Boundaries. – Turkey is a republic that occupies a territory of 762,736 sq km, and includes Eastern Thrace in Europe (23,975 sq km) and in Asia the whole Anatolian peninsula (with the islands of Imbro and Tenedo), western Armenia and a small strip of Mesopotamia. Turkey is still a bicontinental state (like the USSR), the remnant of a vast empire (see Ottoman, empire). On the other hand, Turkish Armenia (and the territories of Kars and Ardahan, lost by Turkey in the war of 1877 and ceded by the USSR for the treaty of October 13, 1921) became part of the current territory. The limit with Syria was defined with the Turkish-French convention of June 22-29, 1929. The claims of Greece and other powers on Eastern Thrace and Anatolia, which had been recognized in the Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920), they all fell following the Turkish revenge, consecrated with the stipulation of the Treaty of Lausanne (which went into effect on August 6, 1924); more laborious was the delimitation of the borders with ‛Irāq, given the well-known question of Mossul, decided by the Council of the League of Nations assigning the territory to‛ Irāq (18 December 1925). There was still a disputed area with Persia, but due to the Teheran agreement of 23 January 1932 the exchange of some territories was agreed; finally, an agreement with Italy stipulated in those same days (January 4, 1932) precisely established the membership of the islets dependent on Castelrosso.
Now Turkey has a very elongated shape in the sense of parallels and roughly has the appearance of a rectangle, having the largest side of 1600 km. and the lesser than 650. Its extreme points extend to E. up to 44 ° 48 ′ 12 ″ long. E. (in the vilâyet of Bayazït, near the triple Russian-Persian-Turkish border), while to the West the extreme point is at the locality of Inoz (vilâyet of Adrianople, in Eastern Thrace), at 26 ° 4 ′ 48 ″. The northernmost point is the cape which is located a short distance from Sinope (42 ° 10 ′ 8 ″ lat. N.), the southernmost point is the cape of Anamur in the vilayet of Içel (36 ° 5 ′ 2 ″).
The land borders (2408 km.), Much less extensive than the maritime ones (6400 km.), Touch the territory of 6 states, two in Europe, namely Bulgaria (219 km.) And Greece (172), and four in Asia, USSR (602), Persia (370), ‛Irāq (390), Syria (665). The state capital, which was too peripheral, was moved from Constantinople to Angora (Ankara) on November 13, 1923. For Turkey 2019, please check philosophynearby.com.
Plateau of Armenia
To the east of the Anatolian highlands, between the marginal chains of Pontus (to the north) and the Armenian Taurus (to the south), extends the Armenian plateau (eastern Anatolia), which looks like a wavy surface, placed at the height of average of 1500-1800 meters, sometimes crossed by long limestone ridges or by harsh and little known volcanic reliefs (see armenia). Here, too, the steppe dominates, while the ranges, especially the northern ones, are covered with forests. The interior, devoid of a center of any relief, has a very lively orography and forms several compartments, separated by deep gorges and bare reliefs. In N. the wall that separates the plateau from the sea is high and narrow, while in S. the tauric chain, east of the Euphrates, widens forming the Kurdistān (v.), Beaten by violent precipitations, prey to a very active erosion, which has created high walls, which make the town difficult to penetrate, while at the top the relief retains soft shapes. The population, settled in high places, has an independent warrior soul; but the country, a refuge for nomads, is depopulated by wars, massacres and epidemics. At the Persian border’s it rises up to 5156 m. the Ararat, huge volcanic trachyte cone now extinct (last eruption: 1840), holy mountain of the Armenians. Volcanic forms (craters) also prevail at Lake Van, devoid of emissaries, salty. Overall, it is a depopulated region, with severe winters, but without prolonged droughts given the higher altitude, where the Armenians perhaps retained some of the characteristics of the ancient Hittite population. As an economic form, pastoralism prevails, which is carried out for family use, as is the case for the cultivation of cereals. Communications are limited to caravan routes, once important for trade between India, Persia and Asia Minor. without emissaries, salty, volcanic forms (craters) prevail. Overall, it is a depopulated region, with severe winters, but without prolonged droughts given the higher altitude, where the Armenians perhaps retained some of the characteristics of the ancient Hittite population. As an economic form, pastoralism prevails, which is carried out for family use, as is the case for the cultivation of cereals. Communications are limited to caravan routes, once important for trade between India, Persia and Asia Minor. without emissaries, salty, volcanic forms (craters) prevail. Overall, it is a depopulated region, with severe winters, but without prolonged droughts given the higher altitude, where the Armenians perhaps retained some of the characteristics of the ancient Hittite population. As an economic form, pastoralism prevails, which is carried out for family use, as is the case for the cultivation of cereals. Communications are limited to caravan routes, once important for trade between India, Persia and Asia Minor.
Turkish Mesopotamia
The Turkish republic includes within its borders a northern strip of Mesopotamia, formed by a platform, which the rivers, which send their waters to the Euphrates, have somewhat dismembered and the volcanic eruptions (Karaca Daǧï) isolated from the rest of Mesopotamia, with different aspects: now well-cultivated gardens, now steppes, now vast petraie. The main center is Diyarbekir, a fortress overlooking a fertile plain.
