Satellite imagery centred on Anatolia, which accounts for the bulk of modern-dayTurkey
Map of Anatolia (dark green), which according to one definition is delineated by an imprecise line from theGulf of Alexandretta to theBlack Sea.[1] According to another definition, it is coterminous with the Asian part of Turkey.[2]
Anatolia (Turkish:Anadolu), also known asAsia Minor,[a] is a peninsula inWest Asia that makes up the majority of the land area ofTurkey. It is the westernmost protrusion ofAsia and is geographically bounded by theMediterranean Sea to the south, theAegean Sea to the west, theTurkish Straits to the northwest, and theBlack Sea to the north. The eastern and southeastern limits have been expanded either to the entirety of Asiatic Turkey[2] or to an imprecise line from theBlack Sea to theGulf of Alexandretta.[1] Topographically, theSea of Marmara connects the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea through theBosporus and theDardanelles, and separates Anatolia fromThrace inSoutheast Europe.
The English-language nameAnatolia derives from theGreekἈνατολή (Anatolḗ) meaning "the East" and designating (from a Greek point of view) eastern regions in general. The Greek word refers to the direction where the sun rises, coming fromἀνατέλλωanatello '(Ι) rise up', comparable to terms in other languages such as "levant" from Latinlevo 'to rise', "orient" from Latinorior 'to arise, to originate',Hebrewמִזְרָחmizraḥ 'east' fromזָרַחzaraḥ 'to rise, to shine',Aramaicמִדְנָחmidnaḥ fromדְּנַחdenaḥ 'to rise, to shine'.[18][19]
The use of Anatolian designations has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to theAeolian,Ionian andDorian colonies situated along the eastern coasts of theAegean Sea, but also encompassing eastern regions in general. Such use of Anatolian designations was employed during the reign of Roman EmperorDiocletian (r. 284–305), who created theDiocese of the East, known in Greek as the Eastern Diocese, but completely unrelated to the regions of Asia Minor. In their widest territorial scope, Anatolian designations were employed during the reign of Roman EmperorConstantine I (306–337), who created thePraetorian prefecture of the East, known in Greek as the Eastern Prefecture, encompassing all eastern regions of theLate Roman Empire and spanning fromThrace toEgypt.
Only after the loss of other eastern regions during the 7th century and the reduction ofByzantine eastern domains to Asia Minor, that region became the only remaining part of theByzantine East, and thus commonly referred to (in Greek) as the Eastern part of the Empire. At the same time, theAnatolic Theme (Ἀνατολικὸν θέμα / "the Eastern theme") was created, as a province (theme) covering the western and central parts of Turkey's present-dayCentral Anatolia Region, centered aroundIconium, but ruled from the city ofAmorium.[20][21]
The oldest known name for any region within Anatolia is related to its central area, known as the "Land ofHatti" – a designation that was initially used for the land of ancientHattians, but later became the most common name for the entire territory under the rule of ancientHittites.[22]
The first recorded name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula, though not particularly popular at the time, wasἈσία (Asía),[23] perhaps from an Akkadian expression for the "sunrise" or possibly echoing the name of theAssuwa league in western Anatolia.[citation needed] The Romans used it as the name of theirprovince, comprising the west of the peninsula plus the nearbyAegean Islands. As the name "Asia" broadened its scope to apply to the vaster region east of the Mediterranean, some Greeks inLate Antiquity came to use the name Asia Minor (Μικρὰ Ἀσία,Mikrà Asía), meaning "Lesser Asia" to refer to present-day Anatolia, whereas the administration of the Empire preferred the description Ἀνατολή (Anatolḗ;lit.'the East').
