CHAPTER 2

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Turkey lies in the eastern Mediterranean region, partly in Europe and partly in Asia, with a few small offshore islands. The shores of the two continents are separated by the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait, which divide the country into unequal parts. In this strategic position between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the country has played a role in history disproportionate to its economic factors or the size of the population (see ch. 3, Historical Setting).

Turkey in Asia occupies a rectangular peninsula about 950 miles from east to west and 395 miles from north to south. The country has well-defined natural limits: the Aegean Sea on the west, the Black Sea on the north, the Mediterranean Sea on the south and high mountain ranges on the east. A small portion, about 9,800 square miles in extent, lies in Europe; the remainder of the 290,800 square miles is located in Asia. The peninsula, bordering on Europe, has figured prominently and repeatedly in the invasions, conquests, and great migrations of European-Asian history.

The country is located in a major earthquake region: the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, and the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas are surrounding zones of earth fracture and instability. The structural line of major importance causing earthquakes runs approximately from the Sea of Marmara eastward to the town of Gerede north of Ankara. This earthquake belt is considered the most dangerous zone. It is located in one of the more densely populated areas and is a major corridor for communications. Records of earthquakes date back to A.D.7. The death toll has reached several thousand from a single earthquake, such as that which occurred in 1968.

Large areas cannot be used for agriculture because of rugged terrain, poor rainfall and soils; however, agriculture plays a part in the livelihood of the Turkish people. The rural population is concentrated along the lowland regions bordering the Aegean, Black and Mediterranean Seas, where the mean annual rainfall is over 30 inches and terrain conditions are conducive to easy communication. Inland, on the dry plateau, settlement is more

sparse and cities are located at semi-oases where snow-fed streams furnish year-round water.

Turkey is highly endowed with mineral resources which are important to the country's foreign trade. The great size of the country and the rugged terrain have proved to be obstacles to the construction of transportation facilities for further exploitation of minerals.

NATURAL FEATURES

Ground Forms and Drainage

The geology and topography are complex. Shrinking of the earth's crust compressed the pre-Cambrian crystalline rock material into folds from which the present Pontic and Taurus mountain chains were formed. The rocks were worn down to a rolling landscape which was buried beneath sediments during later geological periods. The present mountain topography is the result of folding, faulting, igneous intrusions, and uplift. Along fractures on the north, west, and south, the land subsided and the Black Sea and the Mediterranean were formed. Earth movements continue to occur along fracture lines with resulting frequent catastrophic earthquakes.

The country is higher in elevation in the east than in the west, and is shut in by high mountains in the north and south and to a lesser extent by mountains in the west (see fig. 1). About onehalf of Turkey lies above the 5,000-foot contour line and large sections have average elevations of 7,500 feet.

There are more than 30 rivers over 100 miles in length. The rivers that cross the land-locked basins of the interior are deeply incised, rise into torrents in winter and spring, and run dry during the summer when they are most needed for agriculture. The Seyhan (320 miles long) and Ceyhan (294 miles long) Rivers in the south originate in the Taurus Mountains and give fertility to the Cilician Plain. The Yeşil Irmak River (215 miles in length) and the Kizl Irmak River (715 miles in length) in the north descend into the Black Sea. The Gediz River (215 miles long) and the Buyukhenderes River (about 250 miles long) wind through wide, green valleys into the Aegean Sea. It is around these rivers of the west and south coasts that the center of agriculture and settlement is located.

Floods are common in the delta areas and water may stand for weeks before receding. The floods occur most often in spring when the snows are melting. Some of the most disastrous floods have occurred when earthquakes changed the courses of the rivers.

Irregular topography of the plateau has created interior drainage and has given rise to many lakes, both salt and fresh water.

The largest of these is Lake Van in the east, which covers about 1,000 square miles.

Climate

Turkey is a focal point of contrasting climates. The pressure systems of all the adjacent regions affect the climate of the country; yet the land forms are high enough to minimize these outside influences.

The western coastal areas never experience frost, but in the east snow may remain on the ground for at least 4 months of the year. Much of the country has a deficient water supply, while the northeast has an excess. The season of rainfall varies from winter in the south and west, spring in the plateau region, summer in northern coastlands and autumn in the extreme east.

In winter the climate along the coasts can be muggy, with rain and shifting winds. Cold waves, originating in Eastern Europe or the Caucasus and Armenian Mountains to the north and northeast, bring spells of clear, crisp and settled weather. In summer most of Turkey is hot and generally dry because of its latitude. Along the north and northwest coasts winds are cool and moist. In the interior plateau there is a wide range of temperature. Winters are cold: January temperatures average 30° F., and frost may occur more than 100 days during the year. Summers are warm, with high daytime temperatures and cool nights. The mean for July, the hottest month, lies between 68° and 73° F. Between 10 and 17 inches of rainfall are received annually on the plateau, the precise amount depending on altitude (see fig. 2). May is generally the wettest month, and July and August are the driest.

Along the coastal regions, winters are mild and summers are moderately hot. Along the Black Sea, August is the hottest month, with a mean of 72° F. Along the Aegean Sea, August temperatures frequently exceed 90° F. Winters are generally the wettest months on the coast. Rainfall amounts range from 20 to 30 inches per annum along the Aegean and Mediterranean to over 100 inches on the Black Sea.

The climate of eastern Turkey is extremely inhospitable. Summers are hot and extremely dry; winters are bitterly cold. Spring and autumn are both subject to sudden hot and cold spells.

Mineral Resources

The country has a diversity of rich mineral resources which are government-controlled and are an important item in foreign trade. The most important areas of mineral deposits are along the borders of the Pontic and Taurus Mountains. No vast ore bodies have been discovered or measured as yet but many medium and small deposits of various minerals are scattered throughout the country.