Official Name: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey)

Area: Middle East

Size: 783,562 km² 

Coastline: 7,200 km

Independence: Declaration of Republic October 29, 1923 

Form of Govt.: Multiparty republic

Head of Govt.: Prime Minister

Capital: Ankara

Largest City: Istanbul

Demographics (2005): 72,600,000.     93 /km² 

Predominantly of Altaic origin

GDP per Capita (2005): $8,385

Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Circassian, Zazaki, Arabic, Armenian

Geography: The country is divided into five physical regions. (1.) The Anatolian Plateau which forms the heartland of the country. (2.) The Eastern Highlands which comprise the eastern third of Turkey. (3.) The Agean coast land of the Bursa Plains, the Plains of Troy and Ismit Valley. (4.) The Mediterranean coast land and (5.) the narrow coastal ribbon of the Black Sea. The principal rivers are the Kizil Irma, Sakarya, Seyhan, Yesihrmak Rivers while the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers originate from Turkey.

Climate: Turkey has a climate that is characterized by great extremes and wide temperature variations between regions and seasons. The narrow coast land and mountain slopes to the north, west and south have wetter and milder winters than the interior as well as moderately hot summers. The interior plateau winters are cold with frost while the summers are hot. Eastern Turkey has bitter cold winters and hot summers. Average annual precipitation in Istanbul is 723 mm while average temperature ranges in Ankara are from -4 to 4 degrees in January to 15 to 31 degrees in August.