Turkey
General facts
History
The Anatolian peninsula (also called Asia Minor), comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions in the world due to its location at the intersection of Asia and Europe. The earliest Neolithic settlements such as Çatalhöyük (Pottery Neolithic), Çayönü (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to Pottery Neolithic), Nevali Cori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), Hacilar (Pottery Neolithic), Göbekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and Mersin are considered to be among the earliest human settlements in the world. The settlement of Troy starts in the Neolithic and continues into the Iron Age. Through recorded history, Anatolians have spoken Indo-European, Semitic and Kartvelian languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages have radiated.
Culture
The culture of Turkey is a diverse one, derived from various elements of the Ottoman Empire, European, and the Islamic traditions. The nation was modernized primarily by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. As he transformed a religion-driven former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation of state and religion, there was a corresponding increase in the methods of artistic expression. During the first years of the republic, the government invested a large amount of resources into fine arts such as paintings, sculpture and architecture. This was done as both a process of modernisation and of creating a cultural identity. Because of the different historical factors playing an important role in defining a Turkish identity, the culture of Turkey is an interesting combination of clear efforts to be "modern" and Western, alongside a desire to maintain traditional religious and historical values.
Full name: Republic of Turkey
Population: 71.1 million (via UN, 2006)
Capital: Ankara
Largest city: Istanbul
Area: 779,452 sq km (300,948 sq miles)
Major language: Turkish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 68 years (men), 73 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: New Turkish lira
Main exports: Clothing and textiles, fruit and vegetables, iron and steel, motor vehicles and machinery, fuels and oils
GNI per capita: US $4,710 (World Bank, 2006)
International dialling code: +90