Source: Wikipedia
Flag of Turkey
Capital: Ankara 41°1′N 28°57′E
Official language: Turkish (Türkçe) Government: Republic
Founder: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk


President of the Republic: Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Prime Minister: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Formation :
- Ottoman Empire 1299
- Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 1908–1922
- Formation of Parliament 23 April 1920
- Start of War of Independence 19 May 1919
- Victory Day 30 August 1922
- Declaration of Republic 29 October 1923

Area :
- Total 783,562 km² (37th) 302,534 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.3

Population :
- 2005 estimate 73,193,000 (17th1)
- 2000 census 67,844,903
- Density 93/km² (102nd1) 241/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate :
- Total $612.3 billion (17th)
- Per capita $8,385 (75th)

HDI (2003): 0.750 (medium) (94th)

Currency: New Turkish Lira (TRY)

Time zone: EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Internet TLD: .tr

Calling code: +90

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), officially the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Southwestern Asia and the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe . Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia , Iran and the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. In addition, it borders the Black Sea to the north; the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara to the west; and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

Turkey is a democratic, secular, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It is a founding member of the United Nations,[1] the OIC,[2] the OECD[3] and the OSCE,[4] a member state of the Council of Europe since 1949[5] and of the NATO since 1952,[6] and is currently in accession negotiations with the European Union, being an associate member since 1964.[7].

Due to its strategic location straddling Europe and Asia , Turkey has been a historical crossroad between eastern and western cultures.