FACTS FOR VISITORS
Time
Local time is GMT +2 (GMT +3 from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October).
Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz. The European two-pin plug is standard.
Language
Turkish is the official language, but English is widely understood in the main tourist areas.
Tipping
Tipping is a way of life in Turkey and it is customary to give some small change for most services, or a small percent of the bill. In bigger hotels and restaurants if a service charge is not added to the bill, it is customary to tip between 10 and 15%. For taxi fares it is enough to round up the bill.
Population
70,413,958 (July 2006 est.)
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Superficies
Turkey is a country of 780,580 sq km or 301.383 sq miles considered to be as large as France combined with England or as large as Texas.
Climate
The Aegean and Mediterranean coastal regions experience cool, rainy winters, and warm (often hot) dry summers, with moderate precipitation. Spring and fall are considered ideal times to visit these areas as temperatures still approach the high 70s and rain fall amounts are low.
 
In contrast, the Black Sea coastal region is generally cooler throughout the year and has the heaviest rainfall in Turkey, averaging 55 inches per year.
 
The central Anatolian Plateau, blocked from the sea by high mountains, has very cold temperatures in the winter, and extreme, almost unbearable heat in summer. Rainfall is light here, but winter snowfalls are heavy.
 
The far-eastern highlands have hot, dry summers and very cold winters with heavy snowfall.
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Currency
The official currency is the New Turkish Lira (YTL), which was introduced on 1 January 2005, whereby six zeros were dropped from the TL and the sub-unit New Kuru was created.
Currency can be exchanged at banks, exchange booths, post offices, airports and ferry ports; banks have the worst rates and highest commissions, but will exchange lesser-known foreign currencies.
Banks open mainly Monday to Friday, but some are open daily in tourist areas.
ATMs are widely available in major cities and tourist areas. Most bank branches have ATMs which accept Cirrus and Plus. Major credit cards are widely accepted; the most popular are Visa or MasterCard, but American Express is accepted in many of the more expensive places.
Travelers cheques can be exchanged at some banks and currency exchange offices, but are not as welcome as cash or credit cards.
US dollars or Euros are preferred.
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