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, result in significant differences in climatic conditions from one region to the other. While the coastal regions enjoy milder climates, the inland Anatolia plateau experiences hot summers and cold winters with limited rainfall.

Turkish is spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern Europe. Turkish is also spoken by several million immigrants in Western Europe, particularly in Germany.

The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş. All notes and coins of Turkish Lira have portraits of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from different points of his life since 1930s (with the exception of some notes of second emission, 1937-1942, which features İsmet İnönü) on the obverse side.

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The population of Turkey in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 71,325,000, which placed it as number 16 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 6% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 30% of the population under 15 years of age.

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 938 metres (3,077 ft),and as of 2008 the city had a population of 4,500,000. Ankara also serves as the capital of Ankara Province.

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