Proper noun

Singular Asia Minor

Plural -

Asia Minor

1. A large peninsula, mostly coterminous with Anatolia, between the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea; it makes up the Asian part of Turkey

Anatolia (Turkish: Anadolu, from Greek Aνατολή anatolē; also Asia Minor, from Greek: Μικρά Ασία, mikrá asía) is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Armenian highland to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. Anatolia has been home to many civilizations throughout history, such as the Hittites, Phrygians, and Lydians, and Achaemenid, Greek, Armenian, Roman, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk and Ottoman states.

Geographically, three sides of the peninsula are bordered by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Anatolia becomes increasingly mountainous as one moves east. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, and sepates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland.

The vast majority of the people residing in Anatolia are Turks. Kurds, who constitute a major community in southeastern Anatolia, are the largest ethnic minority. Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Bosnians, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Lazs and a number of other ethnic groups also live in Anatolia in smaller numbers.