Turkey sits on two different continents at the same time. About 97 percent of the country is in Asia, while the remaining 3 percent is in Europe.

Turkey covers about 302,000 square miles (783,000 square kilometers) of land. The European part is called East Thrace and covers about 9,000 square miles. The Asian part is called Anatolia and covers about 293,000 square miles. Three bodies of water separate these regions: the Bosphorus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles.Engineers built the first bridge across the Bosphorus Strait in 1973. Today, three large suspension bridges and two tunnels connect the two sides of Istanbul. Geologically, Turkey sits on the Anatolian Plate. This plate is pushed by the larger Eurasian and Arabian plates, which creates a rugged landscape.Istanbul was once the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires. Its location made it the main trade center for the Silk Road between China and Europe. More than 15 million people live in Istanbul today. Thousands of residents cross from one continent to the other every day for work or school.