10 Amazing, Fun & Interesting Facts About Turkey

Turkey, officially known as Republic of Turkey is a country located in the Western Asia. It is surrounded by Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, Iraq, Syria, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. Let us know some interesting facts about Turkey

Interesting Facts About Turkey

#1: Istanbul

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and not Istanbul.
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey.
It is the only city that is present in both Asia and Europe. The two sides of the city are connected by 2 bridges with a third under construction.
Formerly called Constantinople, it was the capital city during the Ottoman and the Byznatine Empire.

In 2010, it was chosen as the European capital of culture by the European Union.
The Sirkeci railway station is located in Istanbul. This station was the last stop for the Simplon – Orion express (King of trains and train of kings express) between Constantinople and Paris from the year 1883 to 1977.
The Robert’s college established in 1863 is the oldest American school that is situated out of the United States.

The Grand Bazzar is located in Istanbul. The shopping mall is 540 years old and is covered. It spans across 64 streets and has 4000 shops with 22 entrances and 25,000 workers.

#2: Anatolia

The European part of Turkey is Thrace and the Asian part is called Anatolia.
The Greeks from Attic settled in Anatolia and the classical Ionic column is situated in Anatolia.
Ephesus, Smyrna (Izmir), Pergamum, Thyatira (Nazilli), Sardis, Philadelphia (Alasehir) and Laodicea, the seven churches of the Apocalypse are located in the Aegean region of Anatolia.
Writing was first used by the people of Ancient Anatolia.
The birth place of legends like that of King Midas, the poet Homer, St.Paul the Apostle, Herodotus the father of history is Anatolia.

#3: Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark had landed in Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi) which is located in Eastern Turkey. The mountain is the highest peak in Turkey and is 5166m high.
The last meal on Noah’s Ark consisting of a pudding of over 20 ingredients having sweet and sour taste is still served in Turkey. These interesting facts about Turkey related to Noah’s Ark are really astonishing.

#4: Turkey The Bird

The turkey bird gets its name from the country, though it is a native bird of the Americas. The Europeans mistook them for the Guinea fowl from Turkey when they noticed these birds first.

#5: Agglutinative Turkish

The national language of Turkey is Turkish. The language has base words to which affixes and suffixes are added. This makes the words longer and longer. Such a language is called an Agglutinative language.
The Turkish word for Lion is ‘Aslan’.
Apart from Turkish, Kurdish, Azeri and Dimli are also spoken in the country.

#6: Oldest, First and so on…

Catalhoyuk in turkey houses the oldest settlement in Turkey.
Goltepe located 60 miles south of Tarsus has the oldest tin mine in the World.
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey.

#7: Turks & Food

There are some interesting facts about Turkey related to their country’s food, here they are:

The Turks introduced Coffee to Europe.
A stranger who appears at one’s doorstep is considered God’s guest for at least three days.
The Turks answer their phones with ‘My Master?’ instead of Hello.
Turks eat fresh baked bread for every meal. They do not eat their pasta with bread.

#8: Trojan Wars

Western Turkey witnessed the famous Trojan wars and is the final resting place of the Trojan horse.
The Trojan horse built for the movie Troy is in the city of Canakalle.
The wars are described in the Iliad and the Greek Epic Lifecycle.

#9: Member in Unions & Leagues

Turkey is a member of various unions like the Council of Europe (1949), NATO (1952), OECD (1961), OSCE (1973) and the G20 industrial nations (1999).
A customs union agreement was reached in 1995.
Turkey also became an associate member of the European Union in 1963.