Anatolia
Anatolia (derived from Greek meaning "east" or "[sun]rise"), also known as Asia Minor (Medieval and Modern Greek: "small Asia"), the Anatolian peninsula or the Anatolian plateau, is a large peninsula and the western-most protrusion of the Asian continent. It makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Armenian Highlands to the east and the Aegean Sea to the west.
History
Anatolia has been home to many civilizations throughout history, such as the Hittites, Phrygians, and Lydians, and Achaemenid, Greek, Armenian, Roman, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk and Ottoman states.
Geographically, three sides of the peninsula are bordered by seas: the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Anatolia becomes increasingly mountainous as one moves east. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, and sepates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland.
The vast majority of the people residing in Anatolia are Turks. Kurds, who constitute a major community in southeastern Anatolia, are the largest ethnic minority. Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Bosnians, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Laz and a number of other ethnic groups also live in Anatolia in smaller numbers.
Gallery
Asia Minor about 1140 AD
Archaeological map of Asia Minor (1899) by Dr. phil. Walther Ruge (father of Friedrich Ruge) and Dr. phil. E. Friedrich[1]
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References
- ↑ This uncommon map shows the Asian part of Turkey with antique names of archaeological sites, printed in red, in contrast to the modern names printed in black. The in-set maps show new roads in the area and different levels of Troy. The archaeological site of Troy was in the time of the publication of the map one of the most important new archaeological sites. The first discoveries and excavations were made by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871–73 and 1878–79, and by Wilhelm Dörpfeld between 1893 and 1894. The map was accompanied with an eight pages index, listing the names of archaeological sites in different languages and their position on the map. Source: Archäologische Karte von Kleinasien
