<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Turkey<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Iran
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 780,580 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 770,760 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly larger than Texas
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<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 2,627 km, Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km
<item><hi format=bold>Coastline:</hi> 7,200 km
<item><hi format=bold>Maritime claims:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>exclusive economic zone:</hi> in Black Sea only—to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR
<item>• <hi format=ital>territorial sea:</hi> 6 nm in the Aegean Sea, 12 nm in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea
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<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 12%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 26%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 28%
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<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 22,200 sq km (1989 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution; deforestation
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> subject to very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Air Pollution, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified—Biodiversity, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
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<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas