Turkey

The Republic of Turkey or Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), is a bicontinental country that is located mainly in the Middle East (Southwest Asia) and partly in Southeast Europe; The Anatolian peninsula comprises most(97%) of its territory, and is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea to south and west, with the Aegean Sea (and Marmara Sea) in between. A small portion of the country's territory (3%) is situated in southeastern Europe, west of the Bosphorus straits.

Provinces

Main article: Provinces of Turkey

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (iller, singular - il). Each province is divided into subprovinces (ilçeler in Turkish; singular ilçe). Provincial capital, also called the central subprovince usually bears the same name as the province; the exceptions are Hatay (cap: Antakya), Kocaeli (cap: ?zmit), and Sakarya (cap: Adapazar?).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major Provinces

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Istanbul 11 million
• Ankara 4 million
• Izmir 3.5 million
• Bursa 2.1 million
• Konya 2.2 million
• Adana 1.8 million