Turkey In Focus - Discover Turkey: Experience the Best of Turkey - page 719

Land
The country comprises two parts, Anatolia (Asian Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (European
Turkey), which respectively make up 97% and 3% of the 769,632-sq-km land area. The
two parts are separated by İstanbul's Bosphorus strait, the Sea of Marmara and the Dard-
anelles.
Geographic Regions
The Aegean coast overlooks the Aegean islands, which mostly belong to Greece. Inland,
western Anatolia has the vast Lake District and Uludağ (Great Mountain; 2543m), one of
over 50 Turkish peaks above 2000m. Central Anatolia is characterised by a vast high plat-
eau of rolling steppe and Cappadocia's valleys of fairy chimneys (rock formations). The
Mediterranean coast is mostly backed by mountains, including the Taurus range.
The Black Sea coast is also frequently rugged, vertiginous and hemmed in by moun-
tains, including the Kaçkar range, with its glaciers, mountain lakes and yaylalar (moun-
tain pastures). The rest of northeastern Anatolia is also mountainous and wildly beautiful,
not least Mt Ararat (Ağrı Dağı; 5137m), Turkey's highest peak. Southeastern Anatolia of-
fers windswept steppe, jagged outcrops of rock, and the alkaline, mountain-ringed Lake
Van (Van Gölü).
Animals
If you're trekking, in theory you could see bears, deer, jackals, caracal, wild boars and
wolves in the wild.
People wandering off the beaten track, especially in eastern Turkey, are sometimes
startled by Kangal dogs, originally bred to protect sheep from wolves and bears on moun-
tain pastures. These huge, yellow-coated, black-headed animals sometimes have a spiked
collar to protect against wolves. Their mongrel descendants live on Turkey's streets.
Birds
Some 400 bird species are found in Turkey, and about 250 of them migrate from Africa to
Europe. Spring and autumn are good times to see feathered commuters, and it's particu-
larly easy to spot eagles, storks, (beige) hoopoes, (blue) rollers and (green) bee-eaters.
Other species include the Geronticus eremita (eastern bald ibis), purple gallinule and
flamingos.