About Turkey

Geography

The lands of Turkey are located at a point where Asia, Africa and Europe are closest to each other, and straddle the point where Europe and Asia meet. Geographically, the country is located in the northern half of the hemisphere at a point that is about halfway between the equator and the north pole, at a longitude of 36 degrees N to 42 degrees N and a latitude of 26 degrees E to 45 degrees E. Turkey, as a country roughly rectangular in shape, has a width of approximately 550 kilometers and a length of approximately 1500 kilometers.

Because of its geographical location, the mainland of Anatolia has always found favor throughout history, and is the birthplace of many great civilizations. It has also been prominent as a centre of commerce because of its land connections to three continents and the sea surrounding it on three sides.



The Climate

Although Turkey is situated in a geographical location where climatic conditions are quite temperate, the diverse nature of the landscape, and the existence in particular of the mountains that run parallel to the coasts cause significant differences in climatic conditions between regions. While the coastal areas enjoy milder climates, the inland Anatolian plateau experiences extremes of hot summers and cold winters with limited rainfall.

Holidays

Official holidays

• January 1: New Year's Day

National holidays

• April 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day (anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly)
• May 19: Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day (the arrival of Atatürk in Samsun, and the beginning of the War of Independence)
• August 30: Victory Day (victory over invading forces in 1922).
• October 29: Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic)

Religious holidays

• Seker Bayrami: Three-day festival during which sweets are eaten to celebrate the end of the fast of Ramadan.
• Kurban Bayrami: Four-day festival when sacrificial sheep are slaughtered and their meat distributed to the poor.
The dates of these religious festivals change according to the Muslim lunar calendar and thus occur 10-11 days (the exact difference between Gregorian and Lunar calendars is 10 days and 21 hrs) earlier each year. According to this; Seker Bayrami will be celebrated on 23-24-25 October 2006, and 12-13-14 October 2007, and 30 September-1-2 October 2008. Kurban Bayrami will be celebrated on 31 December 2006-1-2-3 January 2007, and 20-21-22-23 December 2007, and 8-9-10-11 December 2008.
Holiday in Turkey is the fasting month of Ramadan, known in Turkish as Ramazan. Most important holiday in Turkey is Oct 29 Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic).

Visa is the most important device as far as visiting a new country is concerned. Getting a visa to Turkey before going there is thus essential. You can also purchase it at the airport counter on arrival in Turkey. To purchase a visa from the counter at the Istanbul airport, it is important to carry the exact amount in cash (CASH ONLY) – no credit card or traveler cheques are allowed. In this part, we will explain the details of getting a visa to Turkey.

On Entry : Items may be brought into the country duty free :

- Personal effects of the tourist.
- One TV, one color pocket TV (maximum 16 cm screen), one TV-tape-radio combination, one video recording camera and 5 video cassettes (blank); 5 records, 5 tape cassettes or compact discs. One video player, cine-projector (8 mm) and 10 rolls of film (blank), one slide projector, one portable typewriter
- One pocket computer (maximum main memory capacity Ram 128k. Byte), electronic playing devices (without cassette - keyboard). One transistor radio and portable radio - tape player (its specification to be determined by the Ministry of Finance and Customs), one Walkman or pocket tape recorder, one portable compact disc player.
- (one pair, except night binoculars), harmonica, mandolin, flageolet, flute, guitar, and accordion (only one of each type, maximum 3 musical instruments).
- Personal sports equipment.
- Necessary medical items.
- Bicycle, baby buggy, toys.
- 200 cigarettes and 50 cigars. 200 grams of tobacco and 200 cigarette papers, or 50 grams of chewing tobacco or 200 grams of pipe tobacco, or 200 grams of snuff .(In addition to the above allowances, it is possible to purchase 400 cigarettes, 100 cigars, and 500 grams of pipe tobacco from the Turkish Duty Free Shops upon entering the country).
- 1.5kg. coffee, 1.5kg. instant coffee, 500 grams of tea. 1 kilo chocolate and 1 kilo sweets.5 (100 cc) or 7 (70 cc) bottles of wines and/or spirits. Five bottles of perfume (120 ml max. each).
- First aid, and spare parts for the car.
- Other items necessary during the journey.

On Exit : Tips for exit custom regulations.

• For a new carpet, a proof of purchase; for old items, a certificate from a directorate of a museum is necessary.
• Exporting antiques from Turkey is forbidden.
• Valuable personal items can only be taken out of the country providing they have been registered in the owner's passport upon entry, or providing they can show they have been purchased with legally exchanged currency.
• Minerals may only be exported from the country with a special document obtained from.

Currency

The official currency of Turkey is the Turkish lira (TL), although the money was called the Turkish pound in Ottoman Turkey. There are 100 Kurush to every unit of Turkish currency (TL) but because inflation is so high in Turkey Kurush are rarely used. Metal currency in Turkey consists of coin money that comes in 500, 1000, 2500 and 5000 Turkish lira. Paper currency in Turkey comes in 1000, 5000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 money notes although with inflation continuously on the rise it is likely that money of higher denominations will be introduced in future.



Exchanging Currency and Money in Turkey

It is best to take the currency you have from your country and exchange it for Turkish currency in Turkey because the rates are better there. When you go to exchange your currency for Turkish money make sure you take your passport with you as other forms of identification may not be accepted. You can exchange your money for Turkish currency in any post office although there are currency exchanges in most big towns and cities in Turkey such as Istanbul and Izmir. Depending on what type of currency you take with you to Turkey you will find that when you are shopping many places will be willing to exchange your money for Turkish currency but at a lower rate than usual. If you are staying in Turkey for a long time its better to exchange your currency for Turkish money once every few days in order to get better rates. This is because the value of Turkish currency is always dropping.

Using traveler’s cheques instead of money in Turkey

If you decide to take travelers cheques instead of using money in Turkey be sure to keep the receipts as you may need this when you are exchanging Turkish money back to your currency at the end of your trip. The best place to exchange traveler’s cheques for Turkish currency is in one of the main banks although they are likely to take some money as a commission so it's worth shopping around. There are some banks that consider it a hassle to give you money for your traveler’s cheques and will prefer you to go elsewhere. Most of the four and five star hotels will give you Turkish currency for you traveler’s cheques although the rate is generally poor.