Turkey - A Country on Two Continents Quiz

Answer: Over thirty times as large

The European part of Turkey, also called Thrace, is really just a small peninsula bordering Bulgaria and Greece. Its population density, however, is more than three times that of Anatolia, so that about ten percent of all Turks live in the European part.

Answer: Istanbul

With over 11 million inhabitants, Istanbul is not only the largest city in Turkey, but also one of the largest in the world. It is split by the Bosporus Strait, just over one kilometer in width, which constitutes the actual border between Europe and Asia.

Answer: Multiple highway bridges and a rail tunnel

The currently three Bosporus bridges, completed in 1973, 1988 and 2016 are major highway connections between the European and the Asian part of the city and the country. All three are are suspension bridges with a main span over 1,000 meters, ranking them in the twenty longest suspension bridges of the world.
In addition, the Marmaray tunnel, a railway connection, was opened in 2013. A road tunnel further increasing crossing capacity is currently under construction.
Of course, passenger ferries are also available and still carry a substantial portion of traffic even in spite of these connections.

Answer: It almost exclusively takes part in European competitions

The Turkish people pride themselves on their successful athletes and teams, with the three major football sides of Istanbul - Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas - being the best-known Turkish teams and also the most successful Turkish sports franchises.

In order to play against stronger opponents (which ultimately leads to more competitive teams) and also to avoid long travel to East Asia, Turkey has opted to be considered a part of Europe as far as sports are concerned. Galatasaray Istanbul won the UEFA Cup in 2000, and the national football team placed third in the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

Answer: Sunni Islam

In spite of being a secular state, Turkey is a rather religious country with almost two thirds of the populace believing religion to be very important (according to a 2002 study by Pew Research Center). The various strains of Islam make up about 96% of the Turkish population, while about three percent of Turks consider themselves atheists or non-religious, and the remaining one percent is mostly composed of Christians and Jews.

Answer: Antalya and Antakya

The first city in each pair listed is genuine and one of the major Turkish cities. However, of the second listed, only Antakya exists. It is capital of Hatay province, bordering Syria and the Mediterranean coast. Hatay also contains the southernmost point of Turkey. Burda is a major German magazine publisher, the other are pure inventions of mine.

Answer: A dormant stratovolcano

Mount Ararat is 5137 meters high and covered by an ice cap all year. It has the typical, solitary mountain shape of a stratovolcano with a single rising lava column. From a distance, it looks somewhat similar to Mt. Fuji and Kilimanjaro, both also stratovolcanoes. It had a major eruption in 1840. The Ararat massif contains Mt. Ararat itself and the 3,896 meters high Lesser Ararat.

Answer: On the central south coast, facing the Mediterranean Sea

Most of the Antalya tourism is traditional European "beach and sun" tourism with all-inclusive resorts drawing the majority of vacationers. However, Antalya has much more to offer. There is a rich variety of ancient sites dating back to the Roman and Ottoman empires, as well as many places of natural beauty, including waterfalls and canyons. Antalya also has some mountainous regions reaching up into the 3,000 meter range and there are several well-developed ski resorts located in those mountains.

Answer: Troy

The ancient city of Troy was unlike Rome in that it was fully destroyed and rebuilt from scratch many times. Beginning around 3000 BC, at least six settlements have been identified before what is called Troy VII - the city generally assumed to be the Troy of the Homeric epic (around 1300 BC). Unlike its predecessors, Troy VII was wiped out by war.

The site was re-settled two more times, the last time as Ilium in the first century BC. From 400 AD onwards, the location fell into disuse and its place went forgotten until it was rediscovered in 1868 by German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann.

Answer: A yellow sun and 16 yellow stars on red

The pair of flag and seal is a perfect representation of one of the most striking aspects of Turkey - contrast. Whether you contrast Europe and the Orient, a secular state and a religious population, modern and traditional lifestyles, mass tourism and untouched beautiful sites or these symbols evoking night and day, Turkey's beauty is in its contrasts.