Theendonym Ῥωμανία (Rōmanía "the land of the Romans, i.e. the Eastern Roman Empire") was understood as another name for the province by the invadingSeljuq Turks, who founded aSultanate of Rûm in 1077. Thus (land of the)Rûm became another name for Anatolia. By the 12th century Europeans had started referring to Anatolia asTurchia.[24]
During the era of theOttoman Empire, many mapmakers referred to the mountainous plateau in eastern Anatolia asArmenia. Other contemporary sources called the same areaKurdistan.[25] Geographers have usedEast Anatolian plateau,Armenian plateau and theIranian plateau to refer to the region; the former two largely overlap.[26] While a standard definition of Anatolia refers to the entire Asian side of Turkey, according to archaeologist Lori Khatchadourian, this difference in terminology "primarily result[s] from the shifting political fortunes and cultural trajectories of the region since the nineteenth century".[26]
Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to thePaleolithic.[29] Neolithic settlements includeÇatalhöyük,Çayönü,Nevali Cori,Aşıklı Höyük,Boncuklu Höyük,Hacilar,Göbekli Tepe,Norşuntepe,Köşk Höyük, andYumuktepe. Çatalhöyük (7.000 BCE) is considered the most advanced of these.[30] Recent advances in archaeogenetics have confirmed that thespread of agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with themigration ofearly farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange.[31] Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived most of their ancestry from localAnatolian hunter-gatherers, suggesting that agriculture was adopted in site by these hunter-gatherers and not spread bydemic diffusion into the region.[32] Anatolian derived Neolithic Farmers would subsequently spread across Europe, as far west as the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles,[33][34] as well as to theMaghreb.[35] Most modern Europeans derive a significant part of their ancestry from these Neolithic Anatolian farmers.[36]
The earliest historical data related to Anatolia appear during theBronze Age and continue throughout theIron Age. The most ancient period in thehistory of Anatolia spans from the emergence of ancientHattians, up to the conquest of Anatolia by theAchaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE.
The earliest historically attested populations of Anatolia were theHattians in central Anatolia, andHurrians further to the east. The Hattians were an indigenous people, whose main center was the city ofHattush. Affiliation ofHattian language remains unclear, whileHurrian language belongs to a distinctive family ofHurro-Urartian languages. All of those languages are extinct; relationships with indigenouslanguages of the Caucasus have been proposed,[39] but are not generally accepted. The region became famous for exporting raw materials. Organized trade between Anatolia andMesopotamia started to emerge during the period of theAkkadian Empire, and was continued and intensified during the period of theOld Assyrian Empire, between the 21st and the 18th centuries BCE. Assyrian traders were bringing tin and textiles in exchange for copper, silver or gold. Cuneiform records, datedc. 20th century BCE, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony ofKanesh, use an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines.[40][41][42]
Unlike the Akkadians and Assyrians, whose Anatolian trading posts were peripheral to their core lands inMesopotamia, theHittites were centered atHattusa (modern Boğazkale) in north-central Anatolia by the 17th century BCE. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, theHittite language, ornesili (the language of Nesa) in Hittite. The Hittites originated from local ancient cultures that grew in Anatolia, in addition to the arrival of Indo-European languages. Attested for the first time in the Assyrian tablets ofNesa around 2000 BCE, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BCE, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the widely acceptedKurgan theory on theProto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites (along with the other Indo-Europeanancient Anatolians) were themselves relatively recentimmigrants to Anatolia from the north. However, they did not necessarily displace the population genetically; they assimilated into the former peoples' culture, preserving the Hittite language.
TheAncient Egyptians eventually withdrew from the region after failing to gain the upper hand over the Hittites and becoming wary of the power of Assyria, which had destroyed the Mitanni Empire.[44] The Assyrians and Hittites were then left to battle over control of eastern and southern Anatolia and colonial territories inSyria. The Assyrians had better success than the Egyptians, annexing much Hittite (and Hurrian) territory in these regions.[45]
After 1180 BCE, during theLate Bronze Age collapse, the Hittite Empire disintegrated into several independentSyro-Hittite states, subsequent to losing much territory to theMiddle Assyrian Empire and being finally overrun by thePhrygians, another Indo-European people who are believed to have migrated from theBalkans. The Phrygian expansion into southeast Anatolia was eventually halted by the Assyrians, who controlled that region.[45]
Luwians
Another Indo-European people, theLuwians, rose to prominence in central and western Anatoliac. 2000 BCE.Their language belonged to the same linguistic branch asHittite.[50] The general consensus amongst scholars is that Luwian was spoken across a large area of western Anatolia, including (possibly)Wilusa (Troy), the Seha River Land (to be identified with theHermos and/orKaikos valley), and the kingdom of Mira-Kuwaliya with its core territory of the Maeander valley.[51] From the 9th century BCE, Luwian regions coalesced into a number of states such asLydia,Caria, andLycia, all of which hadHellenic influence.
Arameans
Arameans encroached over the borders of south-central Anatolia in the century or so after the fall of the Hittite empire, and some of the Syro-Hittite states in this region became an amalgam of Hittites and Arameans. These became known asSyro-Hittite states.
The Neo-Assyrian empire collapsed due to a bitter series of civil wars followed by a combined attack byMedes,Persians, Scythians and their ownBabylonian relations. The last Assyrian city to fall wasHarran in southeast Anatolia. This city was the birthplace of the last king ofBabylon, the AssyrianNabonidus and his son and regentBelshazzar. Much of the region then fell to the short-lived Iran-basedMedian Empire, with the Babylonians and Scythians briefly appropriating some territory.
