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Rize is a province of north-east Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. Its capital is the city of Rize.

Etymology

The name comes from Greek ριζα (riza), meaning “mountain slopes”.

Geography

Rize is on the north side of the range of mountains that run along the Black Sea coast. Overlooking the sea this is the wettest corner of Turkey and Rize is the country’s largest producer of tea. The province is mainly rural and very attractive with its mountain valleys and elevated yaylas (meadows). The district of Çamlıhemşin in particular is one of Turkey’s most popular venues for trekking holidays. Within remote areas, roads are scarce and electrically powered cable cars are used to transport people and supplies into the mountains. As well as tea, nowadays kiwi fruit are grown here too. Summers are cool (July average 22°C), winters are warm (January average 7°C) and it is wet all year round.

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Ordu is a province of Turkey, located on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Samsun to the northwest, Tokat to the southwest, Sivas to the south, and Giresun to the east. The capital of the province is the city of Ordu.

Etymology

“Ordu” means ‘army’ in the Turkish language (and the word has come down in modern English as the word horde). However the etymology of this Turkish province is not related to this word, it is an adaptation of Cotyora, the earlier Greek language place name.

Geography

Ordu is a strip of Black Sea coast and the hills behind, historically an agricultural and fishing area and in recent years, tourism has seen an increase, mainly visitors from Russia and Georgia, as Ordu boasts some of the best beaches, rivers, and lush, green mountains on the Black Sea coast. Walking in the high pastures is now a popular excusrion for Turkish holidaymakers.

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Osmaniye is a Turkish province located in southern Turkey. It became a province in 1996. A small part of the province was part of Gaziantep Province, the rest being in eastern Adana. It covers an area of 3,767 km² and has a population of 497,907 (2006 est). The population was 458,782 in 2000.

The capital of the province is Osmaniye (Population:208.000). The next largest towns are Kadirli (Population:71.000) and Düziçi (Population:40.000).

Districts

Osmaniye province is divided into 7 districts (capital district in bold):

* Bahçe
* Düziçi
* Hasanbeyli
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Nevşehir ProvinceNevşehir is a province in central Turkey with its capital in Nevşehir. It adjacent provinces are Kırşehir to the northwest, Aksaray to the southwest, Niğde to the south, Kayseri to the southeast, and Yozgat to the northeast. Nevşehir includes the area called Cappadocia - a very popular traveller attraction in Turkey. The famous town of Göreme is also located in Nevşehir.

Cappadocia once included the area now covered by this province. This province is notable for a number of old churches from the Byzantine period.

Districts

Nevşehir province is divided into 8 districts (capital district in bold):

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Muş is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km² in area, and has a population of 488,997 (2006 est). The population was 453,654 in 2000. Kurds form the majority. The traffic code is 49. The provincial capital is the city of Muş. Another town in Muş province, Malazgirt (Manzikert), is famous for the Battle of Manzikert of 1071.

The plain of Muş was historically part of the Armenian province of Daron-Duruperan. and the mountains on its southern border formed the boundary between Greater Armenia and Syria,

Muş and Sason were the scene of clashes between Armenians and Kurds in the late 19th century (see Kurdish-Armenian relations).

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Muğla is a province of Turkey, as the country’s south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about 20 km (12 miles) inland, while some of Turkey’s largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Oludeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla.

Etymology

The original name of Muğla is open for discussion. Various sources refer to the city as Mogola, Mobella or Mobolia.
Geography

At 1,100 km (683 miles), Muğla’s coastline is the longest among the Provinces of Turkey and longer than many coutries’ costlines, (even without taking any small islands into account). As well as the sea, Muğla has two large lakes, Lake Bafa in the district of Milas and Lake Köyceğiz. The landscape consists of pot-shaped small plains surrounded by mountains, formed by depressions in the Neogene. These include the plain of the city of Muğla itself, Yeşilyurt, Ula, Gülağzı, Yerkesik, Akkaya, Çamköy and Yenice). Until the recent building of highways, transport from these plains to either the coast or inland was quite arduous, and thus each locality remained an isolated culture of its own. Contact with the outside world was through one of the three difficult passes: northwest to Milas, north to the Menderes plain through Gökbel, or northeast to Tavas.

The economy of Muğla relies mainly on tourism (on the coast), and agriculture, forestry and marble quarries inland.

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Mersin ProvinceMersin province is in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul.

The former name of the province was İçel. In 2002, the province’s name was changed to Mersin to match the provincial capital’s name, as is the case for all Turkish provinces except three. The province retained the license plate number of 33, İçel having been the 33rd in the alphabetical order of Turkish province names, when there were only 67 provinces in Turkey.

Geography

87% of the land area is mountain, leading up to the rocky heights of the central Taurus Mountains, the highest peak is Medetsiz (3,584 m) in the Bolkar range, and there are a number of important passes over to central Anatolia. There are many high meadows and small plains between 700 and 1500m.

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Mardin Province is a province of Turkey with a population of 779,850.(fact source needed) The population was 835,173 in 2000. The capital of the Mardin Province is Mardin. Located near the traditional boundary of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, it has a diverse population with a Arabic majority in provinces Mardin, Midyat, Yeşilli, Savur, Ömerli and significant minorities of Kurds, Syriacs and Turks. And with a Kurdish majority in provinces Kızıltepe, Nusaybin, Derik, Mazıdağı, Dargeçit and significant minorities of Arabs,Assyrians, Syriacs and Turks The local Syriac Christian community, while much reduced due to the results of the Assyrian Genocide, supports two of the oldest monasteries in the world, Dayro d-Mor Hananyo (Turkish Deyrülzafaran, English Saffron Monastery) and Deyrulumur Monastery. The Christian community is concentrated on the Tur Abdin plateau and in the town of Midyat, with a smaller community (approximately 100) in the provincial capital.

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Manisa Province is a province in western Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the south east, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the north east, and Balıkesir to the north. Its capital is Manisa.

Districts

Manisa province is divided into 16 districts (capital district in bold):

* Ahmetli
* Akhisar
* Alaşehir
* Demirci
* Gölmarmara
* Gördes
* Kırkağaç
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Malatya Province is a province of Turkey. It is part of a larger mountainous area. The capital of the province is Malatya (in Hittite: Milid or Maldi, meaning “city of honey”), which has many residents. Malatya is famous for its apricots. The area of Malatya province is 12,313 km². Malatya Province has 923,248 inhabitants. The population was 853,658 in 2000. The city of Malatya has a population of 381,081 (2000).

Districts

Malatya province is divided into 14 districts (capital district in bold):

* Akçadağ
* Arapgir
* Arguvan
* Battalgazi
* Darende
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