Anatolia was the Greek name for the Turkish Penninsula, from the Ancient Greek Ανατολία (Anatolia), meaning "rising of the sun," i.e. "The East." In modern Turkish, the pennisula is known as Anadolu, which derived from the original Greek word. Today the penninsula is also often known by its Latin name, Asia Minor.
Located at the economically and strategically important intersection between Europe and Asia, Anatolia has been of great importance to trade and commerce since the earliest times, and has been a crucial region to some of history's mightiest empires, including the Hittite Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuk Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.