Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau
(Anatolia)
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m
Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulfur, iron ore
Land use: arable land: 32% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 16% forests and woodland : 26% other: 22% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 36,740 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: very severe earthquakes, especially in northern
Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
Environment - current issues: water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification, Environmental Modification
Geography - note: strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits
(Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean
Seas