Practical information

Turkey lies in Asia Minor, between Asia and Europe. It measures 779.452 km² in total surface area. Its main part is in Asia Minor (Anatolia), while the western territory around Istanbul lies in Europe. The Bosforus Channel separates these two territorial parts. Thracia, the European part of Turkey measures about 3% of Turkey’s total surface area. The country borders with the Black Sea to the north, with a coastline that extends from Bulgaria to Georgia, and with the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, in a coastal strip from Greece to Syria.
The coastline measures 7200 Km, and the territorial waters of Turkey reach 6 nautical miles in the Aegean, compared with 12 nautical miles in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Although Ankara is the capital, the city of major interest and beauty is Istanbul, lying as it does in a privileged site: the only city in the world that has a foot in two continents. In Istanbul’s old town (formerly Constantinople) one finds most of the monuments and museums worth visiting in the city, such as the Roman Hippodrome, the Santa Sofia Basilica, the Blue Mosque, the Cistern of Yerebatan, the Topkapi Palace, the mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent. The Great Bazaar, and the Egyptian Bazaar.

In the new town of Istanbul one could visit the Dolmabahçe Palace, and there are infinite possibilities for shopping, visiting restaurants and bars, or promenading in the busy Taksim Square, or the Istiklal pedestrian street, the most important in the city. Or try a trip to Capadocia, with its unique geological formation, and its cultural and historical heritage. The Black Sea coast offers the sailor an unspoiled and green Nature, and any number of caves and fishing ports along its length, with a mild climate in winter as in summer.

The climate is temperate with warm, dry summers and mild wet winters, which are much more severe in the interior. Sailing in Turkey is ideal, thanks to its geographical setting and its Mediterranean climate.