06
05 / 2019
45 facts about Turkey
1. İstanbul is the largest city in Turkey but it is not the capital. Turkey’s capital is Ankara
2. You can eat the Turkish ice cream –Maraş with a knife and fork
3. Turkey is the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world
4. The first ever female combat pilot in the world is from Turkey. Her name is Sabiha Gökçen.
5. Turkey sits on two continents, Asia and Europe, although just 3% of its land is in Europe
6. Turkey has total area of 783,562km², or more then three times larger then U.K.
7. Patara plaji is the longest beach in Turkey ( 18 km long)
8. Cherries were introduced to the world from Turkey
9. Turkey has been producing wine for over 6000 years
10.The most valuable silk carpet in the world is in Melvana Museum in Konya-Turkey
11.Turkey was one of the first countries in the world to allow women to vote
12.Turkey introduced coffee to Europe
13.The second oldest underground railway in the world is the İstanbul Tünel
14.In Turkey you can eat a desert that is made of chicken ( Tavukgöğsü )
15.Santa Clause or St.Nicolas was born in Patara- Turkey
16.There are more then 10 UNESCO World heritage sites in Turkey
17.Turkey produce about 70% of the world’s haselnut supply
18.Turkish people are the world’s highest per capita tea drinkers. Turkey ranks in the top 5 tea producers in the world
19.The biggest and oldest Mall in the world is Grand Bazar (Kapalıçarşı) in İstanbul. İt has 64 streets, 4000 shops and attracts around 400,000 visitors every day
20.The church of St.Peter in Antakya (Antioch) is said to be the very first Christian church in the world
21.Two of the Seven Wonders of the World are in Turkey. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Bodrum
22.Turkey is home to Mount Ararat where is believed that Noah’s Ark came to rest
23.Tulips came to Europe from Turkey
24.The ancient city of Troy was located in modern day Turkey
25.The first man ever to fly was Turkish. Using two wings Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi flew over the Bosphorus and can be consider as the first intercontinental human flight in history.
26.The Turkish Delight (Lokum) is one of the oldest sweets in the world history
27.The olest known human city is Çatalhöyük in Turkey, which shows signs of settlement from the 7th century B.C
28.The stones found at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey in 1994 mark it as the world’s first temple and one of the most important archaeological sites ever discovered. Carbon dating shows the 45 stones may be as old as 13,000 years old—which makes it the oldest site by an amazing margin, considering Stonehenge was built around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago and the pyramids of Giza 2,500 years ago
29.The Turkish alphabet is phonetic, so words are pronounced in the same way they are read.
30.İstanbul is the only city in the world that is actually located on two continents
31.Money was ‘born’ in Turkey. The first coins ever made were created by the Lydians, in what is now Turkey.
32.There is over 7,200 km of coastline in Turkey
33.Turkey is the only Muslim country in the world to be both secular and democratic.
34.Göbekli Tepe at the top of a mountain ridge in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey is the world's oldest known example of monumental architecture dating some 11,600 years old. It also contains the oldest known temple.
35.Built 7 meters beneath the surface, Sancaklar Mosque is the world's first underground mosque. İt is constructed in Turkey's Buyukcekmece district in Istanbul.
36.Turkey's beaches rank 3rd in the world, with 383 beaches and 21 marinas awarded by Blue Flag, an international eco-label given to beaches with high water quality, cleanliness and environmental standards.
37. The longest Turkish word is Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine which has 70 letters and translates ‘As though you happen to have been from among those whom we will not be able to easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones ‘
38.Cherries were introduced to Rome from the Anatolian region of what is now Turkey since 72 BC.
39.Kissing the Hand of the Elderly is a Traditional Gesture in Turkey
40.Yağlı Güreş (Oil Wrestling) is the National Sport of Turkey. Wrestlers (known as pehlivan) douse themselves with olive oil and wear a type of hand-stitched shorts called a kisbet.
41.Turkey uses a Latin-based alphabet and not an Arabic one.
42.İstanbul has been the capital of three great empires, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman for more than 2000 years.
43.Turkey is the birthplace of historic legends, such as Omar (the poet), King Midas, Herodotus (the father of history) and St. Paul the Apostle.
44.Julius Ceasar proclaimed his celebrated words, “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) in Turkey when he defeated the Pontus, a formidable kingdom in the Black Sea region of Turkey.
45.The official name of Turkey is Republic of Turkey