecclesiastical policy for the reconstruction of the Christian church after the persecutions, and in particular the treatment of 'lapsi'—Christians who had given in and conformed to paganism during these persecutions.

Three councils were held in the former capital of Galatia in Asia Minor, during the 4th century. The first, an orthodox plenary synod, was held in 314, and its 25 disciplinary canons constitute one of the most important documents in the early history of the administration of the Sacrament of Penance. Nine of them deal with conditions for the reconciliation of the lapsi; the others, with marriage, alienations of church property, etc.

Though paganism was probably tottering in Ancyra in Clement's day, it may still have been the majority religion. Twenty years later, Christianity and monotheism had taken its place. Ancyra quickly turned into a Christian city, with a life dominated by monks and priests and theological disputes. The town council or senate gave way to the bishop as the main local figurehead. During the middle of the 4th century, Ancyra was involved in the complex theological disputes over the nature of Christ, and a form of Arianism seems to have originated there.

The synod of 358 was a Semi-Arian conciliabulum, presided over by Basil of Ancyra. It condemned the grosser Arian blasphemies, but set forth an equally heretical doctrine in the proposition that the Son was in all things similar to the Father, but not identical in substance. In 362-363, the Emperor Julian the Apostate passed through Ancyra on his way to an ill-fated campaign against the Persians, and according to Christian sources, engaged in a persecution of various holy men. The stone base for a statue, with an inscription describing Julian as ''"Lord of the whole world from the British Ocean to the barbarian nations"'', can still be seen, built into the eastern side of the inner circuit of the walls of Ankara Castle. The Column of Julian which was erected in honor of the emperor's visit to the city in 362 still stands today. In 375, Arian bishops met at Ancyra and deposed several bishops, among them St. Gregory of Nyssa. The modern Ankara, also known in some Western texts as ''Angora'', remains a Roman Catholic titular see in the former Roman province of Galatia in Asia Minor, suffragan of Laodicea. Its episcopal list is given in Gams, "Series episc. Eccl. cath."; also that of another Ancyra in Phrygia Pacatiana.

In the late 4th century AD, Ancyra became something of an imperial holiday resort. After Constantinople became the East Roman capital, emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries would retire from the humid summer weather on the Bosporus to the drier mountain atmosphere of Ancyra. Theodosius II (408-450) kept his court in Ancyra in the summers. Laws issued in Ancyra testify to the time they spent there. The city's military as well as logistical significance lasted well into the long Byzantine rule. Although Ancyra temporarily fell into the hands of several Arab Muslim armies numerous times after the 7th century, it remained an important crossroads polis within the Byzantine Empire until the late 11th century. It was also the capital of the powerful Opsician Theme, and after ca. 750 of the Bucellarian Theme.

Turkish history

In 1071, the Turkish Seljuq Sultan Alp Arslan conquered much of eastern and central Anatolia after his victory at the Battle of Manzikert. He then annexed Ankara, an important location for military transportation and natural resources, to his territory in 1073. After the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 in which the Mongols defeated the Seljuqs, most of Anatolia became part of the dominion of the Mongols. Taking advantage of Seljuq decline, a semi religious cast of craftsmen and trade people named ''Ahiler'' chose Ankara as their independent city state in 1290. Orhan I, the second Bey of the Ottoman Empire, captured the city in 1356. Timur defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and took the city, but in 1403 Ankara was again under Ottoman control.

Following the Ottoman defeat at World War I, the Ottoman capital Istanbul and much of Anatolia were occupied by the Allies, who planned to share these lands between Armenia, France, Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom, leaving for the Turks the core piece of land in central Anatolia. In response, the leader of the Turkish nationalist movement, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, established the headquarters of his resistance movement in Ankara in 1920 (see the Treaty of Sèvres and the Turkish War of Independence.) After the War of Independence was won and the Treaty of Sèvres was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkish nationalists replaced the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. A few days earlier, Ankara had officially replaced Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) as the new Turkish capital city, on 13 October 1923.

After Ankara became the capital of the newly founded Republic of Turkey, new development divided the city into an old section, called ''Ulus'', and a new section, called ''Yenişehir''. Ancient buildings reflecting Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman history and narrow winding streets mark the old section. The new section, now centered on ''Kızılay'', has the trappings of a more modern city: wide streets, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, and high-rises. Government offices and foreign embassies are also located in the new section. Ankara has experienced a phenomenal growth since it was made Turkey's capital. It was "a small town of no importance" when it was made the capital of Turkey. In 1924, the year after the government had moved there, Ankara had about 35,000 residents. By 1927 there were 44,553 residents and by 1950 the population had grown to 286,781.

Economy

Historically, the production of Mohair from the Angora goat; and Angora wool from the Angora rabbit; have been an important part of the city's economy. These fabrics have been exported from Ankara to Europe and other parts of the globe for centuries.

The Central Anatolia Region is one of the primary locations of grape and wine production in Turkey, and Ankara is particularly famous for its Kalecik Karası and Muscat grapes; and its Kavaklıdere wine, which is produced in the Kavaklıdere neighbourhood within the Çankaya district of the city. Ankara is also famous for its pears. Another renowned natural product of Ankara is its indigenous type of honey (''Ankara Balı'') which is known for its light colour and is mostly produced by the Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo in the Gazi district, and by other facilities in the Elmadağ, Çubuk and Beypazarı districts.

A number of the global automotive companies have production facilities in Ankara, such as the German bus and truck manufacturer MAN AG. Ankara is also the center of the state-owned and private Turkish defence and aerospace companies, where the industrial plants and headquarters of the TAI, MKE, Aselsan, Havelsan, Roketsan, FNSS, Nurol, and numerous other firms are located. Exports to foreign countries from these defence firms have steadily increased in the past decades. The IDEF in Ankara is one of the largest international expositions of the global arms industry.

A large percentage of the employment in Ankara is provided by the state institutions; such as the ministries, undersecretariats, and other administrative bodies of the Turkish government. There are also many foreign citizens working as diplomats or clerks in the embassies of their respective countries.

Climate

Ankara has a continental climate, with cold, snowy winters due to its elevation and inland location, and hot, dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and autumn. Under Köppen's climate classification, Ankara features a semi-arid climate. Because of Ankara's high altitude and its dry summers, nightly temperatures in the summer months are cool. Ankara's annual average precipitation is fairly low at , nevertheless precipitation can be observed throughout the year. Monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of .

Demographics

Central Ankara has a population of 3,763,591 (2007) of which 1,870,831 are men and 1,892,760 are women. The metropolitan municipality, containing the central part of the city and the surrounding 8 districts under its jurisdiction, had a total population of 3,901,201 the same year.

When Ankara became the capital of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it was designated as a planned city for 500,000 future inhabitants. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the city grew in a planned and orderly pace. However, from the 1950s onward, the city grew much faster than envisioned, because unemployment and poverty forced people to migrate from the countryside into the city in order to seek a better standard of living. As a result, many illegal houses called gecekondu were built around the city, causing the unplanned and uncontrolled urban landscape of Ankara, as not enough planned housing could be built fast enough. Although precariously built, the vast majority of them have electricity, running water and modern household amenities.

Nevertheless, many of these gecekondus have been replaced by huge public housing projects in the form of tower blocks such as Elvankent, Eryaman and Güzelkent; and also as mass housing compounds for military and civil service accommodation. Although many gecekondus still remain, they too are gradually being replaced by mass housing compounds, as empty land plots in the city of Ankara for new construction projects are becoming impossible to find.

Population of Ankara

Main sights

Museums

Anıtkabir

:is located on an imposing hill, ''Anıttepe'' quarter of the city, where the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, stands. Completed in 1953, it is an impressive fusion of ancient and modern architectural styles. An adjacent museum houses a wax statue of Atatürk, his writings, letters and personal items, as well as an exhibition of photographs recording important moments in his life and during the establishment of the Republic. Anıtkabir is open every day, while the adjacent museum is open every day except Mondays.

Ankara Ethnography Museum (''Etnoğrafya Müzesi'')

:This museum is opposite the Opera House on Talat Paşa Boulevard, in the Ulus district. There is a fine collection of folkloric as well as Seljuq- and Ottoman-era artifacts.

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (''Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi'')

:Situated at the entrance of Ankara Castle, it is an old "bedesten" (covered bazaar) that has been beautifully restored and now houses a unique collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, and Roman works as well as a major section dedicated to Lydian treasures.

