Large Format Road Map of Turkey Celebrating the Anniversary of the General Directorate of Highways
Detailed general road map of Turkey focused on major highways, cities, topography, and administrative boundaries.
The map’s title is centered over the legend, located at bottom right of this map. It translates to “Road Map of Turkey.” Above the title, slightly smaller print notes “The Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of the General Directorate of Highways.” The fine print directly below the scale bar reads, “this map created by the Project Program Branch of the General Directorate of Highways…published in the General Directorate Printing House.”
The legend at bottom right is large and neatly formatted, which makes engaging with this map straightforward. The road symbols located on the left side of the legend are split into two categories, with thicker line symbols representing state roads and thinner line symbols representing local roads. On the map this creates a pleasing visual hierarchy and easily expresses the relative importance of roads.
Roads are further differentiated by composition types (asphalt or dirt) as well as other categories (major highways, stabilized roads, and roads under construction.) Asphalt roads are shown in purple, and dirt roads are shown in yellow. Major highways are symbolized by thick purple parallel lines. Stabilized roads, a type of paved road, are shown in red. Crude roads and roads under construction are both shown as thin parallel purple lines.
Below the road symbols on the left side of the legend, symbols for highway shields, distances between points, railways and rail stations, car ferry routes, and administrative boundaries are also included. Highway shields are shown as yellow ovals. Distances between major points, distinguished by red pins, are included in bold red type, with intermediary distances included as well. Railways are shown as black and white alternating lines, with stations annotated below. Car ferry routes are shown as dashed red lines, and can be observed connecting Istanbul to Izmir, running from Izmir to points further west, and connecting several outlying islands to the mainland.
Administrative boundary symbols vary by border type, with city borders shown as a fine dashed black line, regional borders shown as a dotted red marker, and international borders shown as a thick green line. Turkey’s international border with Syria can be observed at the bottom right of the map, with highways extending into Syria evidencing strong overland trade ties.
Cities, towns, and villages are symbolized on the map by purple circles of graduated size according to population. The boundaries of large metro areas are filled in with red, making urban areas stand out to viewers and adeptly communicating the size of major cities. Airports are symbolized with a plane, and ports are symbolized with a blue anchor. The small red flags on this map indicate customs stations, of which there are many concentrated along the coasts.
At left of the legend, this map also includes a detailed key for place names within each major administrative district.
Beyond the built environment, this map depicts all major water bodies and rivers as well as detailed topographical information. Elevation information is included in a subtle yellow-green color scheme, highlighting Turkey’s mountainous topography and providing an eminently legible base for this map.
The Turkish General Directorate of Highways
The General Directorate of Highways is the Republic of Turkey’s governmental department responsible for the construction and maintenance of Turkey’s public roads. It was established in 1950, following the acceptance of the International Highways Act of 1949. This map was created to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the department’s establishment and its continued work to develop Turkey’s infrastructure.