The basics of Turkey

Turkey is located in a geographically critical position between Europe and Asia. Almost 97% or its lands lies in Anatolian peninsula and the remaining 3% is in Europe.

The population of Turkey increasing rapidly since the number of married young people is very high compared to almost all European countries. The population reaches to 75 million and around 17 million people live in Istanbul, which is the most populous city in Turkey. Ankara, the capital city of the country, comes second in terms of population, with around 4.5 million inhabitants.

The official language of the country is Turkish. However, one can consider the country as a multicultural one since there are around 30 different ethnic groups living in Turkey as Turkish citizens. Kurds are the second largest group in the country living especially in the eastern part making Kurdish as the second mostly used language. There is not an exact number of Kurdish or other ethnic group population since ethnicity is not being asked in census. However, the population of Kurdish people is estimated to be around 20 million. Other than Kurds, there are Arabs, Caucasians, Balkans, etc. With the increasing number of Syrian refugees since 2013, now they are also regarded as a highly populous group living in Turkey with around 3 million people.

Although a secular country, Turkey’s main religion is Islam.