Hello,
Today, we are in the central district of the same name of Artvin province, which is located on Turkey's border with Georgia.
Unfortunately, because our narrator Merve Demirci was a little uncomfortable, it fell to me to explain today. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience to your ears.
Have fun watching.
Artvin is a province located in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey and has a coast to the Black Sea. Borcka in the north of the central district, Ardanuç in the east, Yusufeli in the south and Murgul in the west are located.
According to the data of 2021, the total population of the province is 170 thousand, and the population of the central district is 35 thousand. The altitude of the district is 530 meters above sea level.
With its geographical and cultural structure, it is separated from other regions of Anatolia with sharp lines. Surface shapes are very rough. Climate diversity is high. The most important river of the province is the Coruh River, which gave its name until 1956.
Artvin is a city famous for its bulls and its symbol is the bull.
Forest areas cover approximately 55% of Artvin provincial territory.
Georgians, Hemşinlis, Meskhetian Turks and Laz constitute Artvin's provincial population.
It is generally known as Livane and Çoruh in history.
The previous name of the province was Çoruh, and it became Artvin in 1956 with the law passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Artvin and its surroundings have lived through the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, starting from the Neolithic Age, in prehistoric times. The traces of people from the Neolithic Age dating from 10 thousand to 8 thousand BC give the impression that people lived in Artvin during these ages as well. The metal objects found, on the other hand, document that prehistoric times were lived in sequence.
Artvin was one of the settlements in Klarceti, one of the regions of Georgia in the Middle Ages.
It was located at an intersection with important roads. It was opening to Erzurum, Bayburt, Ardahan and Ardanuç on the one hand, and Batum and Hopa on the other. The city was also one of the piers for water transport between Artvin and Batumi in the Coruh Basin.
Artvin center has a warm and rainy climate type. The high parts of the province are snowy in winter, as in other Black Sea Region provinces. However, it is rainy and cool all year. The Black Sea climate in Turkey, which is seen throughout Artvin, is harsher in winters where the altitude of the central district is high.
If the economy of Artvin is analyzed in terms of agriculture, it is based on tea, hazelnut and recently kiwi farming. Thanks to the newly constructed dam, it is predicted that the parts of Artvin, which had harsh winters, will now be warmer, and it is thought that it will enable the production of tea and kiwi.
Artvin is not an industrially dense city. There are tea and hazelnut factories. Apart from this, there is no large industrial establishment in the province.
Artvin has important mineral deposits. MTA has identified 81 mineral deposits in the city. The main minerals are copper, gold, silver and zinc. The mines are concentrated in Artvin and Murgul districts.
Black Sea and Caucasian culture is dominant in Artvin. Caucasian culture exists in Meskhetian and Cuman Turks and partially in Georgians. The Black Sea culture is found in Laz, Hemshin and Georgians. Corn flour is widely used. Kale is a product frequently consumed by Georgians and Laz people in Artvin. Local instruments are kemençe, tulum, accordion, drum and zurna.
Bar dances in the Artvin region and the folk dance, which was named Artvin Bar but was renamed Atabarı in honor of Atatürk, became synonymous with Artvin.
The symbol of Artvin province is Taurus. The Traditional Bullfighting Festival is held every year, the Kafkasör festival being the most famous.
This is it from the central district of Artivin.
Next week, we will be in Hopa, our last town before the Sarp gate of the Turkey-Georgia border.
Don't forget to stay tuned.