TURKEY is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast.

According to a report released by the official Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), Turkey's population was 74,724,269 at the end of 2011. 

TURKISH PERSONALITIES

Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Emperor, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent.

TURKISH PERSONALITIES

•Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. •He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.•He moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara. •The Turkish language has given official status.•He contributed to the empowerment of women in society by granting equal voting rights.

*Celebrated turkish author, novelist, and Nobel prize winner in 2006.

TURKISH PERSONALITIES

*It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I.

*Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.5 million, the city forms one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe and is among the largest cities in the world.The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, south of the southwest end of the Dardanelles and northwest of Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer.

The belief that the Virgin Mary had spent her last days in the vicinity of Ephesus and that she had died there, focused attention on a nun named Anna Katherina Emmerich who had livid in the late 18th century (1774-1820). The efforts to find the house were greatly influenced by her detailed description of the Virgin Mary's coming to Ephesus, her life and her last home there and the characteristics of the city although she had never been to Ephesus.

*Cappadocia which is unique in the world and is a miraculous nature wonder is the common name of the field covered by the provinces of Aksaray, Nevsehir, Nigde, Kayseri and Kirsehir in the Central Anatolian region.

*The first Christians finding the underground cities from Cappadocia have been hidden in these underground cities which gates were made in such way in which they couldn't be easily observed and they have escaped from the persecution of the Roman soldiers.

Turkey is known for its cuisine, special preparations and tea consumption.

Simit is a circular bread with sesame seeds. Common breakfast item in Turkey

Kebab refers to a great variety of meat-based dishes in Turkish cuisine

Turkish tea, is black tea which is consumed without milk, is produced on the eastern Black Sea coast.

*Turkish delight or Lokum is a family of confections based on  gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon.

* Hamam is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam.

* The process involved in taking a Turkish bath is similar to that of a sauna, but is more closely related to ancient Greek and ancient Roman bathing practices.