Kahramanmaraş Province () is a

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

and

metropolitan municipality A metropolitan municipality is a municipality established to serve a metropolitan area. Canada In generic terms and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government with partial or complete consol ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 14,520 km², and its population is 1,177,436 (2022). Its provincial capital is the city of

Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

, and the

traffic code Traffic codes are laws that generally include provisions relating to the establishment of authority and enforcement procedures, statement of the rules of the road, and other safety provisions. Administrative regulations for driver licensing, v ...

is 46. In 2023, Its Pazarcık and Elbistan districts were home to the

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes On 6 February 2023, at 04:17 Time in Turkey, TRT (01:17 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), a 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Ba'athist Syria, Syria. The epicenter was west–northwest ...

causing major damage to the city with 50K+ deaths.

Geography

Making up 1.83 % of Turkey's land area, Kahramanmaraş is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. The majority of the province with around 60% of the total area is covered with mountains, being followed by plateaus and plains. Most of the mountains in the province is part of the Southeastern Taurus Mountain range. Due to the low

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

most of the highest areas are bare, but lower regions have forests. Southern parts of the province has a hot-summer type

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(''Csa''), including the administrative center of Kahramanmaraş. Northern parts of the province show the characteristics of a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

(''Dsa'' and ''Dsb''). At the northernmost parts of the province lays the Elbistan Plain, where the town and district of Elbistan is located. It has a cold semi arid climate.

Ceyhan River The Ceyhan River (historically Pyramos or Pyramus (), Leucosyrus () or Jihun) is a river in Anatolia in the south of Turkey. Course of the river The Ceyhan River (Pyramus) has its source (known as ''Söğütlü Dere'') at a location called '' ...

is the most important river in the province. Lake Kumaşır, along with some small crater lakes on the Nurhak and Ahir mountains makes the only natural body of water in the province, though there are multiple dam reservoirs such as Dam Lake Menzelet.

History

More than 12,600 residents of Kahramanmaraş province were killed during the 6 February 2023 earthquakes. Both earthquakes had epicenters in the province. Many large towns and cities including Elbistan had buildings collapse.

Districts

Kahramanmaraş province is divided into 11

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 ...

(İlçe): *

Afşin Afşin is a municipality and district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,502 km2, and its population is 80,044 (2022). It is the location of the ancient town Arabissus. Afşin-Elbistan power stations Two coal fired power ...

Andırın Andırın is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,202 km2, and its population is 31,224 (2022). Composition There are 57 mahalle, neighbourhoods in Andırın District:

* Çağlayancerit * Dulkadiroğlu * Ekinözü * Elbistan * Göksun * Nurhak * Onikişubat * Pazarcık * Türkoğlu

Health

Air pollution in Turkey In Turkey, air pollution is the most lethal of the nation's environmental issues, with almost everyone across the country exposed to more than World Health Organization guidelines. Over 30,000 people die each year from air pollution-related ill ...

is a persistent issue and has been linked to the usage of coal-fired power plants, such as the Afşin-Elbistan power stations.

Economy

Kahramanmaraş has historically been famous for its

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. The

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

in Kahramanmaraş has only recently developed and mainly operates through the use of machinery.

Education

The Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University is a recently founded university supplying social, language and technical sciences as well as

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

education.

Cuisine

The province's most famous culinary specialty is Dondurma, also called " Maraş ice cream", available in specialist Ice Cream shops throughout Turkey. The ice cream has an elastic consistency and is served with knife and fork, often accompanied by a slice of

baklava Baklava (, or ; ) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of th ...

. It melts in the mouth while chewed, with a consistency similar to bubble gum. Maraş red peppers () are also well known for its aroma,

Vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

content, and moderate hotness. Maraş pepper is different from far-east chilies as dried with support of Scientific Investigations and Universities which contains no

aflatoxin Aflatoxins are various toxicity, poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that are produced by certain Mold (fungus), molds, especially ''Aspergillus'' species such as ''Aspergillus flavus'' and ''Aspergillus parasiticus''. According to the USDA, "The ...

and no diseases.

References

External links

Kahramanmaraş Weather Forecast Information

Kahramanmaraş City Portal

Kahramanmaraş News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahramanmaras Province Towns of Ottoman Syria