GEOGRAPHICAL AND NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Turkish Republic covers the area 780 580 km2, of which 9820 km2 is in water. The country is located largely on the Asian continent, in its farthest part – so-called. Asia Minor. It is a peninsula flooded from the north by the Black Sea, to the west across the Marmara and Aegean seas, and to the south across the Mediterranean Sea. The conventional boundary of the peninsula from the rest of Asia runs from the city of Iskenderun (near Adana) on the Mediterranean Sea to the vicinity of Trabzon on the Black Sea. Asia Minor is separated from Europe by the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and the small sea of ​​Marmara. The European part of Turkey is the land of Thrace, also called Rumelia, which covers an area of ​​approx. 23 600 km2, the total length of the land borders is 2627 km, and the coast 7126 km.

Turkey's land borders

country – border length (km)
Armenia 268
Azerbaijan 9
Bulgaria 240
Greece 206
Georgia 252
Irak 331
Iran 499

Asia Minor is also called Anatolia, from the Anatolian Highlands occupying its lion's share. A characteristic feature of the Anatolian Peninsula is the variability of the landscape caused by the climatic differentiation of individual regions. Anatolia occupies the western and central parts of the country, the eastern one – Armenian Highland. All of Turkey without exception, except for small parts in Thrace and coastal coasts, is one big mountain, mostly a steppe plateau (medium elevation in the Anatolian Highlands: 800 – 1500 m n.p.m., and in the Armenian Highlands: 1500 – 2200 m n.p.m.) with numerous valley depressions occupied by saline lakes.

The peninsula lies within the alpine fold zone of southern Europe. At the end of the Tertiary it joined the mainland and only then began to slowly separate itself as a separate geographical unit, what was, among others. a consequence of the decline of the Egeida land and the formation of the sinkhole of the Aegean Sea. Then the Mediterranean Sea merged with the Black Sea, which was previously a small lake. The sedimentary rocks, however, come from an earlier era – Mesozoic Era, when the great ocean of Tetis flooded areas from southern Europe to distant Asia. The area of ​​Anatolia is seismically active, Turkey is hit by earthquakes relatively often, sometimes causing huge losses. Turkey is also the 'home' of volcanoes. Most of the volcanic forms come from the Quaternary. The traces of this period are extinct volcanic cones, lava and volcanic ash frozen in various forms (Cappadocia).

Mountains

Mountains surround Turkey on all sides. There are several separate groups to the west with the highest peak of Uludag (2543 m n.p.m.), in the south, the long range of the Taurus Mountains with the highest peak of Aladag (3756 m n.p.m.), on the east, in the Armenian Highlands, the extinct volcanic cone of Ararat stands out (5165 m n.p.m.), and to the north, along the Black Sea coast, the Pontic Mountains range with the highest peak of Kackar (3940 m n.p.m.). The highest mountain in central Anatolia, not belonging to any of the groups mentioned above, located north of Aladag, and it is an extinct volcano Erciyes (3916 m n.p.m.), at whose feet the city of Kayseri is situated.

The most important mountains, that is, Pontic and Taurus, the vast majority of them have alpine relief, with steep slopes, conical peaks and deep valleys, often with ravine features. In both cases, the western part is milder and lower, while the eastern one consists of high massifs.

The Pontic Mountains are made up of numerous mountain ranges, separated by rivers flowing into the Black Sea, which flow in a winding way, picturesque gorges. Going from the east, The Pontic Mountains reach back 2500 m n.p.m., gradually rise up and almost reach the border with Georgia 4000 m in height. The belt of Pontic haunts sometimes reaches inland as far as 200 km, coming almost to Ankara. The chain is particularly difficult to access from the sea, while from the side of the Anatolian Highlands the approaches are relatively low
difficulties. The mountains inhibit the flow of hot air to the Black Sea and vice versa, the humid climate of the coast, where lots of forests grow, it is not admitted to central Anatolia. The Pontic Mountains are mostly made of sedimentary rocks, heavily damaged due to erosion, but in the east you can find a lot of granites.

The broad and lofty chain of the Taurus begins about Fethiye's height, it stretches along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and ends in the Euphrates valley. In the west, these mountains are called the Western Taurus or the Lycian Mountains, and the peaks reach 3000 m n.p.m. Then the main ridge runs east, not exceeding 3000 m n.p.m., and in the vicinity of Mersin it bounces north as Bolkardaglari and Aladaglari with peaks above 3500 m n.p.m. The Antittaur Mountains run further east, as far as the Euphrates and the Armenian Highlands, lowering a bit. Karst phenomena play an important role in the limestone parts of the Taurus, and in the highest parts there are Pleistocene forms of mountain glaciation.

In eastern Turkey, numerous extinct volcanoes stand out; the highest of them is, already mentioned, located on the border with Armenia, Ararat – legendary mountain, on which Noah's ark would sit. Going further south, we have other volcanoes: Suphan Dagi (4435 m n.p.m.), the second highest peak of Turkey, and Nemrut Dagi (3050 m n.p.m.) with several lakes at the top, whose crater is in diameter 8 km is one of the largest in the world. South of Lake Wan rise the Kurdish Mountains of Hakkari, with the highest, the beautiful Cilo Dagi massif with the Gelyasin peak (4168 m n.p.m.). Volcanic eruptions determined the landscape of this part of the country, in which basalt-volcanic forms predominate.