State Art and Sculpture Museum (''Resim-Heykel Müzesi'')

:This museum is close to the Ethnography Museum and houses a rich collection of Turkish art from the late 19th century to the present day. There are also galleries which host guest exhibitions. Cer Modern :is the modern-arts museum of Ankara inaugurated in 01 April 2010. It is situated in the renovated building of the historic TCDD Cer Atölyeleri, the workshop of the Turkish National Railways. The museum incorporates the largest exhibition hall in Turkey. The museum holds periodic exhibitions of modern and contemporary art as well as hosting other contemporary arts events.

War of Independence Museum (''Kurtuluş Savaşı Müzesi'')

:This building, located on Ulus Square, was originally the first Parliament building (TBMM) of the Republic of Turkey. The War of Independence was planned and directed here as recorded in various photographs and items presently on exhibition. In another display, wax figures of former presidents of the Republic of Turkey are on exhibit.

TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum - An open-air museum which traces the history of steam locomotives.

Çengelhan Rahmi Koç Museum

:is a museum of industrial technology situated in Çengelhan, an Ottoman Era caravanserai. The exhibits include industrial/technological artifacts from 1850s onwards.

Ankara Aviation Museum (Hava Kuvvetleri Müzesi Komutanlığı)

:The museum is near the Istanbul Road in Etimesgut. It is home to various missiles, avionics, aviation materials and aircraft that have served in the Turkish Air Force (e.g. combat aircraft such as the F-86 Sabre, F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, F-5 Freedom Fighter, F-4 Phantom; and cargo planes such as the Transall C-160.) Also, a Hungarian MiG-21, a Pakistani MiG-19, and a Bulgarian MiG-17 are on display in the museum.

METU Science and Technology Museum (ODTÜ Bilim ve Teknoloji Müzesi)

:is based in the Middle East Technical University campus.

Archeological sites

Ankara Citadel

The foundations of the citadel or castle were laid by the Galatians on a prominent lava outcrop (), and the rest was completed by the Romans. The Byzantines and Seljuqs further made restorations and additions. The area around and inside the citadel, being the oldest part of Ankara, contains many fine examples of traditional architecture. There are also recreational areas to relax. Many restored traditional Turkish houses inside the citadel area have found new life as restaurants, serving local cuisine.

The citadel was depicted in various Turkish banknotes during 1927–1952 and 1983–1989.

Roman Theatre

The remains, the stage, and the backstage can be seen outside the castle. Roman statues that were found here are exhibited in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (see above). The seating area is still under excavation.

Temple of Augustus and Rome

The temple, also known as the Monumentum Ancyranum, was built between 25 BC - 20 BC following the conquest of Central Anatolia by the Roman Empire and the formation of the Roman province of Galatia, with Ancyra (modern Ankara) as its administrative capital. After the death of Augustus in 14 AD, a copy of the text of Res Gestae Divi Augusti was inscribed on the interior of the ''pronaos'' in Latin, whereas a Greek translation is also present on an exterior wall of the ''cella''. The temple, on the ancient Acropolis of Ancyra, was enlarged by the Romans in the 2nd century. In the 5th century it was converted into a church by the Byzantines. It is located in the Ulus quarter of the city.

Roman Bath

This bath has all the typical features of a classical Roman bath: a ''frigidarium'' (cold room), ''tepidarium'' (warm room) and ''caldarium'' (hot room). The bath was built during the reign of Emperor Caracalla in the 3rd century AD to honour Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Today, only the basement and first floors remain. It is situated in the Ulus quarter.

Column of Julian

The Column of Julian or Julianus, now in the Ulus district, was erected in honor of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate's visit to Ancyra in 362.

Mosques

The Alaaddin Mosque. It has a carved walnut mimber, the inscription on which records that the mosque was built in the 12th century by the Seljuq ruler, Mesut.

Ahi Elvan Mosque, founded in the Ulus quarter near the Ankara Citadel and was constructed during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The finely carved walnut mimber (pulpit) is of particular interest.

Hacı Bayram Mosque. This mosque, in the Ulus quarter next to the Temple of Augustus, was built in the early 15th century in Seljuq style by an unknown architect. It was subsequently restored by architect Mimar Sinan in the 16th century, with Kütahya tiles being added in the 18th century. The mosque was built in honor of Hacı Bayram Veli, whose tomb is next to the mosque, two years before his death (1427–28). The usable space inside this mosque is on the first floor and on the second floor.

Yeni (Cenab Ahmet) Mosque. It is the largest Ottoman mosque in Ankara and was built by the famous architect Sinan in the 16th century. The mimber (pulpit) and mihrap (prayer niche) are of white marble, and the mosque itself is of Ankara stone (red porphyry), an example of very fine workmanship. Yeni Cami is on Ulucanlar Avenue.

Kocatepe Mosque, the largest mosque in the city. Located in the Kocatepe quarter, it was constructed between 1967 and 1987 in classical Ottoman style with four minarets. Its size and prominent location have made it a landmark for the city.

Historic buildings

Çankaya Köşkü, the residence of the President of Turkey.

Pembe Köşk, the residence of Turkish President İsmet İnönü from 1925 to 1973.

Modern monuments

Victory Monument

It was erected in 1927 on Zafer Square in the Sıhhiye quarter and depicts Atatürk in uniform.

Monument to a Secure, Confident Future

This monument, located in Güven Park near Kızılay Square, was erected in 1935 and bears Atatürk's advice to his people: "Turk! Be proud, work hard, and believe in yourself."

The monument was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 5 lira banknote of 1937–1952 and of the 1000 lira banknotes of 1939–1946.

Hatti Monument

Built in the 1970s on Sıhhiye Square, this impressive monument symbolizes the Hatti gods and commemorates Anatolia's earliest known civilization. The symbol derived from this monument has been used as the logo of the city for a long time.

Parks

Ankara has many parks and open spaces mainly established in the early years of the Republic and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: Gençlik Parkı (houses an amusement park with a large pond for rowing), the Botanical Garden, Seğmenler Park, Anayasa Park, Kuğulu Park (famous for the swans received as a gift from the Chinese government), Abdi İpekçi Park, Güven Park (see above for the monument), Kurtuluş Park (has an ice-skating rink), Altınpark (also a prominent exposition/fair area), Harikalar Diyarı (claimed to be Biggest Park of Europe inside city borders) and Göksu Park.

Gençlik Park was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 100 lira banknotes of 1952–1976.

Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo (''Atatürk Orman Çiftliği'') is an expansive recreational farming area which houses a zoo, several small agricultural farms, greenhouses, restaurants, a dairy farm and a brewery. It is a pleasant place to spend a day with family, be it for having picnics, hiking, biking or simply enjoying good food and nature. There is also an exact replica of the house where Atatürk was born in 1881, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Visitors to the "Çiftlik" (farm) as it is affectionately called by Ankarans, can sample such famous products of the farm such as old-fashioned beer and ice cream, fresh dairy products and meat rolls/kebaps made on charcoal, at a traditional restaurant (''Merkez Lokantası'', Central Restaurant), cafés and other establishments scattered around the farm.

Shopping

Foreign visitors to Ankara usually like to visit the old shops in ''Çıkrıkçılar Yokuşu'' (Weavers' Road) near Ulus, where myriad things ranging from traditional fabrics, hand-woven carpets and leather products can be found at bargain prices. ''Bakırcılar Çarşısı'' (Bazaar of Coppersmiths) is particularly popular, and many interesting items, not just of copper, can be found here like jewelry, carpets, costumes, antiques and embroidery. Up the hill to the castle gate, there are many shops selling a huge and fresh collection of spices, dried fruits, nuts, and other produce.

Modern shopping areas are mostly found in Kızılay, or on Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, including the modern mall of Karum (named after the ancient Assyrian merchant colonies (Karum) that were established in central Anatolia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) which is located towards the end of the Avenue; and in the Atakule Tower at Çankaya, the quarter with the highest elevation in the city, which commands a magnificent view over the whole city and also has a revolving restaurant at the top where the complete panorama can be enjoyed in a more leisurely fashion. The symbol of the Armada Shopping Mall is an anchor, and there's a large anchor monument at its entrance, as a reference to the ancient Greek name of the city, Ἄγκυρα (Ánkyra), which means anchor. Likewise, the anchor is also related with the Spanish name of the mall, Armada, which means naval fleet.

