Turkey - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Turkey. Strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link the Black and Aegean Seas; the 3% of Turkish territory north of the Straits lies in Europe and goes by the names of European Turkey, Eastern Thrace, or Turkish Thrace; the 97% of the country in Asia is referred to as Anatolia; Istanbul, which straddles the Bosporus, is the only metropolis in the world located on two continents; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country. Mother's mean age at first birth is 26.6 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 17 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Turkey
| Location | Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 35 00 E |
| Map references | Middle East |
| Tarrain | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges |
| Natural Resources | coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower |
| Natural Hazards | severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van; landslides; flooding volcanism: limited volcanic activity; its three historically active volcanoes; Ararat, Nemrut Dagi, and Tendurek Dagi have not erupted since the 19th century or earlier |
| Irrigated Land | 52,150 sq km (2020) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Euphrates river source (shared with Syria, Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 3,596 km; Tigris river source (shared with Syria, Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 1,950 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 2,816 km |
| Border Countries | Armenia 311 km; Azerbaijan 17 km; Bulgaria 223 km; Georgia 273 km; Greece 192 km; Iran 534 km; Iraq 367 km; Syria 899 km |
| Coastline | 7,200 km |
| Climate | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 769,632 sq km |
| Water Area | 13,930 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly larger than Texas |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 6 nm in the Aegean Sea |
| Exclusive economic zone | in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Mount Ararat 5,137 m |
| Lowest point | Mediterranean Sea 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,132 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 49.7% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 26.7% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 19% (2018 est.) |
| Forest | 14.9% (2018 est.) |
| Other | 35.4% (2018 est.) |
Population Distribution
The most densely populated area is found around the Bosporus in the northwest where 20% of the population lives in Istanbul; with the exception of Ankara, urban centers remain small and scattered throughout the interior of Anatolia; an overall pattern of peripheral development exists, particularly along the Aegean Sea coast in the west, and the Tigris and Euphrates River systems in the southeast
People and Society
In Turkey, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Turkish 70-75%, Kurdish 19%, other minorities 6-11% (2016 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.61% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 13.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 6.1 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 4.6% of GDP (2020) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 2.9 beds/1,000 population (2018) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.9 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.92 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 69.8% (2018) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 65.4% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 3.4% of GDP (2020 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Turkish | Turk(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 21.7% (male 9,358,711/female 8,933,673) |
| 15-64 years | 68.6% (male 29,219,389/female 28,494,315) |
| 65 years and over | 9.6% (2024 est.) (male 3,669,330/female 4,444,113) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 49.1 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 34.5 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 12.3 |
| Potential support ratio | 8.1 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 34 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 33.4 years |
| Female | 34.6 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 77.5% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 1.11% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 15.848 million Istanbul, 5.397 million ANKARA (capital), 3.088 million Izmir, 2.086 million Bursa, 1.836 million Adana, 1.805 million Gaziantep (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.83 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 18.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 19.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 16.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 76.7 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 74.4 years |
| Female | 79.2 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.1% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 98.7% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.9% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 1.3% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 1% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.8% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 98.7% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99.6% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.2% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 1.3% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.4% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 1.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.67 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 30.7% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 42.1% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 19.2% (2020 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 2% |
| Women married by age 18 | 14.7% (2018 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Turkey
Want to know more about Turkey? Check all different factbooks for Turkey below.
