Anatolia

Anatolia (Greek: ανατολή anatolē or anatol?) is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. It means "rising of the sun" or "East", is also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, and is sometimes falsely associated with Anadolu to ana "mother" and dolu "filled" by popular etymology Turkish.

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Because of its strategic location at the intersection of Asia and Europe, Anatolia has been a cradle for several civilizations since prehistoric ages, with neolithic settlements such as Catal H?y?k (pottery neolithic), Cay?n? (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to pottery Neolithic), Nevali Cori (PPN B), Hacilar (pottery neolithic), G?bekli Tepe (PPN A) and Mersin. The settlement of Troy starts in the Neolithic, but continues up into the Iron age.

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Major civilizations and peoples that have settled in or conquered Anatolia include the Colchians, Hattians, Luwians, Hittites, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Persians, Celts, Tabals, Meshechs, Greeks, Pelasgians, Armenians, Romans, Goths, Kurds, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, and Ottomans. These peoples belonged to many varied ethnic and linguistic traditions. Through recorded history, Anatolians have spoken both Indo-European and Semitic languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages have radiated. Other authors have proposed an Anatolian origin for the Etruscans of ancient Italy.

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Today the inhabitants of Anatolia are mostly native speakers of the Turkish language, which was introduced with the conquest of Anatolia by Turkic peoples and the rise of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. However, Anatolia remained multi-ethnic until the early 20th century until the Turkish War of Independence when population exchange between Turkey and Greece took place as result of the Treaty of Lausanne. A significant Kurdish ethnic and linguistic minority exists in the south eastern regions.

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Greek: The noun Greek refers to:...

Southwest Asia: Southwest Asia (often called the Middle East) is the southwestern part of Asia. The term Western Asia is commonly used in writings about the archaeology and late prehistory of the region....

Asia: Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia and world's largest continent. Defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia, Asia is either regarded as a landmass of its own or as part of Eurasia....

Anatolia related Images and Photos (experimental)

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