As Ankara started expanding westward in the 1970s, several modern, suburbia-style developments and mini-cities began to rise along the western highway, also known as the Eskişehir Road. The ''Armada'' and ''CEPA'' malls on the highway, the ''Galleria'' in Ümitköy, and a huge mall, ''Real'' in Bilkent Center, offer North American and European style shopping opportunities (these places can be reached through the Eskişehir Highway.) There is also the newly expanded ''Ankamall'' at the outskirts, on the Istanbul Highway, which houses most of the well-known international brands. This mall is the largest throughout the Ankara region.

Culture and education

Turkish State Opera and Ballet, the national directorate of opera and ballet companies of Turkey, has its headquarters in Ankara, and serves the city with three venues:

Ankara Opera House (''Opera Sahnesi'', also known as ''Büyük Tiyatro'')

Leyla Gencer Sahnesi (named after world-famous soprano Leyla Gencer)

Operet Sahnesi (also known as the ''Türkocağı Binası'')

The Turkish State Theatres also has its head office in Ankara and runs the following stages in the city:

125. Yıl Çayyolu Sahnesi

Büyük Tiyatro (also doubling as the Ankara Opera House)

Küçük Tiyatro,

Şinasi Sahnesi,

Akün Sahnesi,

Altındağ Tiyatrosu,

İrfan Şahinbaş Atölye Sahnesi,

Oda Tiyatrosu,

Mahir Canova Sahnesi,

Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi.

In addition, the city is served by several private theatre companies among which Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu who have their own stage in the city centre is a notable example.

Ankara is host to five classical music orchestras:

Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası (Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra)

Bilkent Senfoni Orkestrası

Hacettepe Senfoni Orkestrası

Orkestra Akademik Başkent

Başkent Oda Orkestrası (Chamber Orchestra of the Capital)

There are four concert halls in the city:

CSO Konser Salonu

Bilkent Konser Salonu

MEB Şura Salonu (also known as the Festival Hall)

Çankaya Çağdaş Sanatlar Merkezi Konser Salonu

The city has been host to several well-established, annual theatre, music, film festivals:

Ankara Film Festivali (Ankara Film Festival)

Ankara Uluslararası Müzik Festivali (International Ankara Music Festival)

Ankara Tiyatro Festivali (Ankara Theatre Festival)

Ankara Caz Festivali (Ankara Jazz Festival)

Universities

Ankara is noted, within Turkey, for the multitude of universities it is home to. These include the following, several of them being among the most reputable in the country:

{| |- |valign="top"|

Ankara University

Atılım University

Başkent University

Bilkent University

Çankaya University

Gazi University

Hacettepe University

Middle East Technical University

TOBB University of Economics and Technology

Turgut Özal University

Ufuk University

Yıldırım Beyazıt University

|valign="top"|

Gülhane Military Medical Academy

Turkish Military Academy

Turkish National Police Academy

|}

Transportation

Esenboğa International Airport, located in the north-east of the city, is the main airport of Ankara. Ankara Intercity Bus Terminal () is an important part of the bus network which covers every neighbourhood in the city.

The Ankara Central Station is a major rail hub in Turkey. The Turkish State Railways operates passenger train service from Ankara to other major cities, such as: İstanbul, Eskişehir, Balıkesir, Kütahya, İzmir, Kayseri, Adana, Kars, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Karabük, Zonguldak and Sivas. Commuter rail also services the station to Sincan and Kayaş. In 2009, the new Yüksek Hızlı Tren high-speed rail service began operation between Ankara and Eskişehir.

The ''Electricity, Gas, Bus General Directorate'' (EGO) operates the Ankara Metro and other forms of public transportation. Ankara is currently served by suburban rail and two subway lines with about 300,000 total daily commuters, and three additional subway lines are under construction.

Sports

As with all other cities of Turkey, football is the most popular sport in Ankara. The city has two football clubs currently competing in the Turkcell Super League: Ankaragücü founded in 1910 is the oldest club in Ankara and associated with Ankara's military arsenal manufacturing company MKE. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1972 and 1981. Their rival is Gençlerbirliği founded in 1923 known as Ankara Gale or the Poppies because of their colours: red and black. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1987 and 2001. All these three teams have their home at the Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium in Ulus, which has a capacity of 21,250 (all-seater). Gençler's B team, Hacettepe SK (formerly known as Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ) played in the Super League for a while until being relegated. A fourth team, Büyükşehir Belediye Ankaraspor, played in the Super League until 2010 when they were expelled, and currently are not a member of the Turkish league system. Their home is the Yenikent Asaş Stadium in the Sincan district of Yenikent, outside the city center.

Ankara has a large number of minor teams, playing at regional levels: Bugsaşspor in Sincan; Etimesgut Şekerspor in Etimesgut; Türk Telekomspor owned by the phone company in Yenimahalle; Ankara Demirspor in Çankaya; Keçiörengücü, Keçiörenspor, Pursaklarspor, Bağlumspor in Keçiören; and Petrol Ofisi Spor owned by the oil company in Altındağ. Most of them, including Hacettepespor, play their matches at Cebeci İnönü Stadium in the Cebeci district.

In the Turkish Basketball League, Ankara is represented by Türk Telekom, whose home is the Ankara Arena, and CASA TED Kolejliler, whose home is the TOBB Sports Hall.

Ankara Buz Pateni Sarayı is where the ice skating and ice hockey competitions take place in the city.

There are many popular spots for skateboarding which is active in the city since the 1980s. Skaters in Ankara usually meet in the park near the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Fauna

Angora cat

Ankara is home to a world famous cat breed — the Turkish Angora, called ''Ankara kedisi'' (Ankara cat) in Turkish. It is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, naturally-occurring cat breeds, having originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia.

They mostly have a white, silky, medium to long length coat, no undercoat and a fine bone structure. There seems to be a connection between the Angora Cats and Persians, and the Turkish Angora is also a distant cousin of the Turkish Van. Although they are known for their shimmery white coat, currently there are more than twenty varieties including black, blue and reddish fur. They come in tabby and tabby-white, along with smoke varieties, and are in every color other than pointed, lavender, and cinnamon (all of which would indicate breeding to an outcross.)

Eyes may be blue, green, or amber, or even one blue and one amber or green. The W gene which is responsible for the white coat and blue eye is closely related to the hearing ability, and the presence of a blue eye can indicate that the cat is deaf to the side the blue eye is located. However, a great many blue and odd-eyed white cats have normal hearing, and even deaf cats lead a very normal life if kept indoors.

Ears are pointed and large, eyes are almond shaped and the head is massive with a two plane profile. Another characteristic is the tail, which is often kept parallel to the back.

Angora rabbit

The Angora rabbit () is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 18th century, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century. They are bred largely for their long Angora wool, which may be removed by shearing, combing, or plucking (gently pulling loose wool.)

Angoras are bred mainly for their wool because it is silky and soft. They have a humorous appearance, as they oddly resemble a fur ball. Most are calm and docile but should be handled carefully. Grooming is necessary to prevent the fiber from matting and felting on the rabbit. A condition called "wool block" is common in Angora rabbits and should be treated quickly. Sometimes they are shorn in the summer as the long fur can cause the rabbits to overheat.

Angora goat

The Angora goat () is a breed of domestic goat that originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia.

This breed was first mentioned in the time of Moses, roughly in 1500 BC. The first Angora goats were brought to Europe by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, about 1554, but, like later imports, were not very successful. Angora goats were first introduced in the United States in 1849 by Dr. James P. Davis. Seven adult goats were a gift from Sultan Abdülmecid I in appreciation for his services and advice on the raising of cotton.

The fleece taken from an Angora goat is called mohair. A single goat produces between five and eight kilograms of hair per year. Angoras are shorn twice a year, unlike sheep, which are shorn only once. Angoras have high nutritional requirements due to their rapid hair growth. A poor quality diet will curtail mohair development. The United States, Turkey, and South Africa are the top producers of mohair.

For a long period of time, Angora goats were bred for their white coat. In 1998, the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association was set up to promote breeding of colored Angoras. Today, Angora goats produce white, black (deep black to greys and silver), red (the color fades significantly as the goat gets older), and brownish fiber.

Angora goats were depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 50 lira banknotes of 1938–1952.

