Şanlıurfa Province

Şanlıurfa Province ( tr, Şanlıurfa ili; ku, Parêzgeha Rihayê) or simply Urfa Province is a province in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which bears its name. The population is 1,845,667 (2014). The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority with a significant Arab and Turkish minority.

Districts

Şanlıurfa province is divided into 13 districts (capital district in bold):
* Urfa (Central district. In 2014 it was split into three districts: Eyyübiye, Haliliye and Karaköprü.)
* Akçakale
* Birecik
* Bozova
* Ceylanpınar
* Halfeti
* Harran
* Hilvan
* Siverek
* Suruç
* Viranşehir

Geography

Area 18,584 km² (7,173 sq. miles), the largest province of Southeast Anatolia with:
* Adıyaman to the north;
* Syria to the south;
* Mardin and Diyarbakır to the east;
* Gaziantep to the west;

Şanlıurfa includes several major components of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (in Turkish ''Güneydogu Anadolu Projesi'' (GAP)) designed to:
* exploit the hydropower potential of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers;
* dramatically expand irrigation for agriculture; and
* develop the economy of the region.
This very large-scale, state-sponsored development project involved the damming, redirecting, hydroelectric tapping and other use of rivers in this broad, semi-arid region. (The rivers then flow into Syria and Iraq). The GAP includes 22 dams and water supply for 1.8 million hectares for agricultural areas.

Economy

Agriculture is the largest economic sector in Şanlıurfa province. As of 2000, 43% of the province's GDP is in agriculture, 40% service, 11% industry, and 6% in construction. The total GDP is $1.85 billion USD.

Agriculture

Şanlıurfa province is a major producer of cotton, wheat, and barley. Cotton production in particular increased dramatically after the GAP was initiated in 1995. The influx of irrigation availability meant that many farmers could switch from dry to irrigated agriculture, and cotton's high market value enticed a majority of farmers to start planting it. The province's annual cotton yield rose from 277,000 tons in 1995 to 708,602 tons in 2004. By 2021, the province produces 42% of all cotton in Turkey. As of 2008, the province also produced 11% of all dry legumes, 6.4% of barley, and 4% of wheat in the country. Other crops include red lentil, pistachio, grape, sesame, and various vegetables. In terms of animal husbandry, sheep and goats are the most important. As of 2015, about 32% of the province's workforce is employed in agriculture. However, the employment share of agriculture has been declining. Another problem is that excessive irrigation has caused increased soil salinity.

Şanlıurfa province is among the leading producers of pistachios in Turkey. As of 2021, the province has 29.7 million pistachio trees and produced 38,576 tons of pistachios — about a third of the national total of 119,000 tons. However, most of the processing for the pistachios is done in Gaziantep instead.

The province is also a major producer of several varieties of peppers. As of 2021, Şanlıurfa province produced 77,663 tons of capia peppers; 6,180 tons of sivri peppers; and 1,296 tons of bell peppers.

Agriculture in Şanlıurfa province is dominated by large-scale landowners. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, an influx of Syrian refugees willing to work for cheap have changed the agricultural labor market here. Local seasonal farm workers, who demand higher wages, are unable to find work in the province and are increasingly temporarily migrating to other provinces for seasonal farm work.

Industry

Industry has been increasing in employment share in Şanlıurfa province, reached 16% in 2006. The biggest industries include food processing (especially baked goods and dairy products) and textiles (especially cotton fabrics), which as of 2002 together employ 54% of industrial workers in the province. Other important industries (based on location quotient) include treatment and coating of metals (especially copper) and the manufacturing of pumps, compressors, and other agricultural equipment.

Services

The largest part of the service sector in Şanlıurfa province, both in GDP and employment, is wholesale and retail trade. Many wholesalers and retailers in the province are closely linked to the agricultural sector - for example, through wholesale of seeds for farmers, wholesale of dairy products, retail sale of meat products, or retail sale of textiles. Another important activity in this sector is freight transport by road, which has a high location quotient for the province because it lies on the main road connection between the port of Mersin and the Habur border crossing into Iraq.

Demographics

As of 2000, the province has a population growth rate of 30.9%, which is well above the national rate of 14.9%. Average household size in the province is 6.87 people, which is above the national average of 4.5. About 42% of the province's population lives in rural areas and 58% in urban areas - a somewhat lower rate of urbanization than the country as a whole, which is 65% urban. The average per capita income is $1,300 USD annually. The province has a low literacy rate - especially among women, who are only 52% literate in the province compared to 80% nationwide. The province also has high out-migration.

