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TURKEY IN AsıA : POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC. 
Population is densest in the western portion of Asia Minor and on 
the isles of the coast, where sponge-fishing is an important industry. 
The chief town is Smyrna, which possesses a fine natural harbour, 
and is the focus of three railways running into the interior, one of which 
is very short; while another joins the Baghdad line (see p. 49) 
from Skutari, which has been constructed to a point somewhat beyond 
Eregli, and is projected as far as Adara, Mosul, Baghdad, and the Persian 
Gulf. "There is a branch from this line to Angora. The line is projected 
to pass west of the Cilician Gates, a deep gorge which has served 
[or long centuries as the route across the Taurus Mountains. 
The chief port on the Black Sea is Trebizond, from which an 
important route runs east to Erzerum. To the latter town routes 
converge both from Persia and the south, so that it has become an 
important centre both commercially and strategically.