Ankara image gallery

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Ankara is twinned with:

	;Africa	* Cairo, Egypt, since 2004	* Khartoum, Sudan, since 1992	* Mogadishu, Somalia, since 1959

	;Americas	* Havana, Cuba, since 1993	* Santiago, Chile, since 2000	* Washington, D.C., United States, since 2011

;Asia

* Bangkok, Thailand, since 2006

* Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, since 1994

* Astana, Kazakhstan, since 2001

* Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1990

* Hanoi, Vietnam, since 1998

* Islamabad, Pakistan, since 1982

* Shiraz, Iran

* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, since 1984

* Kuwait City, Kuwait, since 1994

* Manama, Bahrain, since 2000

* Seoul, South Korea, since 1971

;Europe

* Bourg en Bresse, France

* Baku, Azerbaijan

* Skopje, Macedonia, since 1995

* Bucharest, Romania, since 1998

* Kiev, Ukraine, since 1993

* Moscow, Russia, since 1992

* Pristina, Kosovo, since 2005

* Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994)

* Sofia, Bulgaria, since 1992

* Tbilisi, Georgia, since 1996

* Tirana, Albania, since 1995

Notable people from Ankara

Filiz Akın, actress

Mazhar Alanson, musician

Huseyin Bahri Alptekin, artist, writer, educator and curator

Emre Araci, music historian, composer, conductor

Funda Arar, musician

Bülent Atalay, author, scientist and artist

Bedri Baykam, artist

Bülent Bezdüz, tenor

İdil Biret, concert pianist, recording artist

André Couteaux, writer and scenarist

Emin Çölaşan, journalist

Hande Dalkılıç, musician

Yasemin Dalkılıç, free diver

Vedat Dalokay, architect

Ordal Demokan, physicist

Can Dündar, journalist

Barış Erdemir, computer scientist

Moris Farhi, writer

Gizem Girişmen, archer

Erdal İnönü, politician and physicist

Nil Karaibrahimgil, musician

Vehbi Koç, pioneer industrialist

Yasemin Mori, musician

Aydın Örs, basketball coach

Yeliz Özel, famous handball player

Zerrin Özer, musician

Eren Ozker, Puppeteer (Jim Henson's Muppets), Actress and founder of SAG Puppeteers' Caucus

Yağmur Sarıgül, musician

Fazil Say, concert pianist, composer

Joe Strummer, lead singer, guitarist and lyricist of the English band The Clash

Özlem Tekin, musician

Kartal Tibet, actor

Buket Uzuner, writer

Religious figures

Haji Bektash Veli, Islamic mystic, humanist and philosopher

St. Theodotus of Ancyra, Christian martyr and saint

St. Nilus of Ancyra, Christian saint

Clement of Ancyra, Christian hieromartyr and bishop

Theodotus of Ancyra, Christian saint and bishop

Marcellus of Ancyra, Christian bishop

Basil of Ancyra, Christian priest

See also

Synod of Ancyra

Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi

References

Bibliography

Notes

External links

Governorship of Ankara

Municipality of Ankara

Esenboğa International Airport

Ankara Citadel

Category:Ankara Province Category:Capitals in Asia Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Populated places in Ankara Province

ace:Ankara af:Ankara ak:Ankara als:Ankara am:አንካራ ang:Ancyra ab:Анкара ar:أنقرة an:Ankara arc:ܐܢܩܪܐ roa-rup:Ancara frp:Ankara av:Анкара az:Ankara bn:আঙ্কারা bjn:Angkara zh-min-nan:Ankara be:Горад Анкара be-x-old:Анкара bo:ཨན་ཁ་ར། bs:Ankara br:Ankara bg:Анкара ca:Ankara cs:Ankara cbk-zam:Ankara tum:Ankara cy:Ankara da:Ankara de:Ankara et:Ankara el:Άγκυρα es:Ankara eo:Ankaro eu:Ankara fa:آنکارا hif:Ankara fo:Ankara fr:Ankara fy:Ankara ga:Ankara gv:Ankara gag:Ankara gd:Ankara gl:Ancara - Ankara ko:앙카라 haw:Ankara hy:Անկարա hi:अंकारा hsb:Ankara hr:Ankara io:Ankara id:Ankara ia:Ankara ie:Ancara os:Анкара is:Ankara it:Ankara he:אנקרה jv:Ankara kn:ಅಂಕಾರಾ ka:ანკარა (თურქეთი) kk:Анкара rw:Ankara ky:Анкара sw:Ankara ht:Ankara ku:Enqere mrj:Анкара lad:Ankara lbe:Анкъара la:Ancyra lv:Ankara lb:Ankara lt:Ankara lij:Ankara ln:Ankara lmo:Ankara hu:Ankara mk:Анкара ml:അങ്കാറ mi:Anakara mr:अंकारा arz:انقره mzn:آنکارا ms:Ankara mdf:Анкара nah:Ancara nl:Ankara ja:アンカラ no:Ankara nn:Ankara nov:Ankara oc:Ankara mhr:Анкара pnb:انکرہ pap:Ankara ps:انقره koi:Анкара pms:Ankara nds:Ankara pl:Ankara pt:Ancara kaa:Ankara crh:Ankara ro:Ankara qu:Ankara ru:Анкара sah:Анкара sco:Ankara sq:Ankara scn:Ankara simple:Ankara sk:Ankara sl:Ankara so:Ankara ckb:ئەنقەرە sr:Анкара sh:Ankara fi:Ankara sv:Ankara tl:Ankara ta:அங்காரா tt:Анкара te:అంకారా tet:Ankara th:อังการา tg:Анкара tr:Ankara udm:Анкара uk:Анкара ur:انقرہ ug:Enqere vi:Ankara vo:Ankara war:Ankara wo:Ankara wuu:安卡拉 yi:אנקארא yo:Ankara zh-yue:安卡拉 diq:Anqara (bacar) zea:Ankara zh:安卡拉

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Native name
Conventional long name	Republic of Turkey
Common name	Turkey
National anthem	''İstiklâl Marşı''''Independence March''File:Istiklal Marsi-TSK.ogg
Map caption	Location of Turkey
Capital	Ankara
Largest city	Istanbul
Official languages	Turkish
Demonym	Turkish
Government type	Parliamentary republic
Leader title1	Founder
Leader name1	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Leader title2	President
Leader name2	Abdullah Gül
Leader title3	Prime Minister
Leader name3	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Leader title4	Speaker of the Parliament
Leader name4	Cemil Çiçek
Leader title5	President of the Constitutional Court
Leader name5	Haşim Kılıç
Legislature	Grand National Assembly
Sovereignty type	Succession
Sovereignty note
Established event1
Established date1	July 24, 1923
Established event2
Established date2	October 29, 1923
Area km2	783562
Area sq mi	302535
Area rank	37th
Area magnitude	1 E11
Percent water	1.3
Population census	67,803,927
Population census year	2000
Population estimate	73,722,988
Population estimate year	2010
Population estimate rank	18th
Population density km2	94.1
Population density sq mi	239.8
Population density rank	108th
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp	$1.116 trillion
Gdp ppp rank	15th
Gdp ppp per capita	$15,340
Gdp nominal	$735.264 billion
Gdp nominal rank	17th
Gdp nominal year	2010
Gdp nominal per capita	$10,106
Hdi year	2011
Hdi	0.699
Hdi rank	92nd
Hdi category	high
Gini	40
Gini year	2008
Currency	Turkish lira
Currency code	TRY
Time zone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Time zone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on	right
Cctld	.tr
Calling code	90
Website	www.turkiye.gov.tr }}

Turkey (), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.

Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

Oghuz Turks began migrating into the area now called Turkey (derived from the Medieval Latin ''Turchia'', i.e. "Land of the Turks") in the 11th century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert. Several small beyliks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion. Starting from the 13th century, the Ottoman beylik united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed following its defeat in World War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923, they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey with Atatürk as its first president.

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with an ancient cultural heritage. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, OSCE and the G-20 major economies. Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the European Economic Community since 1963 and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the Middle East, the Turkic states of Central Asia and the African countries through membership in organizations such as the Turkic Council, Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organization.

Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance. Given its strategic location, large economy and military strength, Turkey is a major regional power.

