Anatolía

Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, is the westernmost peninsula of Asia and comprises most of the territory of modern Turkey. It is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the eastern interior where the Armenian Highlands and mountain ranges meet. The region includes a central high plateau, the Taurus and Pontic mountains, and a mix of plains, steppe, and coastal landscapes.

Human settlement in Anatolia extends to the Neolithic. The Hittite Empire arose in central Anatolia, with its capital at Hattusa, around 1600–1200 BCE. Later came Phrygia, Lydia, and Urartu, and Ionian Greek colonization along the western coast. The area was ruled by Persians, then Alexander the Great, and subsequently by Hellenistic kingdoms, Rome, and Byzantium. From the 11th century it was controlled by the Seljuks and later the Ottoman Empire, becoming part of the modern Republic of Turkey after World War I.

Anatolia has long served as a regional crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It contains numerous archaeological and historic sites, including Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük, Troy, Ephesus, and Cappadocia. In modern times, its major cities include Ankara, Konya, and many others on both the central plateau and the coast. Today the term refers to the Asian portion of Turkey and to the broader historical and geographic landscape it occupies.