 Discover Turkey (Türkiye)
White cascades of Pamukkale, Turkey
Author: Wolfgangbeyer (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye) is a Eurasian country. Covering 783,562 sq km (302,535 sq mi), Turkey stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. It is 1,600 km (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide. The tallest peak is Mount Ararat, at 5,165 m (16,946 ft). Its is Ankara while its largest city is Istanbul.
Guide to Turkey Hotels
Here's a list of hotels in Turkey that you can book online, listed by city, with full description, star rating, address, location map, evaluation, and prices as offered by different booking sites.
More on Turkey
Turkey shares borders with Bulgaria to the northwest, with Greece to the west, with Georgia to the northeast, Armenia, the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east, and with Iraq and Syria to the southeast. Turkey is encircled by bodies of water on three sides: to the west is the Aegean Sea, to the north the Black Sea and to the south the Mediterranean Sea.
Fallen Head of Gods, Nemrut Daği, Turkey
Author: Christian Koehn (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Germany)
The Anatolian peninsula in which the bulk of Turkey is located, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions in the world. It bears evidence of Neolithic settlements going back thousands of years. Various civilizations have flourished here through time.
Turkey was the center of the Eastern Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium to be the new capital of the Roman Empire. The city was eventually renamed New Rome, then Constantinople and today Istanbul. Many sites appearing in the New Testament are also located in Turkey. Ironically today 97% of the population of Turkey are Muslims with Christians accounting for a mere 0.6% of the people.
After the Byzantine Empire, the next great power to rule Turkey was the Ottoman Empire. By 1453, the Ottomans completed their conquest of lands previously ruled by the Byzantine Empire when they captured Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire reached its pinnacle of power in the 16th and 17th centuries, and thereafter began to decline in power and land area. It came to an end after the First World War, with the victorious Allied Powers partitioning the former Ottoman state under the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.
Domes of Suleymaniye Mosque
Author: Oz (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Canada)
The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October, 1923. Originally a single-party republic, it became a multiparty democracy in 1945. Today Turkey is a democratic, secular, constitutional republic. It is a country that is gradually inching towards integration with the West, and is in negotiation for membership into the European Union.
Going to Turkey
Nationals of the following countries are given 90-day visa-free entry to Turkey unless otherwise stated: Andorra, Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina (60 days), Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica (30 days), Croatia, Czech Republic, Northern Cyprus (Turkish republic of), Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (30 days), Kyrgyzstan (30 days), Korea (South), Latvia (30 days), Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau (30 days), Macedonia (60 days), Malaysia, Moldova (30 days), Monaco, Mongolia (30 days), Montenegro (60 days), Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Paraguay, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan (30 days), Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan (30 days), UAE, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City and Venezuela.
Celsus Library in Ephesus, Turkey
Author: Michi (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Generic)
By Plane
The Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul is the main airport serving Turkey, with the most number of international flights.
By Train
There are a number of trains from Europe into Turkey. The TransBalkan travels from Budapest to Istanbul via Bucharest. There are also trains from Thessaloniki in Greece and Sofia in Bulgaria.
Mount Ararat, Turkey
Author: Lockalbot (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
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