Etymology

The name of Turkey, ''Türkiye'' in the Turkish language, can be divided into two components: the ethnonym ''Türk'' and the abstract suffix ''–iye'' meaning "owner", "land of" or "related to" (derived from the Arabic suffix ''–iyya'', which is similar to the Greek and Latin suffixes ''–ia''). The first recorded use of the term "Türk" or "Türük" as an autonym is contained in the Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks (''Celestial Turks'') of Central Asia (c. 8th century CE). The English word "Turkey" is derived from the Medieval Latin ''Turchia'' (c. 1369). The Greek cognate of this name, ''Tourkia'', was originally used by the Byzantines to describe medieval Hungary (since pre-Magyar Hungary was occupied by proto-Turkic and Turkic tribes, such as the Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Kabars, Pechenegs and Cumans.) Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the northern shores of the Black and Caspian seas, was referred to as ''Tourkia'' (''Land of the Turks'') in Byzantine sources. However, the Byzantines later began using this name to define the Seljuk-controlled parts of Anatolia in the centuries that followed the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

History

Antiquity

The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions in the world. The earliest Neolithic settlements such as Çatalhöyük (Pottery Neolithic), Çayönü (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to Pottery Neolithic), Nevalı Çori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), Hacılar (Pottery Neolithic), Göbekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and Mersin (Yumuktepe) are considered to be among the earliest human settlements in the world.

The settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic and continued into the Iron Age. Through recorded history, Anatolians have spoken Indo-European, Semitic and Kartvelian languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the Central Anatolia, noted at least as early as ca. 2300. Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed Hattians ca. 2000–1700 BC. The first major empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the eighteenth through the 13th century BC. The Assyrians colonized parts of southeastern Turkey as far back as 1950 BC until the year 612 BC, when the Assyrian Empire was conquered by the Chaldean dynasty in Babylon. Following the Hittite collapse, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy until their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in the 7th century BC. The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states were Lydia, Caria and Lycia. The Lydians and Lycians spoke languages that were fundamentally Indo-European, but both languages had acquired non-Indo-European elements prior to the Hittite and Hellenistic periods.

Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks. Numerous important cities were founded by these colonists, such as Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna (modern İzmir), and Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul). The first state established in Anatolia that was called Armenia by neighboring peoples (Hecataeus of Miletus and Behistun Inscription) was the state of the Armenian Orontid dynasty. Anatolia was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the 6th and 5th centuries BC and later fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms (including Bithynia, Cappadocia, Pergamum, and Pontus), all of which had succumbed to the Roman Republic by the mid-1st century BC.

In 324, the Roman emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium to be the new capital of the Roman Empire, renaming it New Rome (later Constantinople and Istanbul). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).

Turks and the Ottoman Empire

The ''House of Seljuk'' was a branch of the ''Kınık'' Oğuz Turks who resided on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian and Aral Seas in the Yabghu Khaganate of the Oğuz confederacy in the 10th century. In the 11th century, the Seljuks started migrating from their ancestral homelands towards the eastern regions of Anatolia, which eventually became the new homeland of Oghuz Turkic tribes following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

The victory of the Seljuks gave rise to the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate; which developed as a separate branch of the larger Seljuk Empire that covered parts of Central Asia, Iran, Anatolia and Southwest Asia.

In 1243, the Seljuk armies were defeated by the Mongols, causing the Seljuk empire's power to slowly disintegrate. In its wake, one of the Turkish principalities governed by Osman I would, over the next 200 years, evolve into the Ottoman Empire, expanding throughout Anatolia, the Balkans and the Levant. In 1453, the Ottomans completed their conquest of the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital, Constantinople.

The Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. The empire was often at odds with the Holy Roman Empire in its steady advance towards Central Europe through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. At sea, the empire contended with the Holy Leagues, composed of Habsburg Spain, the Republic of Venice and the Knights of St. John, for control of the Mediterranean. In the Indian Ocean, the Ottoman navy frequently confronted Portuguese fleets in order to defend its traditional monopoly over the maritime trade routes between East Asia and Western Europe; these routes faced new competition with the Portuguese discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. In addition, the Ottomans were occasionally at war with Persia over territorial disputes or caused by religious differences between 16th and 18th centuries.

During nearly two centuries of decline, the Ottoman Empire gradually shrank in size, military power, and wealth. It entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were deported and exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only relocated from the eastern war zone. Large scale massacres were also committed against the empire's other minority groups such as the Greeks and Assyrians. Following the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, the victorious Allied Powers sought to partition the Ottoman state through the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.

Republic era

The occupation of Constantinople and Smyrna by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres.

By September 18, 1922, the occupying armies were expelled, and the new Turkish state was established. On November 1, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923, led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in the new capital of Ankara.

Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past. With the Surname Law of 1934, the Turkish Parliament bestowed upon Mustafa Kemal the honorific surname "Atatürk" (''Father of the Turks''.)

Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II but entered on the side of the Allies on February 23, 1945, as a ceremonial gesture and in 1945 became a charter member of the United Nations. Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large-scale U.S. military and economic support.

After participating with the United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of Cypriot intercommunal violence and the Greek military coup of 15 July 1974, overthrowing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as dictator, Turkey invaded the island Republic of Cyprus on 20 July. Nine years later the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is only recognised by Turkey was established.

The single-party period ended in 1945. It was followed by a tumultuous transition to multiparty democracy over the next few decades, which was interrupted by military coups d'état in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997. In 1984, the PKK began an insurgency against the Turkish government; the conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives, continues today. Since the liberalization of the Turkish economy during the 1980s, the country has enjoyed stronger economic growth and greater political stability.

Politics

Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism. Turkey's constitution governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state.

The President of the Republic is the head of state and has a largely ceremonial role. The president is elected for a five-year term by direct elections. Abdullah Gül was elected as president on August 28, 2007, by a popular parliament round of votes, succeeding Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers which make up the government, while the legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, and the Constitutional Court is charged with ruling on the conformity of laws and decrees with the constitution. The Council of State is the tribunal of last resort for administrative cases, and the High Court of Appeals for all others.

The prime minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in the government and is most often the head of the party having the most seats in parliament. The current prime minister is the former mayor of İstanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose conservative Justice and Development Party won an absolute majority of parliamentary seats in the 2002 general elections, organized in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2001, with 34% of the suffrage.

In the 2007 general elections, the AKP received 46.6% of the votes and could defend its majority in parliament. Although the ministers do not have to be members of the parliament, ministers with parliament membership are common in Turkish politics. In 2007, a series of events regarding state secularism and the role of the judiciary in the legislature has occurred. These included the controversial presidential election of Abdullah Gül, who in the past had been involved with Islamist parties; and the government's proposal to lift the headscarf ban in universities, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court, leading to a fine and a near ban of the ruling party.

Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1933, and every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 years of age has the right to vote. As of 2004, there were 50 registered political parties in the country. The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or separatist, or ban their existence altogether.

There are 550 members of parliament who are elected for a four-year term by a party-list proportional representation system from 85 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (İstanbul is divided into three electoral districts, whereas Ankara and İzmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, only parties winning at least 10% of the votes cast in a national parliamentary election gain the right to representation in the parliament. Because of this threshold, in the 2007 elections only three parties formally entered the parliament (compared to two in 2002).

Human rights in Turkey have been the subject of much controversy and international condemnation. Between 1998 and 2008 the European Court of Human Rights made more than 1,600 judgements against Turkey for human rights violations, particularly the right to life and freedom from torture. Other issues such as Kurdish rights, women's rights and press freedom have also attracted controversy. Turkey's human rights record continues to be a significant obstacle to future membership of the EU. The Turkish Journalists Association says that 58 of the country's journalists have been imprisoned. A former U.S. State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said that the United States had "broad concerns about trends involving intimidation of journalists in Turkey."

Foreign relations

Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations (1945), the OECD (1961), the OIC (1969), the OSCE (1973), the ECO (1985), the BSEC (1992) and the G-20 major economies (1999). On October 17, 2008, Turkey was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Turkey's membership of the council effectively began on January 1, 2009. Turkey had previously been a member of the U.N. Security Council in 1951–1952, 1954–1955 and 1961.

In line with its traditional Western orientation, relations with Europe have always been a central part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became a founding member of the Council of Europe in 1949, applied for associate membership of the EEC (predecessor of the European Union) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decades of political negotiations, Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, became an associate member of the Western European Union in 1992, reached a Customs Union agreement with the EU in 1995 and has been in formal accession negotiations with the EU since 2005.

Since 1974, Turkey has not recognized the (essentially Greek Cypriot) Republic of Cyprus as the sole authority on the island, but instead supports the Turkish Cypriot community in the form of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is recognized only by Turkey.

The other defining aspect of Turkey's foreign relations has been its ties with the United States. Based on the common threat posed by the Soviet Union, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, ensuring close bilateral relations with Washington throughout the Cold War. In the post–Cold War environment, Turkey's geostrategic importance shifted towards its proximity to the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans. In return, Turkey has benefited from the United States' political, economic and diplomatic support, including in key issues such as the country's bid to join the European Union.

