Is Turkey in Asia or Europe?
Both. Turkey is a transcontinental country: about 97% of its land, Anatolia, is in West Asia, and about 3%, East Thrace around Istanbul, is in Europe.
Turkey (officially Türkiye since 2022) straddles the boundary between the two continents, formed by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles:
- Anatolia (Asia Minor), about 97% of the country's land, is in Asia. It includes the capital, Ankara, and all of Turkey's land borders with Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
- East Thrace, about 3%, is in Europe and borders Greece and Bulgaria.
Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with more than 15 million people, sits on both sides of the Bosphorus. Its historic core and most of its residents are on the European side, which means a much larger share of Turkey's population lives in Europe than its 3% of land would suggest.
How Turkey is classified
- Geography and UN statistics: West Asia. We follow this, and Turkey is counted among the 49 Asian countries on this site.
- Politics: largely European. Turkey joined the Council of Europe in its first year, 1949, has been in NATO since 1952 and has been a candidate to join the European Union since 1999. Accession talks have been stalled for years.
- Sport and culture: Turkish football clubs play in UEFA competitions, and Turkey competed in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1975 until 2012.
Turkey at a glance
| Capital | Population (2025) | Area | Sub-region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ankara | 87,685,426 | 783,562 km² | West Asia |
See the map of Turkey, or compare it with its neighbours: Turkey vs Iran and Turkey vs Saudi Arabia.
Related questions
Is Istanbul in Europe or Asia?
Both. The Bosphorus strait runs through the city, so Istanbul has a European side (including the historic peninsula) and an Asian side (such as Üsküdar and Kadıköy), linked by bridges and tunnels.
Is Ankara in Europe or Asia?
Asia. Ankara is in central Anatolia, so Turkey's capital is on the Asian side of the continental divide.