Fact & Figures
Facts and Figures
Official Name: Republic of Turkey
Date of Foundation: 29 October 1923
Capital: Ankara
Largest Cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya
Area: 814.578 km2
Geographical Coordinates: Eastern Meridians 26° and 45° and Northern Parallels 36° and 42°
Coastal Borders: Mediterranean Sea in the south, Aegean Sea in the west and Black Sea in the north
Language: The official language is Turkish.
Currency: £1,00 (Euro) approximately equals to 3,56? (Turkish Liras) (November 2016)
Time Zone: GMT 2; CET 1; and EST (US -East) 7
Business Hours: The workweek in Turkey runs from Monday to Friday. Banks, government offices and majority of corporate offices open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM.
Public Holidays: There are two types of public holidays in Turkey: Those that fall on the same day each year; and the religious festivals, which change according to the lunar calendar and, therefore, fall on different dates each year.
· 1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 30 August, 28 & 29 October,
· Eid (Ramadan): June 25,26,27, 2017,
· Greater Eid: September, 1,2,3,4 2017.
Visas: Tourist visas are easily obtained upon arrival at the airport and are required for citizens of most countries.
Electricity: 220V. European standard round two-pin sockets.
Health Services: Cities and major touristic towns have a selection of private international and public hospitals with reasonable standards.
Food: As with many Mediterranean nations Turkish food is very healthy, fresh and enjoyable.
Water: Tap water is chlorinated. However, it is recommended that you consume bottled water, which is readily and cheaply available.
Communications: Turkey has three GSM operators, all of them offering 3G and 4.5G services and almost 95% coverage over the country. Internet service is available all around the country.
International Dial Code: 90
Language
The official language is Turkish. English and German are widely spoken in major cities and tourist resorts, and you will find that most Turks welcome the opportunity to practise their language skills and will go out of their way to be helpful. Foreign visitors who attempt to speak even a few words of Turkish, however, will definitely be rewarded with even warmer smiles. It is not an easy language to learn, however, it does have one huge advantage in that it is completely phonetic and also grammatically logical. Unlike English, each letter of the alphabet has only one sound and is always pronounced in exactly the same way, apart from in combination with 'y' or 'g'. Even foreign words used in Turkish are adapted into Turkish phonetic spellings, which can offer some clues towards pronunciation - try saying the following out loud: ketçap, taksi, futbol, ofsayt. There is no 'q', 'w' or 'x' in Turkish and there are some additional characters. The accent usually falls on the first syllable in the word. The following should give you a rough guide to pronunciation:
a a cross between a long and short 'a' somewhere between the 'a' in 'man' and the 'a' sound in 'are'
c pronounced 'j' as in 'jam'
ç pronounced 'ch' as in 'church'
e a short sound as in 'egg'
g a hard 'g' as in'go'
ğ this character is silent but elongates the vowel to either side of it
ı pronounced 'er' in 'number'
i a short sound as in 'ink'
o pronounced as in 'off'
ö pronounced as in the 'or' sound (with a silent 'r') in 'word'
s is a hissing sound as in 'seven'
ş pronounced 'sh' as in 'shut'
u pronounced 'oo' as in 'cool'
ü pronounced 'u' as in 'fuse'
y is generally used to separate vowels and creates some slightly different sounds in combination as follows:
'ay' pronounced 'eye';
'ey' pronounced as in 'they';
'iy' pronounced 'ee'
Map