Physical Geography

Virtually all of Asian Turkey is made up of the broad, semiarid Anatolian Plateau, which slopes from an average elevation of roughly 7,000 feet (2,130 m) above sea level in the east to about 2,500 feet (760 m) in the west. Rimming the plateau on the northeast are the steep and rugged Pontic Mountains, where a few peaks from 11,000 feet (3,350 m) to almost 13,000 feet (3,960 m) lie near the Black Sea coast.

The Taurus Mountains form most of the southern edge of the plateau along the Mediterranean Sea. The eastern third of the plateau is covered by a series of mountain ranges trending east-west and becoming increasingly higher to the east. Many of the higher peaks are volcanic in origin, including Mount Ararat, which at 16,945 feet (5,165 m) is Turkey's highest point.

The flat or gently rolling surface of the central and western plateau is interrupted by numerous ranges of hills and low mountains with a generally east-west trend. In extreme western Asia Minor, a number of broad, fertile valleys lie between ranges that extend on into the Aegean Sea to form a highly irregular coast with many peninsulas and islands. European Turkey consists of the low Ergene River basin, which is ringed by hills and mountains.

Most of Turkey is geologically young and earthquakes are fairly frequent.

Europe and Asia meet in Turkey at the natural waterway formed by the narrow Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and the Sea of Marmara. Providing the only outlet from the Black Sea, the straits have long been strategically important. The Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea coasts have few good natural harbors, but there are a number of deep bays and inlets on the Aegean coast.

Turkey's rivers are generally short and tend to have widely varying flows from season to season. Notable exceptions are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the southeast and the Kizil and Sakarya in the north. None of the country's rivers is navigable; the valleys, however, provide access routes to the interior. Some rivers lack outlets to the sea and drain into interior basins, forming salt lakes such as Tuz, Beysehir and Van. Around Bursa in the northwest are several large freshwater lakes.

Moderating influences of the Mediterranean and Black seas are not felt in Turkey's interior, principally because of the barrierlike coastal mountains and the high elevation of the plateau itself. The plateau has a relatively severe continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. July temperatures average 72° F. (22° C.) at Ankara and 65° F. (18° C.) at Erzurum; January averages are 32° F. (0° C.) at Ankara and 16° F. (–9° C.) at Erzurum. Snowfall is heavy in much of the eastern portion of the plateau, where snow remains on the ground for up to four months. Annual precipitation is from 10 to 20 inches (250 to 500 mm); it occurs largely from November to May. Less than 10 inches falls in the basin around Lake Tuz, making this area the driest in the country.

Turkey's coastal regions have a Mediterranean climate; winters are mild and moderately rainy, and summers are hot and dry. Izmir, for example, has an average January temperature of 48° F. (9° C.) and an average July temperature of 82° F. (28° C.) and receives 26 inches (660 mm) of precipitation annually. The Black Sea coast has somewhat lower average temperatures and higher rainfall than the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. By far the rainiest area of Turkey is the seaward slope of the Pontic Mountains; yearly totals of 80 to 100 inches (2,030 to 2,540 mm) are common here.

Most of the plateau is too dry for trees and is covered with steppe grasses. Forests of oak, beech, and pine are found in the mountains and are especially heavy in the Pontic Mountains east of Samsun. Most of European Turkey and the coastal low-lands of Asia Minor are covered with brush and scrub growth typical of lands bordering the Mediterranean.