Turkey
Ankara · Western Asia
Turkey is a country in Asia. Its capital city is Ankara, the official currency is the Turkish Lira, and the main language is Turkish.
With a population of roughly 85.8 million people spread over 783,562 km², Turkey is the 18th most populous country in the world and the 36th largest by area. That works out at about 109 people per square kilometre.
Turkey shares land borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria — 8 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The highest point in the country is Mount Ararat, at 5,137 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Mozambique, while its population is closest to that of Germany.
- Capital
- Ankara
- Region
- Western Asia
- Population
- 85,800,000
- Area
- 783,562 km²
- Currency
- Turkish Lira
- Main language
- Turkish
- Highest point
- Mount Ararat
5,137 m - Land borders
- 8
Turkey: things worth knowing
- Istanbul is the only major city in the world spanning two continents, split by the Bosphorus.
- Göbekli Tepe in the southeast contains monumental structures older than Stonehenge by roughly 6,000 years.
- Turkey controls the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, the sole sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Turkey in context
Asia has 48 sovereign countries in total. Turkey ranks 10th among them by population.
See the full list of Asia countries, or browse all 195 countries.