Geography And Climate

Turkey is vast. It covers 780,000 sq km (over 300,000 sq miles), an area roughly equilevant to that of France and West Germany combined. Proceeding clockwise from the west, it is bordered by Greece, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. And by the sea: about 75 percent of Turkey’s frontier – almost 8,400 km (5,200 miles) – is coastline. From east to west the country extends almost 1,600 km (992 miles), and from north to south 650 km (404 miles). The country’s highest peak is Mt. Ararat at 5,165 m (16,950 ft), near the Soviet border, the longest river is the Kizilirmak at 1,355 km (840 miles), which flows into the Black Sea northwest of Samsun, and the largest lake is the gigantic Lake Van at 3,738 sq km (1,443 sq miles) near the Iranian border. But the numbers thell only a small part of the story. Waht is so stunning about Turkey physically – and what is much more impressive than the distances involved – is the amazing topographical and climitaic diversity of the country.

In the north, bhe Black Sea coast from Istanbul eastwards is a tempterate zone with considerable year-round rainfall and high humidity. Backed up to the south by two large mountain ranges, it has lush green forests with such Europeans trees as oak, beech, ash, and juniper, as well as orchards of cherries (for which the region is famous), apples, oranges, and pears.

The coastal land-scape – and economy – is also noted for its hazelnut groves, tobacco fields and, further east, its tea plantations. In the west, the aegean coastal region has a climate that features very warm summers and, expect in the north, very mild winters. Its fertile plains are dotted with fields of cotton, tobacco, corn, and sunflowers, while the hillsides are often covered with olive and fig groves. In addition, in the spring much of the region is carpeted with a dazzling variety of wildflowers; indeed, there are said to be over 8,000 different species of wildflowers in Turkey.

In the south, along the Mediterranean, the summers tend to be very hot, often rising above 38°C (100°F), while the winters are exceptionally mild, seldom dipping below 10°C (50°F). As a result, Mediterranean Turkey enjoys the longest swimming season of any stretch of coast along the entire northern Mediterranean. As with the Black Sea coast, mountains form a dramatic backdrop to the area, with the mighty Taurus range scraping the sky from behind Antalya over to the alluvial plain surrounding Adana. The vegetation is also noticeably tropical: palm trees and banana trees abound, as do fields of cotton and sugar cane. In the southeast the land is mostly flat and dy and the tempreature is mostly unbearable – unbearably hot in summer and ubearably cold in winter. In the east, where it is mountainous, the thermometer rises and falls by an astonishing 150 degrees Fahrenheit, ranging from 38°C (100°F) in the summer to -45°C (-50°F) in winter, when heavy snowfalls often leave towns and villages cut off for days at a time.