TERRITORY: ENVIRONMENT
Different plant coverings and heterogeneous fauna correspond to the different climatic regions of the country. It is in particular the landscape of the Pontic area, rainy and temperate, which presents itself well differentiated from the rest of the country, with its thick layers of broad-leaved trees (oaks, beeches, maples, etc.): indeed many of the plants also widespread in Europe such as cherry, whose name derives from the Turkish city of Giresun, the ancient Cerasus. In the Anatolian plateau, due to its marked continentality and widespread aridity, the steppe formations of artemisias and other grasses prevail with riparian trees and poplars especially, along rivers and water sources. It is precisely the poplar groves that often indicate an oasis and the presence of a village. In the areas influenced by the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean, maquis and Mediterranean crops prevail. In this landscape the typical crops of the Mediterranean civilization such as the olive treeand the vine mix with other essences such as the oleander, the carob tree, the pistachio; there are also subtropical species, such as the banana tree and the date palm.
To these fundamental landscapes are added other more particular and intermediate ones, which give rise to quite distinct natural sub-regional variants (many, however, have a rather historical than geographical value: think of Caria, Misia, Licaonia, etc.). In these cases it is the marked altitude differences of the territory or the considerable increase in rainfall on the reliefs that determine the vegetation cover. At high altitudes there are therefore coniferous forests and associations of rhododendrons, resulting in the spread of high mountain pastures and uncultivated land. The fauna of Turkey is comparable to that of much of Europe and, in particular, the neighboring Balkans. They are therefore present in small groups, bears, deer, jackals, lynxes, wild boars, wolves. Characteristic species is the Van cat, with white fur and eyes of different colors, one green, the other blue. However, it is mainly farm animals that are present in the area: cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep and goats. Turkish shepherds take great pride in their trusty kangal dogs, which protect sheep from wolf attacks. There are numerous species of birds such as eagles, vultures, storks. A rare and protected species is the hermit ibis. In general, the natural environment has been heavily degraded by man, especially along the coasts and in the western part of the country, the most densely populated. The eastern areas, more mountainous and more difficult to access, appear to be better preserved. Sensitivity to the issues of protection, safeguarding and safeguarding of ecosystem heritage is not yet widespread as in other European countries. As a result, the area of the country subject to environmental constraints is only 2.11% and is represented above all by the 33 rather small national parks. In 1985 the Göreme National Park and the rock sites of Cappadocia were declared a UNESCO naturalistic and cultural World Heritage Site; the site of Hierapolis-Pamukkale (1988) can be given the same title.
TERRITORY: CLIMATE
The Turkish territory falls globally in the areas with a warm temperate climate, but with notable differences between the coastal strips and the inland areas. Thus, for example, on the plateau, located at relatively high altitudes and poor in rainfall, there is a more continental climate, which in some points even takes on the characteristics of a cold desert climate, as in the Konya plain. On the maritime edges of the country, on the other hand, Mediterranean climatic characteristics are found which, depending on the exposure and altitude, are warm temperate or cold temperate. The reason for such heterogeneous climates essentially depends on the conformation of the territory, with its plateau bordered by mountain ranges, obstacles to the path of the air masses that invest it basically from the NE, NW and S. anticyclone summer that is stationed on the Mediterranean. A decisive action is also exercised by the air masses coming from the NE, that is, from the Eurasian continental spaces.
These masses, due to their provenance, are cold and dry. As a country starting with letter T according to Countryaah, Turkey can be divided into four climatic macro-areas: Mediterranean, continental, Pontic and European Turkey. The Mediterranean area, with hot summers and mild winters (January average 10 ºC), includes the western and southern coastal strips, with marked subtropical stretches on the southern side where, despite the mitigating action of the sea, average summer temperatures are recorded rather high (in Adana 28 ºC in July); rainfall is relatively abundant, on average 500-700 mm per year, and falls mainly in the autumn and winter months. L’ Anatolian plateau manifests the specificities of the continental climate because there are high temperature ranges, rigid and relatively rainy winters (500 mm of precipitation per year which however drop to less than 300 in the Konya plain). This area continues, with increasingly harsh climatic aspects (strong temperature variations, very low averages, considerable snowfalls), in the higher eastern sections: a Erzurum the January average is –10 ºC. The area of Pontus manifests particular characteristics: on the Black Sea coast the climate is mild, characterized by good rainfall (2000 mm and more on the best watered slopes), regularly distributed throughout the year; however, the average temperatures are considerably lower than in the other maritime areas of the country, and this is due both to the summers that are not excessively hot and to the rather cool winters (January average 6 ºC). Finally, European Turkey represents a macro climatic transition area between the Mediterranean climate and the continental one.
