Location
Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe
Total area
783.562 sq. km
Population
76.667.864 (2013)
National currency
Turkish lira
Conditional reduction of currency
TRY
Climate, average max and min t°
Temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior; avg. maximum temperature (July) +35°; avg. minimum temperature (January) +5°
Time difference from Moscow
- 1 hour
Ethnic groups
Turks 70%, Kurds 18%, and others
History
Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic, including various Ancient Anatolian civilizations and ancient Thracians. The remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattians, provide examples of the lives of its citizens and their trade. After the fall of the Hittites, new states such as Phrygia and Lydia appeared on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish.
The growing Persian kingdom eventually absorbed them. Following the Persian invasion, its expansionism brought it into conflict with the Greek monarch Alexander the Great who successfully expelled the Persians. Although he brought an end to the Persian Empire, his reign was short and his empire broke up on his death. Most of Anatolia eventually fell under the Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, but they were driven back by the Romans by 191 BC.
In the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great, at the east part of the Roman empire was established a new capital at Constantinople. Parting from the West empire, the Byzantine Empire succeeded it to flourish for almost a thousand years.
Oghuz Turks began migrating into Anatolia in the context of the larger Turkic expansion, forming the Seljuq Empire in the 11th century AD. After the Seljuq victory over forces of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, the process was accelerated. The Seljuq dynasty controlled Turkey until the country was invaded by the Mongols. During the years when the country was under Mongol rule, some small Turkish states were born. One of these states was the Ottoman beylik which quickly controlled Western Anatolia and conquered much of Rumelia. After finally conquering Istanbul, the Ottoman state would become a large empire. Next, the Empire expanded to Eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Europe and North Africa. Although the Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th century; it did not fully reach the technological advance in military capabilities of the Western powers in the 19th century.
Following World War I in which Turkey was defeated, most of Anatolia and Eastern Thrace was occupied by the Allied powers. In order to resist the occupation, a cadre of young military officers formed a government in Ankara. The elected leader of the Ankara Government, Mustafa Kemal organized a successful war of independence against the Allied powers. After the liberation of Anatolia and East Thrace, the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 with its capital at Ankara. In 1932 Turkey joined the League of Nations and in 1952 joined NATO.
Government type
Parliamentary democracy
Executive branch
Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
Legislative branch
the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (550 members)
Judicial branch
Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, High Court of Appeals, Council of State, High Counting Chamber, High military court of appeal, High military administrative court; courts of second instance: Principal court of criminal offence of special importance, Principal court of ordinary criminal offence, Principal Civil Court; courts of first instance: Magistrate Court divided into criminal and civil courts
Unemployment
10.7% (2013)
GDP per capita rank
65 (2013)
Corruption perceptions index rank
53 (2013)
