<P> Coordinates: 39 ° N 35 ° E ﻿ / ﻿ 39 ° N 35 ° E ﻿ / 39; 35 </P> <P> Anatolia (Turkish: Anadolu, in Modern Greek: Ανατολία, from Ἀνατολή, Anatolḗ, pronunciation Anatolía--"east" or "(sun) rise"), sometimes known as Asia Minor (Turkish: Küçük Asya, in Medieval and Modern Greek: Μικρά Ἀσία, Mīkrá Asía, pronunciation Mikrá Asía--"small Asia"), Asian Turkey, the Anatolian peninsula, or the Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern - day Turkey . The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west . The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland . </P> <P> Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands (Armenia Major). This region is now named and largely situated in the Eastern Anatolia Region of the far north east of Turkey and converges with the Lesser Caucasus--an area that was incorporated in the Russian Empire region of Transcaucasia in the 19th century . Thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two - thirds of the Asian part of Turkey . </P>

Ancient area of asia minor including aegean islands