Şanlıurfa province has the highest population of Syrian refugees in Turkey. There are an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 Syrian refugees in the province, including some 80,000 living in 4 refugee camps. The presence of large Kurdish and Arab populations in the province means that there is less of a language barrier for Syrians in Şanlıurfa province than in other parts of Turkey, and the similar cultural and religious values make the province a more comfortable setting for many migrants as well. As a result, tensions between locals and refugees are somewhat lower in Şanlıurfa province than elsewhere.

Employment for Syrians is concentrated most heavily in the construction, retail and wholesale, and agricultural sectors. Syrian labor is desirable for many employers because they are willing to work for lower wages than locals. For example, while mechanized cotton harvesting is an option for farmers, it is cheaper for them to hire Syrian workers to pick cotton by hand. Competition between Syrian and local seasonal farm workers has contributed to tension between the two groups, as the influx of Syrian labor has driven local farm workers to migrate to other provinces for seasonal farm work.

Şanlıurfa province has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Turkey. According to TÜİK, there were 955 marriages of girls under the age of 18 in Şanlıurfa province in 2021, which was the second-highest in the country behind Gaziantep.

Politics

On 1 January 1928 the province was included into the First Inspectorate-General over which an Inspector-General ruled according to the policies recommended in Report for Reform in the East. The Inspectorate was governed with martial law and span over the provinces of Hakkâri, Siirt, Van, Mardin, Bitlis, Sanlıurfa, Elaziğ and Diyarbakır. The office of the Inspector General was dissolved in 1952.

Şanlıurfa once being a relatively competitive province between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the True Path Party (DYP), it is now one of the most solid AKP provinces.

While the AKP managed to win Şanlıurfa with a comfortable 43.04% during the 2004 local elections, it has since then increased its margins of victory here. Following the diminishing popularity of smaller parties such as the DYP, Şanlıurfa heavily shifted towards the AKP, winning the November 2015 election with 64.55% of the votes. Şanlıurfa once again showed its status as an AKP stronghold in the 2017 referendum, with the Yes vote winning with a wide margin of 41.8%.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) came in second with 38.1 in the general elections in June 2015, and with 28.2% the HDP was also second in the November 2015 general election.

The far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) scored an exceptional 7.18% in the 1999 local elections. Its vote share eventually ebbed to a more usual 2.97% in the 2004 local elections. The MHP showed a significant recovery in the indecisive June 2015 election by winning 5.56% of the votes. However, the MHP went on to suffer from a nationwide loss in the upset November 2015 election, with its vote share declining to 2.75% in Şanlıurfa.

The centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) usually maintains a modest share of slightly below 5%. Similar to the other two opposition parties, the CHP suffered a loss in Şanlıurfa, going from 4.10% in the June 2015 election to 2.70% in the November 2015 election.

The current Governor of Sanliurfa is Abdullah Erin.

Places of interest

The province is famous for its Abrahamic sites such as Balıklıgöl, where Prophet Abraham was cast by Nimrod into fire that is believed to have turned to water. Also the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque, where Abraham is believed to be born in the cave next to the mosque is well known. Within the province, approximately 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city of Şanlıurfa, is the pre-historic site of Göbekli Tepe, where continuing excavations have unearthed 12,000-year-old sanctuaries dating from the early Neolithic period, considered to be the oldest temples in the world, predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years.

The following tombs and sacred spots are located within the province:TÜRBELER
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* Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)'s birthplace
* Prophet Ayyub ( Job)'s cave and tomb
* Prophet Alyasa (Elisha)'s Tomb
* Imam Bakir's Tomb
* Shaykh Hayat al-Harrani's Tomb
* The first burial place of Said Nursi
* Rahma Hatun's Tomb
* Neolithic Temple at Göbekli Tepe
* Neolithic Settlement at Nevalı Çori

Gallery

File:Şanlıurfa,_Şanlıurfa_Merkez-Şanlıurfa_Province,_Turkey_-_panoramio_(16).jpg,
File:Balikli_Göl_03.jpg,
File:Mevlid-i_Halil_Mosque_19.jpg,
File:Eyyup Peygamber mosque urfa.jpg,
File:UrfaBasar.jpg,
File:Urfastreet.jpg,
File:Urfa01.jpeg,
File:Harran-beehouses.jpg,

References

External links

Website of the City of Sanliurfa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanliurfa Province

1928 establishments in Turkey
States and territories established in 1928
Provinces of Turkey
Turkish Kurdistan
Upper Mesopotamia