LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC DE TURISM CALIMANESTI

POSTLICEALA ANUL I

Turcia

Prof. Vasile Adriana Mihailoiu (Turlea) Andreia

 In the 21st century, Turkey becomes the favorite resting place for millions of tourists
from all over the world. The excellent beaches and the crystal clear sea, the multitude of
attractions, the developed infrastructure, the hotels for every taste and pocket, the famous
Turkish hospitality, the high level of services, the security, the comfortable visa regime and of
course, the "all inclusive" system, brought Turkey in the first place. in the preferences of
tourists.

The population

According to 2018 data, 81 million people live in the country. In addition, about 1 million
foreign nationals hold a residence permit in Turkey. The most populated provinces are:
Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Konya, Adana and Antalya.

Religion

99% of the population are Muslim. The remaining 1% is shared between Christians and Jews.
Turkey is a Muslim country where religious freedom is constitutionally legalized and religion
is separate from the state.

Geographic placement

The surface of Turkey is 780,000 km2. The country is located between the Black Sea, the
Mediterranean Sea, the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea. Neighboring countries are:
Bulgaria, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Georgia. Turkey is the country on two
continents, Asia and Europe, but the European part constitutes only 3% of the total area of the
country.

Administratively, the country is divided into 81 provinces - «iller» which, in turn, are divided
into sub-provinces - «ilçeler».

Climate and natural environment

On the Mediterranean coast, summer is wet and hot and winter is rainy. The tourist season
lasts from April to November. In the Aegean, it is also very hot in summer, but the tourist
season is shorter - from May to September. In the Black Sea the summer is warm and the
winter mild. In Central and Eastern Anatolia the winter temperatures reach values below zero,
especially in the mountainous areas, and the summer is dry and warm.

Turkey is famous for its natural beauty: snowy mountains, steppes, turbulent rivers, endless
valleys and as wide as you can see. The Asian area of the country, Anatolia (or Asia Minor)
consists of a high central plateau, with narrow, coastal plains, between the Pontic and Koroglu
mountains in the north and the Taurus mountains in the south. Mountain landscapes
predominate in eastern Turkey, from which rivers such as the Euphrates, Tigris and Aras
emerge. Also in this region is also the highest point of Turkey, Mount Ararat (5,137 m) and
Lake Van, the largest in the country.

The vegetation of Turkey is very rich and diverse. In the southern area most often grow
palms, olives, hibiscus, myrtle, laurel, maples, bananas, figs and edible chestnuts. The
beaches are shaded by hundreds of oranges and pine forests. In the regions within the country,
the most common ones are bananas, maples and chestnuts. Like the flora, the fauna of Turkey
is noted for its great diversity. Bears, wolves, wild cats, deer and deer live in the mountains
and inland regions. Among the captive birds can be seen the vultures, hawks and vultures,
their presence being a sign that you are in a corner of the world still unaltered by the influence
of modern civilization.

If you're lucky, on the beaches of Turkey you will find turtles and even dolphins, which you
can see, for example, if you take part in organized sea trips. In addition, in the salt waters of
the seas, rivers and lakes live a great variety of fish and shellfish species.

Short history

Due to its geographical position between Europe and Asia and between the three seas, Turkey
has been a historical crossroads, the homeland and battlefield of several great civilizations and
an important trading center.

The Anatolia Peninsula, which encompasses most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest
inhabited regions of the world. Among the earliest human colonization in the world are the
Neolithic ones from Çatalhöyük, Cayonu, Nevali Cori, Hacilar, Gobekli Tepe and Mersin.

The first important empire in the territory was that of the Hittites, from the 20th century.
XVIII-XIII BC The Assyrians colonized the territories of SE Turkey before 1950 BC. until
612 BC, when the Assyrian empire was conquered by the Chaldean dynasty in Babylon.
Following the collapse of the Hittites, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, ascended until
their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in the 20th century. VII BC

Beginning with 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was colonized by the Aeolian and Ionian
Greeks. They founded important cities: Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna (modern Izmir) and
Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul). Anatolia was conquered by the Ahemenid
Empire in the 12th century. V and VI BC and, later, it was under the rule of Alexander the
Great. In the year 334 BC Anatolia is divided into a small number of kingdoms that will be
conquered in the second century. I BC during the Roman Republic. In 330, the emperor of the
Roman Empire, Constantine I, chose Byzantium as the capital of the empire, renaming it
"New Rome" (later Constantinople). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city
becomes the capital of the Byzantine Empire