The narrow coastal ribbon running between Zonguldak and Rize, widening here and there into a fertile delta, is an area of concentrated cultivation and, unlike the central plateau, is covered with lush vegetation. All available areas, including mountain slopes wherever they are not too steep, are put to use. State-owned forests cover much of the area and have been developed to the point where lumbering is now an important enterprise. The mild, damp climate favors the growth of hazel nuts, tea, tobacco and maize. Rainfall is heavy and there is no month without rain. From time to time, bear and wild pig devastate the maize fields. The Mediterranean Coastlands The plains on the southern (Mediterranean) coast are also rich in agricultural resources. The fertile humic soils and the warm climate make these areas ideal for growing citrus fruits and cotton. There are numerous lakes, but most are saline. Summer is excessively hot and drought occurs at times. The town of Adana is the center of the southern plains and is the road communication with the plateau to the north. In the western part of the Mediterranean coastal region, rivers have not cut valleys to the sea, and movement inland is therefore restricted. Roads are few and no rail communications exist with the rest of Turkey. The Central Plateau The plateau is considered the heartland of the Anatolian peninsula. It is akin to the Russian steppes, but is ringed on all sides by the Pontic and Taurus mountain ranges. Because it is enclosed, the plateau varies in altitude from 2,000 to 4,000 feet west to east, is arid and supports little plant or animal life. Wooded areas are confined to the northwest and northeast, and cultivation is restricted to the neighboring rivers where the valleys are sufficiently wide. Irrigation is practiced wherever water is available; however, the deeply entrenched river courses make it difficult to raise water to the surrounding agricultural land. For the most part, the region is bare and monotonous, and used for grazing. Rainfall is limited, and in Ankara amounts to less than 10 inches annually. Wheat and barley are the most important crops, but the yields are irregular, and crops fail entirely in years of drought. Stockraising also is important, but overgrazing has caused soil erosion in the plateau, and, in the frequent dust storms of summer, a fine yellow powder blows across the plains. In bad years, there are severe losses of stock. Locusts may ravage the eastern area in April and May. An area of extreme heat and virtually no rainfall in summer, the Central Plateau is cold in winter, with heavy, lasting snows. Villages may be isolated by severe snow storms. A number of prosperous and growing towns and cities (including Ankara, the capital, Elazig, Malatya and Diyarbakir) are located within or on the edge of the plateau, close to the chrome deposits. The Eastern Highlands The plateau is enclosed by mountains; in the north, the Pontic ranges; in the south, the Taurus; in the east, high mountain formations (Ganos Dagi) where the Pontic and Taurus ranges meet; and in the west, a cluster of low mountains and deeply entrenched river valleys which descend gradually to the Aegean coastal region. Eastern Turkey is, on the whole, rugged country, with higher elevations, greater precipitation, and a more severe climate than the central plateau. In the extreme east, at Kars, winter temperatures have been known to fall as low as minus 40° F. Agri Dagi (Mount Ararat) is the country's highest peak (16,946 feet). From the highlands in the north, sometimes called "Turkey's Siberia," to the mountains of Kurdistan in the south which descend toward the Mesopotamian plain, vast stretches of this eastern region consist only of wild or barren wasteland. Many of the peaks (e.g. Mounts Nimrud and Suphan) are extinct volcanoes reaching 10,000 to 14,500 feet in height. Fertile basins, such as the Mus Valley, west of Lake Van and the Murat and Aras river corridors, lie at the foot of the lofty ranges. Here are the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates. The region east of Lake Van has oil deposits. In 1964, a field of clean, high-quality oil was discovered in the Siirt district (see ch. 20, Industry). In the eastern regions, the surface cover is lava deposit and the soil cover is often thin or absent. Government efforts to resettle sections of the thinly inhabited eastern sector in the 1940's resulted in significant population increases in some agricultural areas. Some of the lava alluvium from the Murat and Tigris River deposits in eastern Turkey is fertile and, in late 1968, is being cultivated. Special attention has been given to the region around the 1,000 square-mile Lake Van, which was depleted of its Armenian population by death or emigration during World War I. The entire eastern third of the country is sparsely settled, and its southeasternmost segment is inhabited largely by nomadic peasants and seminomadic herders. The Pontic ranges in the north and the Taurus in the south rise abruptly from the central basin to heights of 12,000 feet, dropping sharply on the seaward side close to the water's edge. Narrow and precipitous rivers, such as the Seyhan and the Ceyhan Rivers which drain the Taurus, cut through the ranges to the coast. The historic "Cilician Gates," now a resort area for people from the Adana Region, are located in