THE COASTAL Disnucrs, along with which may be included the /Egean Islands (Samos, Rhodes, Mitylene, Chios, and others), contain considerable areas of fertile soil, but their full development has been greatly retarded by the disturbed political conditions which have so long prevailed in the country. The cereals grown include wheat, maize, and barley, the last of which is exported to England, where it is esteemed for malting. The west coast is especially noted for its fruits, the most important of which are the grape, the olive, and the fig. Of these, the grape, which is exported in the form of raisins (the manufacture of wine being for bidden by Mahommedan law), has the widest range ; the olive does not extend inland more than fifteen or twenty miles from the coast, except in the district round Aidin ; while the fig flourishes best in the valleys of the Cayster and the Maeander. Cotton, generally of inferior quality, is grown, among other places, in the districts round Kassaba and Aidin in the west, and on the Cilician plain in the south-east ; but it is believed that the latter district, at least, if developed and irrigated, might produce large quantities of excel lent material, as at present only part of it is cultivated, and that is devoted mainly to cereals. On the north coast, tobacco is
extensively grown on the river deltas in the country between Trebizond and Sinope, while from the warm temperate forest, which borders the Black Sea, large quantities of hazel nuts are exported. Among other products of the coastal districts are sesame, valonia, opium, etc.
Apart from agriculture, there has been but little economic development. Soap, in the manufacture of which olive oil is extensively used, is made in the island of Mitylene, at Smyrna, and elsewhere ; carpets are woven in various places ; and there are cotton mills, cigarette factories, tanneries, and a number of other small manufacturing establishments.
THE PLATEAU.—On the plateau the conditions of economic activity are very different. Some wheat and millet are grown in favoured localities, but the principal pursuits of the region are pastoral, and, in the west, are mainly confined to rearing the famous Angora goat, from which mohair is obtained. Upon this raw material is based the carpet-making industry, which is carried on in many small villages throughout the region. In the east of the plateau the horse replaces the goat as the mainstay of the inhabitants, who are typical nomads.