The independence of the Turkic states of the Soviet Union in 1991, with which Turkey shares a common cultural and linguistic heritage, allowed Turkey to extend its economic and political relations deep into Central Asia, thus enabling the completion of a multi-billion-dollar oil and natural gas pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline forms part of Turkey's foreign policy strategy to become an energy conduit to the West. However, Turkey's border with Armenia, a state in the Caucasus, remains closed following its occupation of Azerbaijani territory during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Military

The Turkish Armed Forces consists of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard operate as parts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in peacetime, although they are subordinated to the Army and Navy Commands respectively in wartime, during which they have both internal law enforcement and military functions.

The Turkish Armed Forces is the second largest standing armed force in NATO, after the U.S. Armed Forces, with a combined strength of just over a million uniformed personnel serving in its five branches. Turkey is considered to be the strongest military power of the Middle East region besides Israel.

Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a period ranging from three weeks to fifteen months, dependent on education and job location. Turkey does not recognise conscientious objection and does not offer a civilian alternative to military service.

Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. A total of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are allocated for use by the Turkish Air Force.

In 1998, Turkey announced a program of modernization worth US$160 billion over a twenty year period in various projects including tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, warships and assault rifles. Turkey is a Level 3 contributor to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.

Turkey has maintained forces in international missions under the United Nations and NATO since 1950, including peacekeeping missions in Somalia and former Yugoslavia, and support to coalition forces in the First Gulf War. Turkey maintains 36,000 troops in northern Cyprus; their presence is supported and approved by the ''de facto'' local government, but the Republic of Cyprus and the international community regard it as an illegal occupation force, and its presence has also been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions. Turkey has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since 2001. In 2006, the Turkish parliament deployed a peacekeeping force of Navy patrol vessels and around 700 ground troops as part of an expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the wake of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the president and is responsible to the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is responsible to parliament for matters of national security and the adequate preparation of the armed forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare war and to deploy the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or to allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey rests solely with the parliament. The actual commander of the armed forces is the Chief of the General Staff General Necdet Özel since August 4, 2011.

Administrative divisions

The capital city of Turkey is Ankara. The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes; however, they do not represent an administrative structure. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 923 districts.

Provinces usually bear the same name as their provincial capitals, also called the central district; exceptions to this custom are the provinces of Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: İzmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazarı). Provinces with the largest populations are Istanbul (13 million), Ankara (5 million), İzmir (4 million), Bursa (3 million) and Adana (2 million).

The biggest city and the pre-Republican capital Istanbul is the financial, economic and cultural heart of the country. An estimated 75.5% of Turkey's population live in urban centers. In all, 19 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 20 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000.

Geography

Turkey is a transcontinental Eurasian country. Asian Turkey (made up largely of Anatolia), which includes 97% of the country, is separated from European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (which together form a water link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean). European Turkey (eastern Thrace or Rumelia in the Balkan peninsula) comprises 3% of the country.

The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a roughly rectangular shape. It lies between latitudes 35° and 43° N, and longitudes 25° and 45° E. Turkey's area, including lakes, occupies 783,562 square kilometres (300,948 sq mi), of which 755,688 square kilometres (291,773 sq mi) are in Southwest Asia and 23,764 square kilometres (9,174 sq mi) in Europe. Turkey is the world's 37th-largest country in terms of 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 to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.

The European section of Turkey, East Thrace, forms the borders of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country, Anatolia, consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, between the Köroğlu and Pontic mountain ranges to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Eastern Turkey has a more mountainous landscape and is home to the sources of rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras, and contains Lake Van and Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest point at 5,165 metres (16,946 ft). Lake Tuz, Turkey's third-largest lake, is a macroscopically visible feature in the middle of the country.

Turkey is divided into seven census regions: Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Mediterranean. The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately one-sixth of Turkey's total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward.

Turkey's varied landscapes are the product of complex earth movements that have shaped the region over thousands of years and still manifest themselves in fairly frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions. The Bosporus and the Dardanelles owe their existence to the fault lines running through Turkey that led to the creation of the Black Sea. There is an earthquake fault line across the north of the country from west to east, which caused a major earthquake in 1999.

Climate

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Black Sea have a temperate Oceanic climate with warm, wet summers and cool to cold, wet winters. The Turkish Black Sea coast receives the greatest amount of precipitation and is the only region of Turkey that receives high precipitation throughout the year. The eastern part of that coast averages 2,500 millimeters annually which is the highest precipitation in the country.

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Sea of Marmara (including Istanbul), which connects the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, have a transitional climate between a temperate Mediterranean climate and a temperate Oceanic climate with warm to hot, moderately dry summers and cool to cold, wet winters. Snow does occur on the coastal areas of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea almost every winter, but it usually lies no more than a few days. Snow on the other hand is rare in the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea and very rare in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea.

Conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the central Anatolian plateau of the interior of Turkey a continental climate with sharply contrasting seasons.

Winters on the plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of −30 °C to −40 °C (−22 °F to −40 °F) can occur in eastern Anatolia, and snow may lie on the ground at least 120 days of the year. In the west, winter temperatures average below 1 °C (34 °F). Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures generally above 30 °C (86 °F) in the day. Annual precipitation averages about 400 millimetres (15 in), with actual amounts determined by elevation. The driest regions are the Konya plain and the Malatya plain, where annual rainfall frequently is less than 300 millimetres (12 in). May is generally the wettest month, whereas July and August are the driest.

Economy

Turkey has the world's 15th largest GDP-PPP and 17th largest Nominal GDP. The country is a founding member of the OECD and the G-20 major economies. During the first six decades of the republic, between 1923 and 1983, Turkey has mostly adhered to a quasi-statist approach with strict government planning of the budget and government-imposed limitations over private sector participation, foreign trade, flow of foreign currency, and foreign direct investment. However in 1983 Prime Minister Turgut Özal initiated a series of reforms designed to shift the economy from a statist, insulated system to a more private-sector, market-based model.

The reforms spurred rapid growth, but this growth was punctuated by sharp recessions and financial crises in 1994, 1999 (following the earthquake of that year), and 2001, resulting in an average of 4% GDP growth per annum between 1981 and 2003. Lack of additional fiscal reforms, combined with large and growing public sector deficits and widespread corruption, resulted in high inflation, a weak banking sector and increased macroeconomic volatility. Since the economic crisis of 2001 and the reforms initiated by the finance minister of the time, Kemal Derviş, inflation has fallen to single-digit numbers, investor confidence and foreign investment have soared, and unemployment has fallen. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a 6% inflation rate for Turkey in 2008.

Turkey has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment and the privatisation of publicly owned industries, and the liberalisation of many sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate. The public debt to GDP ratio, while well below its levels during the recession of 2001, reached 46% in 2010 Q3. The GDP growth rate from 2002 to 2007 averaged 7%, which made Turkey one of the fastest growing economies in the world during that period. However, growth slowed to 1% in 2008, and in 2009 the Turkish economy was affected by the global financial crisis, with a recession of 5%. The economy was estimated to have returned to 8% growth in 2010.

In the early years of this century the chronically high inflation was brought under control and this led to the launch of a new currency, the Turkish new lira, on January 1, 2005, to cement the acquisition of the economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy. On January 1, 2009, the new Turkish lira was renamed once again as the Turkish lira, with the introduction of new banknotes and coins. As a result of continuing economic reforms, inflation dropped to 8% in 2005, and the unemployment rate to 10%.

Tourism in Turkey has experienced rapid growth in the last twenty years, and constitutes an important part of the economy. In 2008 there were 31 million visitors to the country, who contributed $22 billion to Turkey's revenues. Other key sectors of the Turkish economy are banking, construction, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel, machine industry and automotive. Turkey has a large and growing automotive industry, which produced 1,147,110 motor vehicles in 2008, ranking as the 6th largest producer in Europe (behind the United Kingdom and above Italy) and the 15th largest producer in the world. Turkey is also one of the leading shipbuilding nations; in 2007 the country ranked 4th in the world (behind China, South Korea and Japan) in terms of the number of ordered ships, and also 4th in the world (behind Italy, USA and Canada) in terms of the number of ordered mega yachts.