the gorge of the Seyhan. The northern mountains are covered with deciduous and coniferous forests up to the timberline. In many areas of this region, the villagers have cleared substantial tracts of forest land and have thus added to the erosion problem. The government has sought to prevent further destruction by resettling some of the mountain villages in the Coruh, Yeşil and Aras valleys. BOUNDARIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS Turkey adjoins six countries and six bodies of water. In Europe, Turkey has a common frontier with Greece and Bulgaria; in Asia, with the Soviet Union; and in the Middle East, with Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The country's present land frontiers were, with the exception of Hatay, recognized by the great powers in 1923. The Greek boundary, measuring 128 miles, was confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne and follows the median line of the Maritsa (Meriç) River, except for a brief interval near Edirne. The Greek population has been greatly reduced in this region since the treaty was signed, but no active disputes on the boundary exist (see ch. 3, Historical Setting). The 149-mile Bulgarian boundary, also confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne, begins at the mouth of the Rezve Deresi River on the Black Sea following that river for 41 miles and the Déliva River for about 10 miles. The boundary line continues along ridges demarcated by boundary pillars. The boundary follows, for short stretches, the Golema, Tunca and Kalamitsa Rivers to the Greek tripoint on the Maritsa River. There are no active disputes regarding the specific alignment of the boundary. However, the possibility of a boundary dispute exists. The Soviet Union boundary, 335 miles long, is partly physical, partly historical. Some sectors follow river courses while others are based on administrative borders established in 1878. The boundary starts on the Black Sea and crosses the Armenian Plateau, with elevations between 3,000 and 7,000 feet. For 154 miles, the boundary follows the Arpa-Çayi and Aras Rivers to the Iranian border. The entire length of the boundary has been demarcated. The present boundary was defined in the 1921 Treaties of Moscow and Kars. The boundary was the subject of controversy following World War II, but there are no territorial claims at the present time. The Iranian demarcated boundary is 310 miles in length, beginning in the north on the Aras River and crossing a region composed largely of mountains rising to over 10,000 feet. The region is isolated, and traditionally inhabited by Kurds who have tended to resist assimilation into Iran or Turkey. These seminomadic peoples have seasonally crossed the frontier with their animals. The exact boundary was determined in 1937, and there have been no disputes regarding it. The Iraqi boundary, 219 miles in length, is completely demarcated. It begins in the west along the Tigris River before starting a meandering course across the Kurdish Alps and foothills, following streams and mountain crests intermittently, and rising to over 7,000 feet until its junction with the boundary of Iran. The seminomadic Kurds inhabit the region, and have pressed the Iraqi and Turkish Governments for political independence. Seasonally, they move across the boundaries with their flocks. There are disputes concerning the boundary between the two nations. The establishment of the line by treaty between Turkey, Britain, and Iraq in 1926 ended contention over the old Mosul Province, which now lies almost entirely in Iraq. The Syrian boundary is 490 miles in length and crosses mountainous and hilly terrain from the Iraq border to the Mediterranean Sea. The frontier between Turkey and Syria was defined by the Treaty of Lausanne, which allocated the Sanjak of Alexandretta to Syria under a special regime. In May 1937, an agreement was reached between France and Turkey by which the Sanjak received an autonomous regime jointly guaranteed by the two powers. By a Franco-Turkish agreement in June 1939, it was provided that the Hatay Province (Sanjak of Alexandretta in northwestern Syria) should be incorporated into the Turkish Republic. The lingering resentment over the loss of the towns of Antioch and Alexandretta continues to be an irritating factor in Syrian-Turkish relations in late 1968. Trouble also flares up on the southeastern frontier where smuggling is a regular activity. The Kurds in the higher elevations in northern Syria migrate seasonally across the frontier. Since the Organic Law, January 1921, when the country was divided into geographically defined provinces (vilayets), the number of provinces has varied considerably from time to time. There were 72 provinces in 1923, 64 in 1927, 57 in 1935, and 67 in 1959 (see ch. 13, The Governmental System). The basis of the division in late 1968 continued to be the 1955 census. The sizes of the provinces vary from 11,660 to 19,600 square miles. They are divided into 571 districts called ilce, which are divided into towns and villages. The framework is a centralized system of government which allows elected officials to check on the honesty and efficiency of nationally appointed officials (see fig. 5). SETTLEMENT PATTERNS The population distribution, like that of other Middle East countries, is closely related to physical conditions, notably relief, |