Artvin Province ( tr, ; ka, , ''Artvinis p’rovincia''; Laz: ართვინიშ დობადონა ''Artviniş dobadona'') is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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

, on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coast in the northeastern corner of the country, on the border with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The provincial capital is the city of

Artvin Artvin ( Laz and ; hy, Արտուին, translit=Artuin) is a city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam. It is a former bishopric and (vacant) Armeni ...

Geography

Artvin is an attractive area of steep valleys carved by the

Çoruh River The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'', tr, Çoruh, hy, Չորոխ ''Ch’vorokh'', el, Άκαμψις, ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İsp ...

system, surrounded by high mountains of Kaçkar, Karçal and Yalnızçam (up to 3900 m) and forest with much national parkland including the Karagöl-Sahara, which contains the

Şavşat Şavşat ( ka, შავშეთი, tr) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region, between the cities of Artvin and Kars on the border with Georgia at the far eastern end of Turkey. History According to Rayfield, in 79 ...

and

Borçka Borçka ( lzz, ბორჩხა, translit=Borçxa; ka, ბორჩხა, translit=Borchkha or ) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia. Borçka is reached by a winding road up ...

lakes. The weather in Artvin is very wet and mild at the coast, and as a result is heavily forested. This greenery runs from the top all the way down to the

coast. The rain turns to snow at higher altitudes, and the peaks are very cold in winter. The forests are home to

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

s and

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

. The Çoruh is now being dammed in 11 places for hydro-electric power, including the 249 m

Deriner Dam Deriner Dam ( tr, Deriner Barajı) is a concrete double-curved arch dam on the Çoruh River east of Artvin in Artvin Province, Turkey. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and additionally flood control. Construction ...

and others at

and

Muratlı Muratlı is a town and a district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara Region of Turkey. It is located at 24 km north of the town of Tekirdağ and on the railway line from Istanbul to the Bulgarian border. It covers an area of 427 km� ...

In addition to the

ethnic Turks The Turkish people, or simply the Turks ( tr, Türkler), are the world's largest Turkic ethnic group; they speak various dialects of the Turkish language and form a majority in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. In addition, centuries-old ethnic ...

, the province is home to communities of

Laz people The Laz people, or Lazi ( lzz, ლაზი ''Lazi''; ka, ლაზი, ''lazi''; or ჭანი, ''ch'ani''; tr, Laz), are an indigenous ethnic group who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Black Sea Region, Turkey and Georgia (countr ...

and

Hemshin peoples , , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = Hamshen people by country , population = 150,000 – 200,000 , popplace = , regions = , region1 = , pop1 = 150,000 , ref1 ...

. Autochthonous Muslim Georgians form the majority in parts of Artvin Province east of the Çoruh River. Immigrant groups of Georgian origins, found scattered in Turkey are known as Chveneburi. In particular, there is a prominent community of

Chveneburi Georgians in Turkey ( ka, ქართველები თურქეთში) refers to citizens and denizens of Turkey who are, or descend from, ethnic Georgians. Numbers and distribution In the census of 1965, those who spoke Georgian ...

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

many of them descendants of

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 ...

families from Georgia who migrated during the struggles between the Ottoman Turks and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

during the 19th century. With such diverse peoples, Artvin has a rich variety of folk song and dance (see

Arifana Arifana is a type of celebration in Turkish tradition, especially in Artvin. Usually taking place in winter, it is a festival incorporating song, dance, theatre, and feasting. Rams are slaughtered and made into kebabs and roasts and served with sw ...

and

Kochari Kochari (, , , , ) is a folk dance originating in the Armenian Highlands. It is performed today by Armenians, while variants are performed by Assyrians, Azerbaijanis (yalli, uchayag, and tello), Kurds (dilan, delîlo, and sêxanî), and Pontic ...

for examples of folk culture). Local industries include bee-keeping especially in Macahel region. Artvin is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

Demographics

Places of interest

* The city of

has an ancient castle and a number of Ottoman period houses, mosques, and fountains. * Every June, there is a "bull-wrestling" festival in the high plateau of Kafkasör * The Parekhi monastery, a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

monastery Popular places for walking and outdoor expeditions. * The Kaçkar Mountains are among the most-popular venues for trekking holidays in Turkey. * Macahel Valley on the Georgian border, is another popular location for walking holidays. * Papart forest in

* Genciyan Hill in Şavşat, overlooks the border * The lakes of Şavşat and

and the crater lake of Kuyruklu. * The

is excellent for rafting and championships have been held here * There are a number of Georgian churches in the valleys of

Yusufeli Yusufeli ( hy, Բերդագրակ, Berdagrak; ka, ახალთი, Akhalti) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located on the bank of Çoruh River 104 km south-west of the city of Artvin, on ...

. * Bilbilan Yaylası - a typical Turkish high meadow. *

Savangin Savangin is a prehistoric natural cave with an inscription written in an unknown or unsolved alphabet. It was found in 1995 near the village Bakırtepe, part of Artvin Province Artvin Province ( tr, ; ka, , ''Artvinis p’rovincia''; Laz: ...

pre-historical

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

with an

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

written in an unknown or unsolved

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...

Notable residents

Zülfü Livaneli Ömer Zülfü Livaneli (born 20 June 1946), is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician. Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish coup d'état because of his political views and had to leave Turkey in 1972 and went ...

, singer and politician, born into a family from Yusufeli * Kazım Koyuncu, folk rock singer, guitarist and composer, born in Artvin's Black Sea town of

Hopa Hopa ( Laz and , Hamshen ) is a city and district of Artvin Province in northeast Turkey. It is located on the eastern Turkish Black Sea coast about from the city of Artvin and 18 kilometres from the border with Georgia. Geography Hopa is on t ...

* Şükriye Tutkun, folk singer *

Mircan Kaia Mircan Kaia, alternate spelling Mircan Kaya, is a Turkish singer/songwriter and engineer. Early life and education Kaia was born in 1963 in Artvin, a town in the Black Sea Region in north-eastern Turkey. Her grandparents were Mingrelians who ...

, singer, composer and engineer, born into a family from Borçka

Districts

In 1924, the Liva Sanjak was abolished and the Artvin Vilayet was created. Artvin Vilayet was combined with Rize to form Çoruh Vilayet with the capital at Rize. Later it was separated into Artvin Province with the districts of Ardanuç, Arhavi, Artvin, Borçka, Hopa, Murgul, Şavşat and Yusufeli.Artvin
Artvin province is divided into 8 districts (capital district in bold): * Ardanuç *

Arhavi Arhavi ( Laz: არქაბი/Arǩabi; Georgian: არქაბი/arkabi) is a town and district of Artvin Province located in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. The terrain is hilly and mountainous. Area of the city center is about , and the ...

Murgul Murgul ( Laz and Georgian: მურღული/Murghuli) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Previously known as ''Damar'' and ''Göktaş'' Murgul is on a tributary of the Çoruh River, with mountains ...

Sister cities

* Akhaltsikhe,

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

Geography

Demographics

Places of interest

Notable residents

Districts

Sister cities

See also

References

External links