Turkey's economy is becoming more dependent on industry in major cities, mostly concentrated in the western provinces of the country, and less on agriculture. However, traditional agriculture is still a major pillar of the Turkish economy. In 2010, the agricultural sector accounted for 9% of GDP, while the industrial sector accounted for 26% and the services sector 65%. However, agriculture still accounted for 27% of employment. In 2004, it was estimated that 46% of total disposable income was received by the top of 20% income earners, while the lowest 20% received 6%. According to Eurostat data, Turkish PPS GDP per capita stood at 45 per cent of the EU average in 2008.

Turkey has taken advantage of the European Union – Turkey Customs Union, signed in 1995, to increase its industrial production destined for exports, while at the same time benefiting from EU-origin foreign investment into the country. Turkey now has also opportunity of a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) – without full membership – that allows it to manufacture for tarif-free sale throughout the EU market.

By 2009 exports were $110 bn and in 2010 it was $117 bn (main export partners in 2009: Germany 10%, France 6%, UK 6%, Italy 6%, Iraq 5%). However larger imports, which amounted to $166 billion in 2010, threatened the balance of trade (main import partners in 2009: Russia 14%, Germany 10%, China 9%, US 6%, Italy 5%, France 5%).

After years of low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), Turkey succeeded in attracting $22 billion in FDI in 2007 and is expected to attract a higher figure in following years. A series of large privatizations, the stability fostered by the start of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to a rise in foreign investment.

Demographics

{{bar box | title=Ethnic groups in Turkey (2008) | titlebar=#ddd | left1=Ethnic groups | right1=Percent | float=right | bars= }}

The last official census was in 2000 and recorded a total country population of 67,803,927 inhabitants. According to the ''Address-Based Birth Recording System'' of Turkey, the country's population was 73.7 million people in 2010, nearly three-quarters of whom lived in towns and cities. According to the 2009 estimate, the population is increasing by 1.5% each year. Turkey has an average population density of 92 people per km². People within the 15–64 age group constitute 67% of the total population; the 0–14 age group corresponds to 26%; while senior citizens aged 65 years or older make up 7%. In 1927, when the first official census was recorded in the Republic of Turkey, the population was 13.6 million.

Life expectancy stands at 71.1 years for men and 75.3 years for women, with an overall average of 73.2 years for the populace as a whole. Education is compulsory and free from ages 6 to 15. The literacy rate is 96% for men and 80.4% for women, with an overall average of 88.1%. The low figures for women are mainly due to the traditional customs of the Arabs and Kurds who live in the southeastern provinces of the country.

Article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as "anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship"; therefore, the legal use of the term "Turkish" as a citizen of Turkey is different from the ethnic definition. However, the majority of the Turkish population are of Turkish ethnicity. They are estimated at 70–75% by the CIA and at 76.0% by a survey of Milliyet in 2007.

The Kurds, a distinct ethnic group concentrated mainly in the southeastern provinces of the country, are the largest non-Turkic ethnicity, estimated at about 18% of the population according to the CIA and at 15.7% according to a survey by the Milliyet daily newspaper. Minorities other than the three officially recognized ones do not have any special group privileges, while the term "minority" itself remains a sensitive issue in Turkey. Reliable data on the ethnic mix of the population is not available, because Turkish census figures do not include statistics on ethnicity.

The three officially recognized major minorities ethnic groups (per the Treaty of Lausanne), i.e. are: Armenians, Greeks and Jews. Signed on January 30, 1923, a bilateral accord of population exchange between Greece and Turkey took effect in the 1920s, with close to 1.5 million Greeks moving from Turkey and some 500,000 Turks coming from Greece. Other ethnic groups include Abkhazians, Albanians, Arabs, Assyrians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Georgians, Hamshenis, Laz, Pomaks (Bulgarians), Roma.

Minorities of West European origin include the Levantines (or ''Levanter'', mostly of French, Genoese and Venetian descent) who have been present in the country (particularly in Istanbul and İzmir) since the medieval period.

Urbanization

An estimated 71% of the population live in urban centers. In all, 18 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 21 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000.

Language

Turkish is the sole official language throughout Turkey. Reliable figures for the linguistic breakdown of the populace are not available for reasons similar to those cited above. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Turkish language is spoken by circa 70–75% of Turkey's population, while the Kurdish language is spoken by approximately 18%. The public broadcaster TRT broadcasts programmes in the local languages and dialects of Arabic, Bosnian, Circassian and Kurdish a few hours a week. A public television channel, TRT 6, which airs programs of Kurdish-language most of the time, was opened in early 2009.

Religion

{{bar box |title=Religions in Turkey |titlebar=#ddd |left1=Religions |right1=Percent |float=right |bars= }}

Turkey is a secular state with no official state religion; the Turkish Constitution provides for freedom of religion and conscience. Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey, it exceeds 99% if secular people of Muslim background are included. Research firms suggest the actual Muslim figure is around 98%, or 97%.

There are about 120,000 people of different Christian denominations, including an estimated 80,000 Oriental Orthodox, 35,000 Roman Catholics, 5,000 Orthodox (of them 3,000–4,000 being Greeks) and smaller numbers of Protestants. Today there are 236 churches open for worship in Turkey. The Orthodox Church has been headquartered in Istanbul since the 4th century AD. Christians represent less than 0.2% of Turkey's population, according to the ''CIA World Factbook''.

There are about 26,000 people who are Jewish, the vast majority of whom are Sephardi.

The Bahá'í Faith in Turkey has roots in Bahá'u'lláh's, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, being exiled to Constantinople, current-day Istanbul, by the Ottoman authorities. Bahá'ís cannot register with the government officially but there are probably 10 to 20 thousand Bahá'ís, and around a hundred Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in Turkey.

Though academics suggest the Alevi population may be from 15 to 20 million. According to Aksiyon magazine, the number of Shiite Twelvers (excluding Alevis) is 3 million (4.2%), and they live in Istanbul, Iğdır, Kars, Ankara, İzmir, Manisa, Çorum, Muğla, Ağrı and Aydın. There are also some Sufi practitioners. The highest Islamic religious authority is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (), it interprets the Hanafi school of law, and is responsible for regulating the operation of the country's 80,000 registered mosques and employing local and provincial imams. The role of religion has been controversial debate over the years since the formation of Islamist parties. Turkey was founded upon a strict secular constitution which forbids the influence of any religion, including Islam. There are sensitive issues, such as the fact that the wearing of the Hijab is banned in universities and public or government buildings as some view it as a symbol of Islam – though there have been efforts to lift the ban. The vast majority of the present-day Turkish people are Muslim and the most popular sect is the Hanafite school of Sunni Islam, which was officially espoused by the Ottoman Empire; according to the KONDA Research and Consultancy survey carried out throughout Turkey on 2007: 52.8% defined themselves as ''"a religious person who strives to fulfill religious obligations"'' (religious); 34.3 % defined themselves as ''"a believer who does not fulfill religious obligations"'' (believer); 9.7% defined themselves as ''"a fully devout person fulfilling all religious obligations"'' (fully devout); 2.3% defined themselves as ''"someone who does not believe in religious obligations"'' (non-believer/agnostic); and 0.9% defined themselves as ''"someone with no religious conviction"'' (atheist).

Culture

Turkey has a very diverse culture that is a blend of various elements of the Oğuz Turkic, Anatolian, Ottoman (which was itself a continuation of both Greco-Roman and Islamic cultures) and Western culture and traditions, which started with the Westernization of the Ottoman Empire and still continues today. This mix originally began as a result of the encounter of Turks and their culture with those of the peoples who were in their path during their migration from Central Asia to the West.

As Turkey successfully transformed from the religion-based former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation of state and religion, an increase in the modes of artistic expression followed. During the first years of the republic, the government invested a large amount of resources into fine arts; such as museums, theatres, opera houses and architecture. Diverse historical factors play important roles in defining the modern Turkish identity. Turkish culture is a product of efforts to be a "modern" Western state, while maintaining traditional religious and historical values.

Turkish music and literature form great examples of such a mix of cultural influences, which were a result of the interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world along with Europe, thus contributing to a blend of Turkic, Islamic and European traditions in modern-day Turkish music and literary arts. Turkish literature was heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic literature during most of the Ottoman era, though towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, particularly after the Tanzimat period, the effect of both Turkish folk and European literary traditions became increasingly felt. The mix of cultural influences is dramatized, for example, in the form of the "new symbols [of] the clash and interlacing of cultures" enacted in the works of Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. According to Konda public opinion researchers, 70% of Turkish citizens never read books.

