The vast rectangle of Turkey, protruding peninsula-like from the western rim of Asia but with its foothold on the mainland of Europe, serves as a major bridge between different cultures and economic regions. Thrace and the area around the Sea of Marmara in particular have played a vital and unique role as intermediary between Europe and Asia,
with an impact on world history that has endured from earliest antiquity right up to the present. The seaway through the straits links the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean with the waters of the Black Sea and since the times of colonization by the Ancient Greeks has carried the flow of ideas and influence towards the north-east, not least through the spread of Christianity from Byzantium into Eastern Europe. Although most of its geography puts Turkey among the mountainous countries of the Near East, its bridgehead position has from time immemorial brought it into close contact with the West so that the culture of present-day Turkey draws heavily on Europe. This also finds political expression in its associate status with the European Community and membership of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The enormous expanse that is the Republic of Turkey stretches in a long rectangle from west to east, from Thrace in the south-eastern corner of Europe, via the Sea of Marmara and the peninsula of Asia Minor into the distant reaches of Anatolia in the Near East.
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