Cimmerian and Scythian invasions
From the late 8th century BCE, a new wave of Indo-European-speaking raiders entered northern and northeast Anatolia: theCimmerians andScythians. The Cimmerians overranPhrygia and the Scythians threatened to do the same toUrartu andLydia, before both were finally checked by the Assyrians.
The north-western coast of Anatolia was inhabited by Greeks of theAchaean/Mycenaean culture from the 20th century BCE, related to the Greeks of southeastern Europe and theAegean.[52] Beginning with theBronze Age collapse at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, the west coast of Anatolia was settled byIonian Greeks, usurping the area of the related but earlierMycenaean Greeks. Over several centuries, numerous Ancient Greekcity-states were established on the coasts of Anatolia. Greeks started Western philosophy on the western coast of Anatolia (Pre-Socratic philosophy).[52]
Anatolia is known as the birthplace of mintedcoinage (as opposed to unminted coinage, which first appears inMesopotamia at a much earlier date) as a medium of exchange, some time in the 7th century BCE in Lydia. The use of minted coins continued to flourish during theGreek andRoman eras.[60][61]
During the 6th century BCE, all of Anatolia was conquered by thePersianAchaemenid Empire, the Persians having usurped theMedes as thedominant dynasty of Persia. In 499 BCE, theIonian city-states on the west coast of Anatolia rebelled against Persian rule. TheIonian Revolt, as it became known, though quelled, initiated theGreco-Persian Wars, which ended in a Greek victory in 449 BCE, and the Ionian cities regained their independence. By thePeace of Antalcidas (387 BCE), which ended theCorinthian War, Persia regained control over Ionia.[62][63]
In 334 BCE, theMacedonian Greek kingAlexander the Great conquered the Anatolian peninsula from the Achaemenid Persian Empire.[64] Alexander's conquest opened up the interior of Asia Minor to Greek settlement and influence.
Following the death of Alexander the Great and the subsequent breakup of theMacedonian Empire, Anatolia was ruled by a series of Hellenistic kingdoms, such as theAttalids of Pergamum and theSeleucids, the latter controlling most of Anatolia. A period of peacefulHellenization followed, such that the local Anatolian languages had been supplanted by Greek by the 1st century BCE. In 133 BCE the last Attalid king bequeathed his kingdom to theRoman Republic; western and central Anatolia came underRoman control, butHellenistic culture remained predominant.
Mithridates VI Eupator, ruler of theKingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia, waged war against theRoman Republic in the year 88 BCE in order to halt the advance of Romanhegemony in theAegean Sea region. Mithridates VI sought to dominate Asia Minor and theBlack Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (theMithridatic Wars) to break Roman dominion over Asia and theHellenic world.[65] He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.[66] Further annexations by Rome, in particular of the Kingdom of Pontus byPompey, brought all of Anatolia underRoman control, except for the southeastern frontier with theParthian Empire, which remained unstable for centuries, causing a series of military conflicts that culminated in theRoman–Parthian Wars (54 BCE – 217 CE).
From the mid-5th century onwards, urbanism was affected negatively and began to decline, while the rural areas reached unprecedented levels of prosperity in the region.[68] Historians and scholars continue to debate the cause of the urban decline in Byzantine Anatolia between the 6th and 7th centuries,[68] variously attributing it to thePlague of Justinian (541), theByzantine–Sasanian War (602–628), and theArab invasion of the Levant (634–638).[69]
In the 10 years following theBattle of Manzikert in 1071, theSeljuk Turks from Central Asia migrated over large areas of Anatolia, with particular concentrations around the northwestern rim.[70] The Turkish language and the Islamic religion were gradually introduced as a result of the Seljuk conquest, and this period marks the start of Anatolia's slow transition from predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking, to predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking (although ethnic groups such as Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians remained numerous and retained Christianity and their native languages). In the following century, the Byzantines managed to reassert their control in western and northern Anatolia. Control of Anatolia was then split between the Byzantine Empire and the SeljukSultanate of Rûm, with the Byzantine holdings gradually being reduced.[71]
Settlements and regions affected during the first wave ofTurkish invasions in Asia Minor (11th–13th century)
By the end of the 14th century, most of Anatolia was controlled by variousAnatolian beyliks. Smyrna fell in 1330, and the last Byzantine stronghold in Anatolia, Philadelphia, fell in 1390. TheTurkmen Beyliks were under the control of the Mongols, at least nominally, through declining Seljuk sultans.[74][75] The Beyliks did not mint coins in the names of their own leaders while they remained under the suzerainty of theMongolIlkhanids.[76] TheOsmanli rulerOsman I was the first Turkish ruler who minted coins in his own name in 1320s; they bear the legend "Minted by Osman son of Ertugrul".[77] Since the minting of coins was a prerogative accorded in Islamic practice only to asovereign, it can be considered that the Osmanli, or Ottoman Turks, had become formally independent from the Mongol Khans.[78]
With the acceleration of the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, and as a result of the expansionist policies of theRussian Empire in theCaucasus, many Muslim nations and groups in that region, mainlyCircassians,Tatars,Azeris,Lezgis,Chechens and severalTurkic groups left their homelands and settled in Anatolia. As the Ottoman Empire further shrank in theBalkan regions and then fragmented during theBalkan Wars, much of the non-Christian populations of its former possessions, mainly Balkan Muslims (Bosniaks,Albanians,Turks,Muslim Bulgarians andGreek Muslims such as theVallahades fromGreek Macedonia), were resettled in various parts of Anatolia, mostly in formerly Christian villages throughout Anatolia.
