Turkey, known as “the cradle of civilizations,” hosted the first human settlement on its soil, which has been dated as 12,000 years old. Turkey is also the home of ancient cultures, including the Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Urartians, Lycians, Lydian’s, Ionians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk’s and Ottomans, Following the decline of the Ottomans Empire, the modern Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal, known as  Ataturk, and army general and World war a hero. Ataturk is revered in Turkey and is cited as one of the worlds greatest statesman 

The climate varies from region to region:

Marmara, Aegean and the Mediterranean coast: Typical Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters.

Black sea coast: Temperate climate with warm summer, mild winters and relatively high rainfall.

Central Anatolia: Hot, dry summers and cold winters.

Eastern Anatolia: Long snowy, cold winters and mild summers.

Southeastern Anatolia: Hot summers with mild, rainy winters.

Average Daily Tempters (of)

                    Jan.      Apr.       Jul.       Oct.

Istanbul        43         54         75         61

Antalya         52         63         84        56

Izmir            48         61          82        66

Diyarbakir    35         57          88        65

Language:The Turkish Language uses a Latin-based alphabet, Visitors will find that many Turkish people in large cities speaks English, French and Garman and extremely helpful in assisting revelers with directions etc.

Currency: The national Monterey system is the Turkish lira (TL) the coinage is in 1 kurus, 5 kurus, 10 kurus, 25 kurus, 50 kurus and 1 lira pieces. Bank notes are in denominations of 5 lira-, 10 lira-, 20 lira-, 50 lira- 100lira and 200 lira. The exchange rates for foreign currencies are published daily. American dollars, traveler’s checks and major credit cards are widely accepted and there are ATM machines throughout the various tourism centers

Situated between Europe and Asia, linking Western and Eastern cutlers Turkeys European border adjoins Greece and Bulgaria: to the northeast is part of the former Russia and to the southeast lie Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Turkish peninsula is surrender by four seas. Mediterranean (south), Aegean (west), Sea of the Marmara (between Europe and Asia) and the Black sea (north) Turkey is approximately 301,000 square miles with 5,000 miles of coastline.

The high plateau landscape is bordered by the Black sea Mountain chain (The Pontiac Alps) to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Turkey’s diverse terrain includes mountains, steppe lands, Lakelands, rivers coastal plains forests and rich agricultural valleys. 

71 million in 2008 Major cities include Istanbul (12, 5 million) the capital city of   Ankara (4, 5 million), Izmir (3, 5 million),