With a land area of more than three quarters of a million square kilometers, Turkey is a huge country. It is situate at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and is effectively a bridge between Europe and Asia. To the north, Turkey has a 1500 kilometer-long Black Sea coastline, whilst to the south lies the Mediterranean. The country has land borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia and Georgia. Quite naturally, a country of this size is comprised of a great variety of landscape.

Generally, there is a coastal lowland region and higher plateau-land in the centre of the country, becoming increasingly higher and more rugged towards the east. In the far eastern part of the country, in the district of Eastern Anatolia, Mount Ararat rises to 5165m/16945ft. With a relatively high average altitude of between 1500 and 2000 meters, this is a dramatic region, with long cold winters and warm summers.

Crops do not grow well and much of the farming effort directed at the herding of livestock – cattle in the lower valleys and sheep and goats on the higher slopes. Turkey's Mediterranean shore, called the Turquoise Coast, is nearly 1600 km (994 miles) long, scattered with fine sand dotted with beaches and picturesque ruins. The Toros Mountains form a dramatic backdrop along much of the coast, often dropping steeply right into the sea.

The climate varies according to region and altitude. In Istanbul, it can be hot and humid during the summer months with temperatures regularly approaching 30 degrees centigrade. In the mountainous areas to the east of the country, the air is drier and the temperature range much greater. Although situated some 1700 meters higher than Istanbul, temperatures in Van can be quite similar around the high 20’s centigrade/ 80s Fahrenheit.

Temperatures decrease with altitude at approximately 6 degrees C per 1000 meters or 3 degrees of Fahrenheit per 1000 ft. On the Tekke peninsular of the Mediterranean coast, it is extremely hot (up to 38ºC/100ºF) in high summer and a more pleasant 25ºC/77ºF in May, June and October.

The history and cultural make-up of Turkey is extremely complex. The Turks who have given their name to the country originated in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia and Mongolia. This group of people (also known as Turkmen and Turcoman) were also the ancestors of the Mongols who went on to conquer much of Central Asia, including Anatolia in the 13th Century. By this time, another branch of the Turkmen people, called the Oguz Turks, well established in the area, which is now Turkey.

These people had already adopted the Moslem faith and today Turkey is 99 percent Moslem. Many Turkish customs and practices are deriving from Islamic practices. Standard dress code in any non-tourist part of Turkey is to cover up bare arms and legs. There are possibly as many as 50 ethnic groups in Turkey today, including the dominant Turks, quite large numbers of Kurds (especially in the east) and smaller numbers of Georgians, Bosnians and Albanians.

Most of these cultural groups have lost the greater part of their ethnic identity, although the remnants of their culture, tradition and language continue to be evident. Although Ankara is the modern, 20th Century capital of Turkey, it is the age-old metropolis of Istanbul, which is the country’s largest and most interesting city. Located at the exact point where Europe and Asia meet, there has been a settlement on this strategic site for 3000 years.

Within the city are found the Blue Mosque, built in traditional Ottoman style in 1606, the Hippodrome which was the site of the celebrated chariot races of Byzantine times, and the AyaSofya (Church of the Divine Wisdom), which until the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century, was considered the most important church in the Christian world.

It is not necessary and not desirable to purchase Turkish Lira outside the country. Inflation here is very high and the nearer to the point of spend you obtain your Lira the better. One of the easiest and often cheapest ways of obtaining cash is from ATMs using credit or debit cards. If you take your travel money in cash, this is best carried in the form of US dollars, which are readily, exchanged throughout the country.

Credit cards can used to purchase some goods and services in Istanbul and many large towns and are particularly useful for souvenirs that are more expensive.