Thrace and Marmara are influenced by winter depressions passing through the straits, but summers are drier than along the Black Sea. Annual precipitation ranges from 24 to 36 inches (610 to 914 mm), with a pronounced winter maximum. January mean temperatures are close to freezing; summers are hot, with July means above 77 °F (25 °C).
The Aegean coastlands have a Mediterranean regime. Average temperatures range from 45–47 °F (7–8 °C) in January to 77–86 °F (25–30 °C) in July, and frosts are rare. Annual rainfall varies from 24 to 32 inches (610 to 813 mm), and there is a pronounced summer drought.
The Mediterranean coastlands display characteristics similar to the Aegean but in a more intense form. July means exceed 83 °F (28 °C) at sea level. Annual rainfall declines from 40 inches (1,000 mm) in the west to barely 24 inches in the Adana Plain, and the summer months are virtually rainless at sea level.
The southeast is dry and hot during the summer. Winters are cold, with January means near freezing; July means are generally above 86 °F (30 °C). Annual rainfall ranges from 12 to 24 inches (305 to 610 mm).
The Anatolian interior has a semicontinental climate with a large temperature range; Ankara’s January mean is 28 °F (−2 °C), and its July mean is 74 °F (23 °C). Precipitation is influenced by relief: Konya, with barely 12 inches, is among the driest places in the country, but in the mountainous east the annual totals generally exceed 24 inches. Plant and animal life Vegetation
Patterns of natural vegetation are closely related to those of relief, climate, and soils. There are two main types: steppe grasslands, which occur mainly in central Anatolia and the southeast but are also found in lowland Thrace and in the valleys and basins of eastern Anatolia; and forest and woodland, which cover the remainder of the country. Over much of Turkey, however, these natural vegetation types have been greatly modified by human action, both directly (through lumbering and clearance for agriculture) and indirectly (through the activities of grazing animals).
The richest type of woodland is the Pontic, or Colchian, forest, confined to the eastern part of the Black Sea coastlands, where rainfall is heavy, there is no summer drought, and winters are mild. Hornbeam, sweet chestnut, oriental spruce, and alder are the commonest species, and there is a rich shrub layer of rhododendron, laurel, holly, myrtle, hazel, and walnut. The remainder of the Black Sea zone is occupied by humid deciduous forest, second only to the Colchian type in richness and variety. The main tree species in the Black Sea zone are oriental spruce, beech, hornbeam, alder, oak, fir, and yew, with oak and pine in the drier parts. Coniferous species become dominant above 3,300 feet (1,000 metres), giving way to alpine grassland above 6,500 feet (2,000 metres).
Drier conditions in the western and eastern parts of the interior—on either side of the central steppe-grassland zone—produce the drier mixed- and deciduous-forest belt, where the dominant species are oak, juniper, pine, and fir, with patches of open grassland. Mediterranean mountain forest is characteristic of the central and western Taurus range; pine, fir, and oak are the main species, but cedar, beech, juniper, and maple also occur. Along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts is a belt of Mediterranean lowland vegetation of the maquis type. Myrtle, wild olive, laurel, and carob are the commonest species, but there are occasional stands of oak, pine, and cypress. Fauna
Turkey is fairly rich in wild animals and game birds. Wolves, foxes, boars, wildcats, beavers, martens, jackals, hyenas, bears, deer, gazelles, and mountain goats are still found in secluded and wooded regions. Domesticated animals include water buffalo, Angora goats (on the central massif), and camels (in the southwest), as well as horses, donkeys, sheep, and cattle. Major game birds are partridge, wild geese, quail, and bustards.
People Ethnic groups
According to the Turkish constitution, the word “Turk,” as a political term, includes all citizens of the Republic of Turkey, without distinction of or reference to race or religion; ethnic minorities have no official status. Linguistic data show that a majority of the population claim Turkish as their mother tongue; most of the remainder speak Kurdish and a small minority Arabic as their first language.
Turkey: Ethnic compositionEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Kurdish manA Kurdish goatherd in Yüksekova, Turkey.Rupert Conant—Impact Photos/ImagestateThough estimates of the Kurdish population in Turkey have generally been widely varied, at the beginning of the 21st century, Kurds were estimated to account for almost one-fifth of the country’s population. Ethnic Kurds are present in significant numbers throughout eastern Anatolia and form a majority in a number of provinces, including Ağrı, Bitlis, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, and Van. Arabic speakers are mainly in Hatay, Adana, Mardin, Siirt, and Şanlıurfa. There are a further six ethnic groups with sizable numbers: Greeks, Armenians, and Jews are found almost entirely in Istanbul, and Circassians, Georgians, and Laz are generally located in the far east.
Religion
Turkey: Religious affiliationEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.© Digital Vision/Getty Images
Sultan Ahmed Cami (Blue Mosque), Istanbul, by Mehmed Ağa, 1609–16. © Simon Krzic/Shutterstock.comMore than nine-tenths of the population is Muslim. Nevertheless, Turkey is a secular country. In a 1928 constitutional amendment, Islam was removed as the official state religion, and since that time the state has found itself periodically at odds with religion. The armed forces have maintained a vigilant watch over Turkey’s political secularism, which they affirm to be a keystone among Turkey’s founding principles. The military has not left the maintenance of a secular political process to chance, however, and has intervened in politics on a number of occasions.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s strong secularism has resulted in what have been perceived by some as strictures on the freedom of religion. For example, the head scarf has long been prohibited in a number of public venues. Such restrictions on religious freedom have been confronted in the 21st century by the rise of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP); a constitutional amendment was passed in February 2008 that permitted women to wear head scarves on university campuses.
In addition to the Muslim majority, there also exist small populations of Jews and Christians; Christian adherents are divided between Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and other denominations.
Detail of Jesus Christ from the Deesis Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.© Sergii Figurnyi/stock.adobe.com
Settlement patterns
Turkey: Urban-ruralEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Population density of Turkey.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.About three-fourths of the population lives in towns and cities. Prior to the mid-20th century, however, the population was predominantly rural, and its distribution was strongly influenced by the agricultural potential of the land. Thus, there are pronounced regional variations in population density, the main contrast being between the interior and the periphery. The regional coastlands of the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, and the Aegean Sea are the most densely settled regions; accounting for less than two-fifths of the country’s land area, the regions together represent more than half its population. The Mediterranean coastal region is more thinly settled, though there are pockets of high population density in the Antalya and Adana basins. The remainder of the country is relatively lightly populated: the Anatolian interior and southeast, occupying more than half the country’s territory, contain less than two-fifths of Turkey’s population. At the beginning of the 21st century, however, the southeast was the country’s fastest-growing region.