Albanian-speakers of Western Thrace migrated towards today's European Turkey (Eastern Thrace), especially near Istanbul. Many Muslim Albanians achieved high office in Ottoman society and many of them, most notably the Köprülü family, became Grand Viziers of the Empire. The majority of the Albanian emigration came from Northern Kosovo and the Korça region of Albania. Descendants of this immigrants would later play an important role in the National Renaissance of Albania. The number of Albanians that resided in the region is unknown, as statistical data of the Ottoman Empire were based on religious identification (millets). Thus, the Orthodox Albanians were part of the Rûm millet,
Geography of Turkey Geography of Turkey Turkey is situated in Anatolia (97%) and the Balkans (3%), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria. The geographic coordinates of the country lie at: The area of Turkey is ; "land:" , "water:" . Turkey extends more than from west to east but generally less than from north to south. The total area (of about ) consists of about in Western Asia (Anatolia) and about in Southeastern Europe (Thrace). Anatolia () is a large, roughly rectangular peninsula, situated In Asia. The Anatolian