A continuous reverse migration occurred since the early 19th century, when Greeks from Anatolia,Constantinople and Pontus area migrated toward the newly independentKingdom of Greece, and also towards theUnited States, the southern part of theRussian Empire, Latin America, and the rest of Europe.
Following the Russo-PersianTreaty of Turkmenchay (1828) and the incorporation of Eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire, another migration involved the large Armenian population of Anatolia, which recorded significant migration rates from Western Armenia (Eastern Anatolia) toward the Russian Empire, especially toward its newly established Armenian provinces.[84]
Anatolia's terrain is structurally complex. A centralmassif composed of uplifted blocks and downfoldedtroughs, covered by recentdeposits and giving the appearance of a plateau with rough terrain, is wedged between two folded mountain ranges that converge in the east. True lowland is confined to a few narrow coastal strips along the Aegean, Mediterranean, and the Black Sea coasts. Flat or gently sloping land is rare and largely confined to the deltas of theKızıl River, the coastal plains ofÇukurova and the valley floors of theGediz River and theBüyük Menderes River as well as some interior high plains in Anatolia, mainly aroundLake Tuz (Salt Lake) and theKonya Basin (Konya Ovasi).
There are two mountain ranges in southern Anatolia: theTaurus and theZagros mountains.[87]
Anatolia has a varied range of climates. The central plateau is characterized by a continental climate, with hot summers and cold snowy winters. The south and west coasts enjoy a typical Mediterranean climate, with mild rainy winters, and warm dry summers.[88] The Black Sea and Marmara coasts have a temperate oceanic climate, with warm, foggy summers and much rainfall throughout the year.
Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests: These temperate broadleaf and mixed forests extend across northern Anatolia, lying between the mountains of northern Anatolia and the Black Sea. They include the enclaves oftemperate rainforest lying along the southeastern coast of the Black Sea in eastern Turkey and Georgia.[89]
Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests: These forests occupy the mountains of northern Anatolia, running east and west between the coastal Euxine-Colchic forests and the drier, continental climate forests of central and eastern Anatolia.[90]
Central Anatolian steppe: These dry grasslands cover the drier valleys and surround the saline lakes of central Anatolia, and includehalophytic (salt tolerant) plant communities.[92]
Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests: This ecoregion occupies the plateau of eastern Anatolia. The drier and more continental climate is beneficial for steppe-forests dominated by deciduous oaks, with areas of shrubland, montane forest, and valley forest.[93]
Anatolian conifer and deciduous mixed forests: These forests occupy the western, Mediterranean-climate portion of the Anatolian plateau. Pine forests and mixed pine and oak woodlands and shrublands are predominant.[94]
Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests: This ecoregion occupies the coastal strip of southern Anatolia between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Plant communities include broadleaf sclerophyllous maquis shrublands, forests of Aleppo Pine(Pinus halepensis) and Turkish Pine(Pinus brutia), and dry oak(Quercus spp.) woodlands and steppes.[97]
^abcHopkins, Daniel J.; Staff, Merriam-Webster; 편집부 (2001).Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. p. 46.ISBN978-0-87779-546-9.Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved18 May 2001.Anatolia: The part of Turkey in Asia equivalent to the peninsula of Asia Minor up to indefinite line on E from Gulf of Iskenderun to Black Sea comprising about three fifths of Turkey's provinces
McColl 2014, p. 922: "Thrace, its European area, is about the size of VERMONT at 9,412 square mi (24,378 square km). Its Asian area (Asia Minor) is called Anatolia and covers 291,971 square mi (756,202 square km)"
Cohen 2008, p. 125: "Anatolia, [Gr.=sunrise], Asiatic part of Turkey; its area covers 97% of all Turkey"
Helen Chapin Metz, ed. (1995)."Turkey: A Country Study | Geography". Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved31 May 2024.: "The Asian part of the country is known by a variety of names--Asia Minor, Asiatic Turkey, the Anatolian Plateau, and Anatolia (Anadolu)"
^abStephen Mitchell (1995).Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor. The Celts in Anatolia and the impact of Roman rule. Clarendon Press, 266 pp.ISBN978-0198150299[1]Archived 29 March 2017 at theWayback Machine
^abSahakyan, Lusine (2010).Turkification of the Toponyms in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Montreal: Arod Books.ISBN978-0969987970.
