Bingöl Province ( tr, , lit=province of a thousand lakes, '' ku, Parêzgeha Çewlîg'', ) is a province of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

in Eastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. The province was known as Çapakçur Province (from ) until 1945 when it was renamed as Bingöl province. Its neighboring provinces are

Tunceli Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

Muş Muş (; hy, Մուշ; ku, Mûş) is a city and the provincial capital of Muş Province in Turkey. Its population is mostly Kurds. Etymology Various explanations of the origin of Muş's name exist. Its name is sometimes associated with the Arm ...

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortres ...

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

and

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . ...

. The province covers an area of 8,125 km² and has a population of 255,170. The capital is

Bingöl Bingöl ( diq, Çolig; ku, Çewlik; hy, Ճապաղջուր, translit=Chapaghjur) is a city in Eastern Turkey and the capital of Bingöl Province. Etymology One of the historical names for the city, ''Bingöl'' literally means ''thousand lake ...

. As the current

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the province, Kadir Ekinci was appointed by the president on the 5 November 2018. The town of Genç was the scene of origin for the Kurdish Sheikh Said rebellion in 1925 and most of the region was captured by the rebels during the rebellion.

Demographics

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

comprise the majority of the province and the province is considered part of

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of th ...

. Its population is majority

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

, conservative and many adhere to the

Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their ...

order. The province moreover has a significant

Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...

minority. Linguistically, the southern parts of the province speak

Zaza Zaza may refer to: Ethnic group * Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) * Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages ** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas People Given name * Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai kic ...

, while the northern parts speak

Kurmanji Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Sy ...

. Many Zaza-speakers speak Kurmanji as well.

Language and religion statistics

Bingöl Province was part of Bitlis Vilayet during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

as Genç Sanjak and had a population of 36,011 in the 1881-1882 census. of the population was

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and the remaining was Armenian. In the census of 1897, the sanjak had a population of 47,652, of which was Muslim and was Armenian. All of the Armenians adhered to the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

. In the 1906-1907 census, the sanjak had a population of 45,215 of which was Muslim and Armenians comprised the remaining . In the last Ottoman census in 1914, the region had a population of 38,096 of which was Muslim and Armenian. The first Turkish census which included Bingöl Province was the 1945 census, where the population was 75,550 who all were Muslims. Linguistically, the most spoken

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

was Kurdish at , followed by Turkish at and Circassian at . In the 1950 census, Kurdish was the first language for of the population of 97,328, while Turkish remained the second largest language standing at and Circassian at . In the last census in 1965, Kurdish stood at and Turkish at . A 2016 survey showed that 90.4% of the population spoke Turkish, 64.1% spoke Zaza, 40.1% spoke Kurmanji and 5.6% spoke

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

History

From 1923 to 1929, Bingöl Province was part of

Elazığ Province Elazığ Province ( tr, ; Zazaki: Suke Xarpêt; ku, Parêzgeha Xarpêtê) is a province of Turkey with its seat in the city of Elazığ. The province had a population of 568,753 in 2014. The population of the province was 569,616 in 2000 and ...

and part of

Muş Province Muş Province ( tr, Muş ili, Armenian: Մուշի մարզ, ku, Parêzgeha Mûşê) is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km2 in area and has a population of 406,886 according to a 2010 estimate, down from 453,654 in 2000. The provi ...

from 1929 to 1936. It ultimately became a province in 1936. In December 1935 the Tunceli Law was passed which demanded a more powerful government in the region. Therefore the region containing the present Bingöl province, together with the provinces of

and Elaziğ were included in the Fourth Inspectorate General (''Umumi Müfettişlik,'' UM) in January 1936. The fourth UM was governed by a Governor Commander. All the employees in the municipalities were to be from the military and the Governor Commander had the authority to evacuate whole villages and resettle them in other parts of the province. in 1946 the Tunceli Law was abolished and the state of emergency removed but the authority of the fourth UM was transferred to the military. The Inspectorate General was dissolved in 1952 during the Government of the Democrat Party.

Districts

Bingöl province is divided into 8

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(capital district in bold): * Adaklı *

* Genç * Karlıova *

Kiğı Kiğı ( ku, Gêxî, hy, Քղի, translit=Kʿġi) is a town and district of Bingöl Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is Hikmet Özüağ ( AKP). The district has a population of 3,188 out of which 1,604 live in the to ...

Solhan Solhan ( ku, Bongilan, ) is a town (belde) and seat of the Solhan District of Bingöl Province in Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country ...

Yayladere Yayladere ( ku, Xolxol) is a town and seat of Yayladere District of Bingöl Province in Turkey. The mayor is Sabri Akyürek ( CHP). The town is populated by Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurd ...

* Yedisu

Bibliography

Gallery

File:Yüzen_Ada.jpg, Floating islands (Bingöl) File:Haserek kayak merkezi.jpg, Haserek ski facilities File:Bingolcitycenter.jpg, Bingöl center File:Piltanmosque.jpg, Piltan (Balaban Bey) Mosque File:Sülbüs_Dağı'nın_Dersim-Cıvrak_mevkiinden_görünümü_2013-11-30_20-50.JPG, Sülbüs Mountain File:33_Şehit_Anıtı_Bingöl_4.jpg, 33 Martyrs Memorial File:Bingöl_Airport.jpg, Bingöl Airport File:Gerendallake.jpg, Gerendal Lake