Location:
Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria.

Geographic coordinates:
39 00 N, 35 00 E
Middle East

Area:
Total: 783,562 sq km
Country comparison to the world: 44
Land: 769,632 sq km
Water: 13,930 sq km

Land boundaries:            
Total: 2,648 km

Border countries: Armenia 268 km, Azerbaijan 9 km, Bulgaria 240 km, Georgia 252 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 352 km, Syria 822 km
Coastline:           
7,200 km

Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea; 12 nm in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea

Exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR

Climate:              
Temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior

Terrain:               
High central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges

Elevation extremes:       
Lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
Highest point: Mount Ararat 5,166 m

Natural resources:
coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower.

Geography - note:
Strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country.