The gate way between Europe and Asia; A country situated at the heart of the oldest continents of earth...; the crossroad of many important routs since centuries; A bridge between ages, nations and civilization.

Geography
A Country in north-west Asia surrounded by Iran, Armenia, Iraq, Syria, Mediterranean Sea and Black sea. It is divided to European and Asian parts.

Weather
Turkey, in north and west have cold humid winters and mild humid summer. In central and east mountain cold weather (semi desert weather). Temperature varies between 5 to 23 centigrade degree.

Background Information
Full country name: Turkey
Area:779,459 sq. km (483,260 sq. mi)
Population: 63 million
Capital city: Ankara (pop 3.2 million)
People: Turks (85%), Kurds (12%), Armenians, Jews, Lax (black sea seaside people), Greek...
language: Turkish / Kurdish
Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary Democracy

Economic profile
Annual growth: 5.1%
Inflation: 75%
Major industries: Agriculture / Motor vehicles/ petroleum / engineering

Visas
Citizen of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Iran and virtually all the countries of western Europe need only a valid passport for stay up 3 months. Uk and Us and another countries citizens do need visas to enter Turkey.

How to get there
Because of Turkey situation, it is possible to enter by earth, sea or air. Easiest one is airplane.

Transportation
Airplane, Bus and ship for outside cities transpiration, and bus or taxi for city transpiration mostly found.

Accommodation
Because of the big number of tourists, there is found a lot of hotels; for example you can find more than 100 hotels, only in Istanbul.

Money and costs
Currency: Turkish Lira (TL)
Relative costs:
Budget meal: US $ 4.00
Restaurant meal: US $ 6.00
Budget room: US $ 8-18

Time Zone
GMT/UTC plus two hours

Electricity
220 V, 50 HZ

Media
Magazines, radio and TV are in Turkish. Some English publication, radio and TV channels are found for foreigners.

Communication
Telephone, Fax, Post, Email, Internet, Mobile...

Weights and measures
Metric system

Business hours
Government: 8-16
Shopping: 9-13; 14-22
Weekend: Friday and Saturday

Cuisine
The best known dishes in Turkey is " Seker Bayrami " (a kind of Kebab). Most of desserts are a combination of foods and vegetables:
1- Milk-based dessert
2- Pastry-based dessert

Art and cultures
Anatoly country has an ancient civilization and culture. A big number of artists have been trained in Turkey. Most important impression of Art in Turkey is concentrated on rug, kilim, painting, and needle-working and to spin.

Shopping
A huge number of shopping and Bazaar make Turkey as an east country. The most of them are:
1- Karum in Ankara
2- Atuturk in Anatolia
3- Capah Carsi in Istanbul

Embassies
All countries have Embassies in Istanbul; some consulates also in Ankara founded.