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Anatolia

peninsula in Western Asia

Anatolia, also called Asia Minor (from Ancient Greek: 'Άνατολή, Turkish: Anadolu), is a peninsula at the west end of Asia. It forms the majority of modern Turkey.

Map of Anatolia

It has an area of 750,000 km2 (290,000 sq mi). Most of it is a plateau. that averages 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. Its climate is continental and semi-arid in the interior, temperate along the northern coast, and subtropical along the southern and the western coasts. Most of its people speak Turkish.

Anatolia is surrounded by the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is between Europe and Asia. This has led to people of many different cultures living there.

Many great historical peoples have lived in or occupied Anatolia; They include the Hittites, Lydians, Greeks, Persians, Armenians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks and Ottoman Turks. The Roman Empire had a province called Asia that was also called Phrygia. People later started to call the entire continent Asia. Because of this, the peninsula became called Asia Minor (Little Asia).

Troy is the most famous of the many cities that existed long ago in Anatolia.