What Continent is Turkey In?
The Republic of Turkey is located in both the continents of Asia and Europe. The larger part of the country, 97%, is located in Anatolia, Western Asia, and the other region on the Balkan Peninsula is in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a secular republic with Ankara as the capital though Istanbul is the biggest city and also the commercial center of the country. Turkey has a total area of 302,455 square miles, and the population was estimated to be 82,835,090 in 2017. Three-quarters of the population live in towns and cities. Turkey became a republic on October 29, 1923. The name Turkey can be divided into two, “Turk” and “iye” which means 'land of' in Greek. The Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, and the Bosphorus separate the Asian and European sides of Turkey.
Turkey’s Economy
The International Monetary Fund describes Turkey's economy as an emerging market economy. The service industry contributes to 64.3% of the economy, followed by the industry sector at 27.1%, and agriculture at 8.6%. The leading industries in the country include textiles, food processing, motor industry, electronics, tourism, mining steel, petroleum, lumber, and paper. The country is one of the members of the organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. A survey done by the Forbes magazine in Istanbul in 2013 indicated that the city had 37 billionaires ranking it fifth after Moscow, New York, Hong Kong, and London. Turkey has a vast agricultural sector, and it is the largest producer of cherries, hazelnuts, figs, quinces, pomegranates, and apricots. It is also the second largest producer of cucumbers, watermelons, and chickpeas. Turkey has grown through the years as a popular tourist destination. The country is the 14th largest producer of motor vehicles. Vestel, a Turkish company, is the largest manufacturer of television sets in Europe.
International Organization Membership
Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations, and it is a member of NATO, the World Bank, IMF, OIC, G-20, Council of Europe, the EU Customs Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. A referendum held in 2017 aims to change the unitary, parliamentary government to a presidential system by 2019. Human rights in the country have been in controversy as from 1998 to 2008. Every fit male in Turkey is supposed to serve in the army for a period of three weeks to one year depending on the individual’s education and location. Turkey consists of seven geographical regions: Aegean, Mediterranean, Marmara, Black Sea, Eastern, Central, and South-eastern Anatolia. Turkey is home to two of the Ancient World Wonders; the Temple of Artemis and the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus.
Eurasia
The continents of Asia and Europe share an undefined border and Eurasia is at times used to refer to the two continents. The lack of a defined border has led to some countries lying between the two continents, these countries are known as transcontinental countries. Eurasia covers an area of 21 million square miles which is 36.2% of the Earth’s land surface. The two continents have a combined population of approximately 5 billion which is 70% of the world’s population. Eurasia has been home to several ancient civilizations. The two continents consist of 90 countries and nine dependencies.
