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Geographical information
Turkey is the bridge between Europe and Asia. Turkey shares borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Turkey has a divers landscape, of mountains, rolling steppe, rivers, rich agricultural valleys and a coastline of 8400km can all be found in Turkey. There are some forests in the black sea area and in the west of Turkey.
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Nature
| Flora | There are still considerable forests in eastern Anatolia, the Black Sea area and along the coast west of Antalya. Large amounts of wild flowers cover the steppes in spring making the surroundings more colourful. | | Fauna | Turkey has similar animal life to that in the Balkans and much of Europe. Some of these animals are bears, deer, jackals, lynx, wolves and rare leopards. The beautiful Van cat is a native which has pure white fur and different-coloured eyes - one blue, one green. Bird life is rich, with eagles, vultures and storks staking out airspace, as well as rare species such as the bald ibis. | | National Parks | There are 21 national parks in Turkey. One of these parks is the Olympos-Bey Mountains National Park in the province of Antalya. The majority of the national parks are found in forest lands, there are also a number of forests which are established in areas where steppe-type vegetation predominates. For example the Munzur Valley (eastern Anatolia). |
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Climate
Long, hot summers and mild, rainy winters characterize the climate of Turkey. The average temperatures in Istanbul are 0 degrees Celsius in January and 23 degrees Celsius in July. December and January are the two months with the most rainfall. Longer and colder winters are common in the eastern highlands. Along the Black Sea, the climate is mild and rainy. South-eastern Turkey records the country its hottest summer temperatures, averaging 30 degrees Celsius or higher in July and August.
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