Turkey is a transcontinental country, located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Here’s a description of its geographical position:
- Borders:
- To the northwest, Turkey is bordered by Greece and Bulgaria.
- To the north, it is bounded by the Black Sea.
- To the northeast, it shares borders with Georgia and Armenia.
- To the east, it is bordered by Azerbaijan (the Nakhchivan exclave) and Iran.
- To the southeast, it neighbors Iraq and Syria.
- To the south, Turkey is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.
- To the west, the Aegean Sea forms part of Turkey’s border.
- Strategic Waterways:
- The Bosporus Strait, which lies in the northwest of Turkey, serves as a natural divide between the European and Asian parts of the country. This strait, along with the Dardanelles, is significant for its control over the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
- Regional Context:
- Turkey is situated in a region that straddles the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Its unique geographical position has historically made it a bridge between the two continents, both culturally and strategically.
- Major Cities:
- Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, is famously known for being a transcontinental city, with parts of it lying in both Europe and Asia, separated by the Bosporus Strait.
- Ankara, the capital, is located in the central part of the Anatolian Peninsula.
To visualize Turkey’s location, it would be helpful to refer to a world map and locate the Mediterranean Sea in the intersection between Europe and Asia. Turkey lies north of the eastern Mediterranean, with its northwestern edge in Europe and the bulk of its landmass in Asia.