Turkey - Country Information

Full Name
Republic of Turkey

Capital City
Ankara

Area
779,452 sq km
300,946 sq miles

Population
68,100,000

Time Zone
GMT/UTC +2 ()

Daylight Saving Start
last Sunday in March

Daylight Saving End
last Sunday in October

Languages
Turkish (official)
Arabic (other)
Kurdish (other)
Laz (other)

Religion
Muslim (Sunni)

Currency
New Turkish Lira (YTL)

Electricity
220V 50HzHz

Electric Plug Details
European plug with two circular metal pins

Country Dialing Code
90

WORK HOURS AND HOLIDAYS
Banks are open weekdays from 8:30 AM until noon or 12:30 PM, depending on the bank, and from 1:30 PM until 5.00 PM. However, there are some banks which continue to serve during lunch breaks. Museums are generally open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 AM until 5.00 PM or 5:30 PM and closed on Monday. Palaces are open the same hours but are closed on Thursday. For specific information on museums, please visit our museums section.

Shops and bazaars are normally open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 AM to 1.00 PM and from 2.00 PM to 7.00 PM, and closed all day on Sunday. But most stores in shopping malls and crowded streets are open seven days a week, including lunch breaks. You can find restaurants or cafes open virtually at any time of the day or night.

HOLIDAYS
January 1 (New Year's Day), October 22-25, 2006 (Seker Bayram, marking the end of Ramadan), December 31, 2006 -January 3, 2007(Kurban Bayram, another important religious holiday). Muslim religious holidays are based on the lunar calendar and will shift about 10 days backwards each year. The dates given here for the Seker and Kurban holidays are for 2006 and 2007.
April 23 (National Independence and Childrens Day), May 19 (Ataturk's Commemoration Day), August 30 (Zafer Bayram, or Victory Day), October 29 (Cumhuriyet Bayram, or Republic Day, celebrating AtatŸrk's proclamation of the Turkish republic in 1923).

VISITING THE MOSQUES
Most mosques in Istanbul are open to the public during the day. Prayer sessions, called namaz, last 30 to 40 minutes and are observed five times daily. Tourists should, however, avoid visiting mosques midday on Friday, when Muslims are required to worship.
For women, bare arms and legs are not acceptable inside a mosque. Men should avoid wearing shorts as well. Women should not enter a mosque without first covering their heads with a scarf. Before entering a mosque, shoes must be removed.

MAIL
Post offices are painted bright yellow and have PTT (Post, Telegraph, and Telephone) signs on the front. The central Post office is open Monday through Saturday from 8 AM to 9 PM, Sunday from 9 AM to 7PM. Smaller ones are open Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM and 5.00 PM.

THE MONEY
The monetary unit is the Yeni Turkish lira (TL), which comes in bank notes of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100. Smaller denominations come in coins of 5; 10; 25 and 50.
In Istanbul, traveler's checks are rarely accepted. ATMs can be found in even the smallest Turkish towns. Most accept international credit cards or bank cards (a strip of logos is usually displayed above the ATM). Almost all ATMs have a language key to enable you to read the instructions in English.

VAT
The value-added tax, here called KDV, is 18%. Hotels typically combine it with a service charge of 10% to 15%, and restaurants usually add a 15% service charge. Value-added tax is nearly always included in quoted prices. Certain shops are authorized to refund the tax (ask).

CLIMATE
Turkey has a climate that is characterized by great extremes and wide temperature variations between regions and seasons. The narrow coast land and mountain slopes to the north, west and south have wetter and milder winters than the interior as well as moderately hot summers. The interior plateau winters are cold with frost while the summers are hot. Eastern Turkey has bitter cold winters and hot summers. Average annual precipitation in Istanbul is 723 mm (28 inches) while average temperature ranges in Ankara are from -4 to 4 degrees Celsius (25 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 15 to 31 degrees Celsius (59 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit) in August.