Istanbul Local Custom Tips by PinkDolphine

According to the Turkish...

<font color=blue> <i>According to the Turkish constitution, the word “Turk,” as a political term, includes all citizens of the Republic of Turkey without distinction of or reference to race or religion; ethnic minorities have no official status. Linguistic data show that some nine-tenths of the population claim Turkish as their mother tongue; most of the remainder speak Kurdish and a small minority Arabic as their first language.
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Kurds,comprising an estimated one-fifth of the population, are present in significant numbers throughout eastern Anatolia and form a majority in a number of provinces, including Agri, Bitlis, Diyarbakir, Hakkâri, Mardin, Mus, Siirt, Urfa, and Van.
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Arabic speakers are mainly in Hatay,where they constitute more than one, third of the population and in Adana, Mardin, Siirt, and Urfa.
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There are a further six ethnic groups with sizable numbers: Greeks, Armenians, and Jews are found almost entirely in Istanbul, and Circassians, Georgians, and Laz are generally located in the far east.</font> </i>

Nearly all of the population...

<font color=blue> <i>Nearly all of the population claim allegiance to Islam. Of other adherents, there are about 20,000 Jews and about 200,000 Christians. Christian adherents are divided among Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and other denominations.</font> </i>

Turkey's varied...

<font color=blue> <i>Turkey's varied climate—generally a dry, semicontinental Mediterranean variant—is heavily influenced by the presence of the sea to the north, south, and west and by the mountains that cover much of the country. The sea and the mountains produce contrasts between the interior and the coastal fringes. Several areas have the winter rainfall maximum typical of the Mediterranean regime, and summer drought is widespread. However, the elevation of the country ensures that winters are often much colder than is common in Mediterranean climates, and there are significant contrasts between winter and summer temperatures.
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January mean temperatures are below freezing throughout the interior, and in the east there is a sizable area below 23 °F (-5 °C); extremely low temperatures occur at times, with minima from -4 °F (-20 °C) in the west to -40 °F (-40 °C) in the east. The duration of snow cover ranges from two weeks in the warmer areas to four months in some mountainous areas in the east. The coastal fringes are mild, with January means above 41 °F (5 °C). Summers generally are hot: July means exceed 68 °F (20 °C) in all but the highest mountain areas, 77 °F (25 °C) along the Aegean and Mediterranean, and 86 °F (30 °C) in the southeast. Precipitation is strongly affected by relief; annual totals of 12–16 inches (305–406 millimetres) are characteristic of much of the interior, whereas the higher parts of the Pontic and Taurus ranges receive more than 40 inches.</font> </i>

Turkey is a predominantly...

<font color=blue> <i>Turkey is a predominantly mountainous country, and true lowland is confined to the coastal fringes. About one-fourth of the surface has an elevation above 4,000 feet (1,219 metres), and less than two-fifths lies below 1,500 feet. Mountain crests exceed 7,500 feet in many places, particularly in the east, where Turkey's highest mountain, Mount Ararat (Agri) reaches 16,853 feet (5,137 metres) close to the borders with Armenia and Iran. Steep slopes are common throughout the country, while flat or gently sloping land makes up barely one-sixth of the total area. These relief features affect other aspects of the physical environment, producing climates often much harsher than might be expected for a country of Turkey's latitude and reducing the availability and productivity of agricultural land.
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Structurally, the country lies within the geologically young folded-mountain zone of Eurasia, which in Turkey trends predominantly east to west. The geology of Turkey is complex, with sedimentary rocks ranging from Paleozoic to Quaternary, numerous intrusions, and extensive areas of volcanic material. Four main regions can be identified: the northern folded zone, the southern folded zone, the central massif, and the Arabian platform.</font> </i>