Turkey is the successor of the Ottoman Empire and was founded after World war I. Through founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey is a secular Republic. Atatürk had the ambitions to modernize Turkey through his sweeping reforms, all in keeping Europe as a role model.

Some historical dates

• August 10 1920 The Ottoman Empire defeats and the last Sultan agrees to surrender and give big parts of the territory to foreign nations, by signing the Treaty of Sèvres, which was a peace treaty. The Sultan never got the possibility to implement the treaty as Turkish nationalists had established a government in Ankara, led Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
• 1920-1923    War of independence led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
• October 29 1923. The Republic of Turkey is founded and the countries first president is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
• 1934 Women get the right to vote
• June 1993 Tansu Çiller (Doğru Yol Parti) First female president in Turkey
• December 1999 EU officially accepts Turkey as a candidate member, but demands many reforms that has to be complied and Turkey accepts the demands.
• 2003 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan becomes President
• 2005 New Turkish Lira is introduced, YTL
• 2005 After 40 year of endeavors Turkey finally reaches its goal on the 3 October 2005, to start membership negotiations with EC

Geography
   Turkey is a bicontinental country, with 97% in Minor Asia and the rest in Europe. The biggest city, Istanbul, which is the largest business- and culture centre in the country, is the only city in the world located on two continents extended on an area of 1269 km².

Landscape and vegetation
   Turkey is divided into seven regions: the Marmara, the Aegean, the Mediterranean, Central Anatolia, East Anatolia, Southeast Anatolia and the Black Sea region. Between the regions there are big differences between vegetation and weather.

   East of Bosporus is the Marmara-region. The landscape is hilly and covered by forests and bushes. On the east side there is steppe. The part facing the Aegean Sea, from Canakkale to Bodrum, is very mountainous. Cypress-, Olive- and vine trees are typical. Many ancient ruins can be found here, e.g. the Troja, Assos, Pergamon, Ephesus, Priene, Milet, Didyma and Euromos.
The Black Sea surrounds the northern coastline in Turkey. It is characterized by a mild and humid climate and its hilly landscape with huge forests. Tea, tobacco, corn and hazelnuts are cultivated here.
   In central Anatolia you will find the lake Tuz Gölü, Salt Sea, which is more salty than the Dead Sea, and the mountain chain called small Caucasia, that on some spots reaches heights up to 3900 meters. Cappadocia is in the east with its fabulous Tufa rocks and formations.
   The Inner Anatolia is mainly characterized by steppe and is the driest area in Anatolia. Corn and fruits are cultivated here. The summers are dry and warm (temperatures over 40 degrees celsius) and the winters are cold with temperatures exceeding more than 20 degrees below zero.
   The Mediterranean region is in the north surrounded by the Taurus Mountains and in the east by the mountain Nur Dağları. Citrus fruits, bananas, tomatoes, nuts, cotton and a whole wide of other fruits and vegetables are cultivated here.
   The south-east Anatolia is the oldest cultural region in Turkey. The rivers Euphrates and Tigris run here and the landscape permits grow for wheat, corn, vine-, olive-, and pistachio trees.

Administration
   Turkey is divided into 81 provinces, and each province is divided into sub provinces. Each and every province has its own administration. The governors are appointed by the state and the mayors (Belediye başkanı) are selected by the people. Each sub province or city is also subdivided into parishes, mainly by bigger blocks which in turn have their own chairman (muhtar). In big cities there is one administrative level on top of these called büyükşehir.

Religion
   According to official statistics 99,8% of the population are Muslims. Of these approximately 70 % belongs to Sunni branch of Islam and the rest Alevi Muslims.
A minority are Christians and Jews.
   The official numbers can although be somewhat misleading as every citizen in Turkey, that not officially declares him-/herself to another religion, is automatically registered as Muslim. There is no equivalence to resignation from church, so even atheists or agnostics officially become Muslims. There is no statistics of non-religious in Turkey.

Sport
   The absolutely most liked and important sport in Turkey is football. The highest league is Türkcell Super Lig. There are two big national teams, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, and when they meet everything stands still. The national sport is Greco-roman wrestling (reserved for men), but volley boll Beach volley are sports that are highly appreciated by both men and women.

Source:
http://www.ui.se/
http://www.wikipedia.org/