Architectural elements found in Turkey are also testaments to the unique mix of traditions that have influenced the region over the centuries. In addition to the traditional Byzantine elements present in numerous parts of Turkey, many artifacts of the later Ottoman architecture, with its exquisite blend of local and Islamic traditions, are to be found throughout the country, as well as in many former territories of the Ottoman Empire. Mimar Sinan is widely regarded as the greatest architect of the classical period in Ottoman architecture. Since the 18th century, Turkish architecture has been increasingly influenced by Western styles, and this can be particularly seen in Istanbul where buildings like Dolmabahçe and Çırağan Palaces are juxtaposed next to numerous modern skyscrapers, all of them representing different traditions.

Sports

The most popular sport in Turkey is Association football. Turkey's top teams include Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş. In 2000, Galatasaray cemented its role as a major European club by winning the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Two years later the Turkish national team finished third in the 2002 World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea, while in 2008 the national team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2008 competition. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, while the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final.

Other mainstream sports such as basketball and volleyball are also popular. Turkey hosted the finals of EuroBasket 2001 and the finals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, winning second place on both occasions; while Efes Pilsen S.K. won the Korać Cup in 1996, finished second in the Saporta Cup of 1993, and made it to the Final Four of Euroleague and Suproleague in 2000 and 2001. Turkish basketball players such as Mehmet Okur and Hedo Turkoglu have also been successful in the NBA. Women's volleyball teams, namely Eczacıbaşı, Vakıfbank Güneş Sigorta and Fenerbahçe Acıbadem, have won numerous European championship titles and medals.

The traditional Turkish national sport has been yağlı güreş (''oiled wrestling'') since Ottoman times. Edirne has hosted the annual Kırkpınar oiled wrestling tournament since 1361. International wrestling styles governed by FILA such as Freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling are also popular, with many European, World and Olympic championship titles won by Turkish wrestlers both individually and as a national team.

Weightlifting has been a successful Turkish sport. Turkish weightlifters, both male and female, have broken numerous world records and won several European, World and Olympic championship titles. Naim Süleymanoğlu and Halil Mutlu have achieved legendary status as one of the few weightlifters to have won three gold medals in three Olympics.

Motorsports are also popular in Turkey. The Rally of Turkey was included in the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in 2003, while Formula One race weekends held at the Istanbul Park racing circuit occurred annually between the 2005 and 2011 Formula One seasons. The Turkish Grand Prix was, however, not included in the 2012 Formula One season's calendar. Other important annual motorsports events which are held at the Istanbul Park racing circuit include the MotoGP Grand Prix of Turkey, the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the GP2 Series and the Le Mans Series. From time to time Istanbul and Antalya also host the Turkish leg of the F1 Powerboat Racing championship; while the Turkish leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series, an air racing competition, takes place above the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, paragliding and other extreme sports are becoming more popular every year.

See also

List of Turkish people

List of twin towns and sister cities in Turkey

Public holidays in Turkey

Timeline of Turkish history

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

;History

;Politics and foreign policy

Kosebalaban, Hasan. ''Turkish Foreign Policy: Islam, Nationalism, and Globalization'' (Palgrave Macmillan; 2011) 240 pages; examines tensions among secularist nationalism, Islamic nationalism, secular liberalism, and Islamic liberalism in shaping foreign policy since the 1920s; concentrates on era since 2003

;Foreign relations and military

;Geography and climate

;Economy

;Demographics

;Culture

Further reading

Bozarslan, Hamit 'Turkey: Postcolonial discourse in a non-colonised state', in Prem Poddar ''et al.'', Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures—Continental Europe and its Colonies, Edinburgh University Press, 2008

Roxburgh, David J. (ed.) (2005). ''Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600.'' Royal Academy of Arts. ISBN 1-903973-56-2.

''Turkey: A Country Study'' (1996). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. ISBN 0-8444-0864-6.

External links

Category:Aegean Sea Category:Bicontinental countries Category:Black Sea countries Category:Countries of the Mediterranean Sea Category:Developing 8 Countries member states Category:Eastern Europe Category:Eurasia Category:European countries Category:G20 nations Category:Member states of NATO Category:Member states of the Council of Europe Category:Member states of the United Nations Category:Modern Turkic states Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Republics Category:States and territories established in 1923 Category:Western Asia Category:Western Asian countries

ace:Tureuki af:Turkye ak:Turki als:Türkei am:ቱርክ ang:Turcland ab:Ҭырқтәыла ar:تركيا an:Turquía arc:ܛܘܪܩܝܐ roa-rup:Turchia ast:Turquía gn:Tuykia av:Турция az:Türkiyə bn:তুরস্ক bjn:Turki zh-min-nan:Türkiye ba:Төркиә be:Турцыя be-x-old:Турэччына bcl:Turkiya bi:Turkey bar:Tiakei bo:ཏུར་ཀི། bs:Turska br:Turkia bg:Турция ca:Turquia cv:Турци ceb:Turkiya cs:Turecko tum:Turkey cy:Twrci da:Tyrkiet pdc:Turkie de:Türkei dv:ތުރުކީވިލާތް nv:Tʼóok Bikéyah dsb:Turkojska et:Türgi el:Τουρκία eml:Turchî es:Turquía eo:Turkio ext:Turquia eu:Turkia ee:Turkey fa:ترکیه hif:Turkey fo:Turkaland fr:Turquie fy:Turkije ga:An Tuirc gv:Yn Turkee gag:Türkiye gd:An Tuirc gl:Turquía - Türkiye gan:土耳其 gu:તુર્કસ્તાન hak:Thú-ngí-khì xal:Түргүдин Орн ko:터키 haw:Tureke hy:Թուրքիա hi:तुर्की hsb:Turkowska hr:Turska io:Turkia ilo:Turkia bpy:তুরস্ক id:Turki ia:Turchia ie:Turcia ik:Turkey os:Турк is:Tyrkland it:Turchia he:טורקיה jv:Turki kl:Tyrkia kn:ಟರ್ಕಿ pam:Turkey krc:Тюрк ka:თურქეთი csb:Tëreckô kk:Түркия kw:Turki rw:Turukiya ky:Түркия Республикасы rn:Turukiya sw:Uturuki kv:Турция kg:Turki ht:Tiki ku:Tirkiye mrj:Турци lad:Turkiya lbe:Туркия ltg:Turceja la:Turcia lv:Turcija lb:Tierkei lt:Turkija lij:Turchia li:Turkije ln:Turkí jbo:turk lg:Buturuki lmo:Türchia hu:Törökország mk:Турција ml:തുര്‍ക്കി mt:Turkija mi:Whenua Korukoru mr:तुर्कस्तान xmf:თურქეთი arz:توركيا mzn:تورکیه ms:Turki cdo:Tū-ī-gì mdf:Туркамастор mn:Турк my:တူရကီနိုင်ငံ nah:Turquia na:Terki nl:Turkije nds-nl:Turkije ne:टर्की new:टर्की ja:トルコ nap:Turchia pih:Turkii no:Tyrkia nn:Tyrkia nrm:Turtchie nov:Turkia oc:Turquia mhr:Турций uz:Turkiya pnb:ترکی pap:Turkia koi:Тюркия tpi:Teki nds:Törkie pl:Turcja pnt:Τουρκία pt:Turquia kbd:Тырку kaa:Tu'rkiya crh:Türkiye ro:Turcia rmy:Turkiya qu:Turkiya rue:Турція ru:Турция sah:Түркийэ se:Durka sa:तुर्की sc:Turkia sco:Turkey stq:Turkäi sq:Turqia scn:Turchìa si:තුර්කිය simple:Turkey ss:IThekhi sk:Turecko cu:Тѷрци sl:Turčija szl:Turcyjo so:Turki ckb:تورکیا srn:Turkiyakondre sr:Турска sh:Turska fi:Turkki sv:Turkiet tl:Turkiya ta:துருக்கி kab:Tturk roa-tara:Turchie tt:Төркия te:టర్కీ tet:Turkia th:ประเทศตุรกี tg:Туркия tr:Türkiye tk:Türkiýe udm:Турция bug:Turki uk:Туреччина ur:ترکی ug:تۈركىيە جۇمھۇرىيىتى vec:Turchia vi:Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ vo:Türkän fiu-vro:Türgü wa:Tourkeye zh-classical:土耳其 vls:Turkeye war:Turkeya wo:Tirki wuu:土耳其 yi:טערקיי yo:Túrkì zh-yue:土耳其 diq:Tırkiya zea:Turkije bat-smg:Torkėjė zh:土耳其