Turkey

Turkey is a nation in Eurasia and it is surrounded by eight nations: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Greece and Bulgaria. The Black Sea is located on its north, the Mediterranean Sea on its south and the Aegean Sea on its west.

The European Turkey is separated from the Asian Turkey by the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus. About ninety-seven percent of the country is the Asian Turkey while the remaining three percent is the European Turkey.

The nation is basically rectangular in shape. Turkey’s area is about 783,562 square kilometers and this area also includes the lakes of the country. In terms of area, turkey is considered to be the 37th largest country in the world. Its size is about the size of the UK plus the Metropolitan France.

The highest peak of the nation is the Mt. Ararat, which is 16,946 ft long. In the year 2008, the growth rate of turkey was about 1.31% per year and it had a population of about 71.5 million people.

Most of its population is living in the urban areas (about 70%). The Government of the country has made it compulsory for children to attend schools. Turkey’s culture is diverse and it is a combination of Ottoman, Turkic, Anatolian and western traditions and cultures.

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    Bayezid I Mosque, Bursa

    Bayzid I Mosque is a historic mosque in Bursa, Turkey, that is part of the large complex built by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (Yıldırım Bayezid - Bayezid the Thunderbolt) between 1391-1395.

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    Bayezid I Tomb, Bursa

    Bayezid I Tomb. Bayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Gulcicek Hatun.

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    Catalhoyuk

    Catalhoyuk (Çatalhöyük) was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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    Covered Market (Covered Bazaar), Bursa

    The Covered Market or Kapali Carsi in Bursa, Turkey. This is the central market area located near Ulu Cami and Koza Han. Originally an Ottoman area, the market traditionally specialised in silk but now sells jewellery, textiles, souvenirs and other merchandise.

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    Cumalikizik (Cumalıkızık)

    Cumalıkızık is a village in the Yıldırım district of Bursa Province, located 10 kilometers east of the city of Bursa, at the foot of Mount Uludag. Its history goes back to the Ottoman Empire's foundation period.

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    Day of the Sheep, Asagıseyit

    Day of the Sheep, Asagıseyit. Every year, local shepherds gather near the ancient hamlet of Asagıseyit, on the ford of the Buyuk Menderes river, to commemorate one of their less fortunate ancestors in a sheep herding competition.

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    Derinkuyu Underground City

    The Derinkuyu underground city is an ancient multi-level underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevsehir Province, Turkey. Extending to a depth of approximately 60 m (200 feet), it is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores.

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    Divrigi Great Mosque and Hospital

    Divrigi Great Mosque and Hospital is an ornately decorated mosque and hospital complex built in 1228-1229 by the local dynasty of the Mengujekids in the small eastern Anatolian town of Divrigi, now in Sivas Province in Turkey.

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    Diyarbakir Fortress

    Diyarbakir Fortress, is a historical fortress in Sur, Diyarbakır, Turkey. It consists of inner fortress and outer fortress.

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    Ephesus (Ancient Greek City)

    Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selcuk in Izmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists.

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    Goreme

    Goreme, located among the "fairy chimney" rock formations, is a town in Cappadocia, a historical region of Turkey. It is in the Nevsehir Province in Central Anatolia and has a population of around 2,000 people.

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    Goreme National Park

    Goreme National Park. Goreme, located among the "fairy chimney" rock formations, is a town in Cappadocia, a historical region of Turkey. It is in the Nevsehir Province in Central Anatolia and has a population of around 2,000 people.

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    Grand Mosque, Bursa

    Bursa Grand Mosque or Ulu Cami is a mosque in Bursa, Turkey. Built in the Seljuk style, it was ordered by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and built between 1396 and 1399. The mosque has 20 domes and 2 minarets.

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    Hattusa

    Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Bogazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızılırmak River.

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    Hellenistic Theater, Pergamon

    The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world. Hellenistic Theater, Pergamon.

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    Hevsel Gardens

    Hevsel Gardens, are the seven hundred hectares fertile lands near Tigris shore, between the Diyarbakır Fortress and the river. The gardens added to UNESCO tentative list in 2013.

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    Hierapolis (Ancient City)

    Hierapolis was an ancient city located on hot springs in classical Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia. Its ruins are adjacent to modern Pamukkale in Turkey and currently comprise an archaeological museum designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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    Ishak Pasha Palace

    Ishak Pasha Palace is a semi-ruined palace and administrative complex located in the Dogubeyazit district of Agri province of eastern Turkey.

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    Letoon

    The Letoon, sometimes Latinized as Letoum, was a sanctuary of Leto near the ancient city Xanthos in Lycia. It was one of the most important religious centres in the region.

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    Lower Agora, Xanthos

    Lower Agora (Roman Period), Ancient City of Xanthos, Kinik Village, Kas, Antalya.

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    Mount Nemrut

    Nemrut or Nemrud is a 2,134 m (7,001 ft) high mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC.

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    Old City of Safranbolu

    Safranbolu is a town and district of Karabuk Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Ankara and about 100 km south of the Black Sea coast, or more precisely about 9 km north of the city of Karabuk.

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    Pamukkale (Cotton Castle)

    Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.

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    Selimiye Mosque

    The Selimiye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque, which is located in the city of Edirne, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Sultan Selim II, and was built by architect Mimar Sinan between 1569 and 1575.

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    Seljuk Cemetery, Ahlat

    Seljuk Cemetery. Among the candidates for the UNESCO World Heritage List and the world's largest Islamic cemetery, the Seljuk Cemetery is visited by a great number of tourists.