Government: Parliamentary republic
Founder : Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), officially known as the Republic of Turkey is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north.
Turkey is the successor state to the Ottoman Empire. It is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic, with an ancient and historical cultural heritage. Its political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, WEOG, OSCE and the G-20 major economies.
Turkey is a transcontinental. Eurasian country. Asian Turkey (made up largely of Anatolia), which includes 97% of the country, is separated from European Turkey by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles (which together form a water link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea). European Turkey (eastern Thrace or Rumelia in the Balkan peninsula) comprises 3% of the country.
The population of Turkey stood at 72.5 million with a growth rate of 1.45% per annum, based on the 2009 census. It has an average population density of 92 persons per km². The proportion of the population residing in urban areas is 75.5%. People within the 15–64 age group constitute 67% of the total population, the 0–14 age group corresponds 26% of the population, while 65 years and higher of age correspond to 7% of the total population.
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While reading your post I realized that Turkey is a very young nation contrary to France whose population in aging, which causes problems for the payment of retirement allowances. There aren’t enough young people who work to pay for the retired. Thank you for giving us these basic facts about your country.
Wecome Elif to our blog.
Your post is very detailed and shows the importance of such a glorious city. Having my deepest roots in Asia Minor, I was brought up with the dialect of Lesvos, where many turkinh words exist. Is your second name meaning “generous person”?