The Republic of Turkey is a Eurasian country linking the Middle East with South Eastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Anatolian peninsula (also called Asia Minor), comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions in the world due to its location at the intersection of Asia and Europe.

In the millennia B.C., a succession of civilisations inhabited the region, including the Hittites, the Phrygians. The western part of present day Turkey was colonised by Greeks before the whole region was conquered by the Persians in the 6th century BC and by Alexander the Great in the 3rd Century BC. Later it became part of the Roman Empire and in 324 AD. Byzantium (later Constantinople, later still Istanbul) became its capital and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire it continued as capital of the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire).

The Byzantine Empire disintegrated in the 13th century, but was within a hundred years replaced by the Ottoman Empire which was to rule the region for over 600 years. At its height the Ottoman Empire ruled much of Central Europe. The Ottoman Empire was dissolved after defeat in World War I and occupied by the allies. However, in 1923 Atatürk dispelled the occupiers and founded the modern secular Republic of Turkey.

Inhabitants: 70,000,000
Area: 780,000 km2
Capital: Ankara (3,800,000 inhabitants)
Languages: Turkish
Religion: Muslims (99% ), others (1%)
GDP (PPP) per capita: $13,500
Government: Parliamentary republic
Climate: The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet and cold winters. Conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior