Fauna of Turkey

The wildlife of Turkey is abundant and very varied. Turkey is a large country with many geographic and climatic regions and a great diversity of plants and animals, each suited to its own particular habitat. About 1500 species of vertebrates have been recorded in the country and around 19,000 species of invertebrate. There are about 11,000 species of flowering plants; some of the world's staple crops were first cultivated in this area, and many of their wild relatives are still found here. The country acts as a cross roads with links to Europe, Asia and the Near East, and many birds use the country as a staging post during migration.

The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a roughly rectangular shape. Turkey is divided in two parts by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. Asian Turkey, which includes 97 percent of the country, is separated from European Turkey. European Turkey comprises 3 percent of the country. Turkey's area, including lakes, occupies 783,562 square kilometres (300,948 sq mi). The country is encircled by seas on three sides: the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south.

The country has varied topography with fertile coastal plains contrasting with mountainous regions in the centre and eastern part of the country. The climate also varies, with the weather systems found near the coasts contrasting with those prevailing in the interior. The Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have hot, fairly dry summers and cool, rainy winters. The interior of the country has a continental climate with severe weather on the Anatolian plateau in winter, and hot, dry summers. These large differences in climate are reflected in an extremely diverse flora and fauna.

In the whole of Turkey there are about 11,000 species of flowering plant, about a third of which are endemic to the country. This area played a key role in the early cultivation of wheat, other cereals and various horticultural crops. The country is divided into three main floristic areas; the Mediterranean area; the Euro-Siberian area; and the Irano-Tranian area. The flora of the European part of Turkey is similar to that of adjoining Greece. The ecoregions here include Balkan mixed forests dominated by oaks and containing Scots pine, Bosnian pine, Macedonian pine, silver fir and Norway spruce, and Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests where some of the main species are oaks, strawberry tree, Greek strawberry tree, Spanish broom and laurel.

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