^Vazken Khatchig Davidian, "Imagining Ottoman Armenia: Realism and Allegory in Garabed Nichanian's Provincial Wedding in Moush and Late Ottoman Art Criticism", p. 7 & footnote 34, inÉtudes arméniennes contemporaines volume 6, 2015.
^Fevzi Özgökçe; Kit Tan; Vladimir Stevanović (2005). "A new subspecies of Silene acaulis (Caryophyllaceae) from East Anatolia, Turkey".Annales Botanici Fennici.42 (2):143–149.JSTOR23726860.
^"On the First Thema, called Anatolikón. This theme is called Anatolikón or Theme of the Anatolics, not because it is above and in the direction of the east where the sun rises, but because it lies to the East of Byzantium and Europe."Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus,De Thematibus, ed. A. Pertusi. Vatican:Vatican Library, 1952, pp. 59 ff.
^Suny, Ronald Grigor (2015).'They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else': A History of the Armenian Genocide. Princeton University Press. p. 31.ISBN978-1400865581.
^Ali Yiğit, "Geçmişten Günümüze Türkiye'yi Bölgelere Ayıran Çalışmalar ve Yapılması Gerekenler",Ankara Üniversitesi Türkiye Coğrafyası Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi, IV. Ulural Coğrafya Sempozyumu, "Avrupa Birliği Sürecindeki Türkiye'de Bölgesel Farklılıklar",pp. 34–35.Archived 9 November 2013 at theWayback Machine.
^Swain, Simon; Adams, J. Maxwell; Janse, Mark (2002).Bilingualism in Ancient Society: Language Contact and the Written Word. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. pp. 246–66.ISBN0199245061.
^Freeman, Philip,The Galatian Language, Edwin Mellen, 2001, pp. 11–12.
^Clackson, James. "Language maintenance and language shift in the Mediterranean world during the Roman Empire." Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman Worlds (2012): 36–57. p. 46: The second testimonium for the late survival of Galatian appears in the Life of Saint Euthymius, who died in ad 487.
^Norton, Tom.[2]Archived 2 November 2018 at theWayback Machine | A question of identity: who were the Galatians?. University of Wales. p. 62: The final reference to Galatian comes two hundred years later in the sixth century CE when Cyril of Scythopolis attests that Galatian was still being spoken eight hundred years after the Galatians arrived in Asia Minor. Cyril tells of the temporary possession of a monk from Galatia by Satan and rendered speechless, but when he recovered he spoke only in his native Galatian when questioned: 'If he were pressed, he spoke only in Galatian'.180 After this, the rest is silence, and further archaeological or literary discoveries are awaited to see if Galatian survived any later. In this regard, the example of Crimean Gothic is instructive. It was presumed to have died out in the fifth century CE, but the discovery of a small corpus of the language dating from the sixteenth century altered this perception.
^J. Eric Cooper, Michael J. Decker,Life and Society in Byzantine CappadociaISBN0230361064, p. 14
^Schmitt, R. (1986)."ARTAXERXES II".Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6. pp. 656–58.Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved21 April 2019.
^Hewsen, Robert H. (2009). "Armenians on the Black Sea: The Province of Trebizond". In Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.).Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc. pp. 41,37–66.ISBN978-1-56859-155-1.
^Genito, Bruno (1 March 2012) [15 December 2003]."Halicarnassus".Encyclopaedia Iranica.Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved23 April 2018.
^Cemen, Ibrahim; Yilmaz, Yucel (2017).Active Global Seismology: Neotectonics and Earthquake Potential of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-1118945018.
^Prothero, W.G. (1920).Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved6 September 2013.
Cohen, Saul B., ed. (2008).The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: Volume 1 A to G (2nd ed.). Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-14554-1.OCLC212893637.
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