Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

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 ...

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 ...

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, 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. It is the site of an ...

Rize Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District. Artvin is an attractive area of steep valleys carved by the

Çoruh River The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'' , , ''Chorokh'', , , ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İspir, Yusufeli, and Artvin, along the Kelkit Rive ...

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 in 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. It is the seat of Şavşat District.

and Borçka 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

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

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 native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

s and

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

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

Deriner Dam Deriner Dam () 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 on the dam began in 199 ...

and others at Borçka and Muratlı. Hopa-madenleri

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

Demographics

In addition to the ethnic Turks, the province is home to communities of

Laz people The Laz people, or Lazi ( ''Lazi''; ka, ლაზი, ''lazi''; or ჭანი, ''ch'ani''; ), are a Kartvelian languages, Kartvelian ethnic group native to the South Caucasus, who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Black Sea Region, ...

and

Hemshin peoples The Hemshin people (, ; ), also known as Hemshinli or Hamshenis or Homshetsi, are a bilingual ethnographic group of Armenians who mostly practice Sunni Islam after their conversion from Christianity in the beginning of the 18th century an ...

. 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 Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

many of them descendants of

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

families from Georgia who migrated during the struggles between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

during the 19th century. With such diverse peoples, Artvin has a rich variety of folk song and dance (see Arifana and Kochari for examples of folk culture).

Places of interest

* The city of

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District.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 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

Şavşat Şavşat ( ka, შავშეთი, tr) is a town in 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. It is the seat of Şavşat District.

* Genciyan Hill in Şavşat, overlooks the border * The lakes of Şavşat and Borçka and the crater lake of Kuyruklu. * The

Çoruh River The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'' , , ''Chorokh'', , , ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İspir, Yusufeli, and Artvin, along the Kelkit Rive ...

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

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

. * Bilbilan Yaylası - a typical Turkish high meadow. * Savangin pre-historical

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

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 wr ...

written in an unknown or unsolved

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

Notable people

* Prochorus the Iberian (985-1066), Georgian monk and founder of the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem. Born in Shavsheti. * Ioane Petritsi, Georgian Neoplatonist philosopher of the 11th-12th century. Born in the village of Chimchimi in modern Yusufeli. * Ioane Shavteli, Georgian poet of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Born in the village of Shavmta in Shavsheti. * Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (1901-1962), Turkish poet, novelist, literary scholar, essayist. His father is of Georgian descent from

Maçahel Machakheli ( ka, მაჭახელი, ''Mač’axeli''; ) is a historical geographical area in Adjara and long valley along the river Machakhlistskali between Turkey and Georgia (country), Georgia. There are 23 settled villages in this valley. ...

. * Zülfü Livaneli, singer and politician, born into a family from Yusufeli. * Mircan Kaia, singer, composer and engineer, born into a Laz-Georgian family from Artvin. * Kazım Koyuncu, Laz folk rock singer, guitarist and composer, born in Artvin's Black Sea town of Hopa *

Beyazıt Öztürk Beyazıt Öztürk (born 12 March 1969), also known as Beyaz, is a Turkish television personality, standup comedian and actor. He was the host of '' Beyaz Show'', a popular Turkish talk show. In 2018, he became one of the judges on ''O Ses Türki ...

, Turkish television personality, standup comedian and actor. His father is of Georgian descent from Ardanuç. * Özcan Alper, Turkish film director and screenwriter of Hemshin descent. * Algı Eke, Turkish actress. Born into a Georgian family from Artvin.

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 9

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): * Ardanuç *

Arhavi Arhavi ( Laz: არქაბი/Arǩabi; Georgian: არქაბი/arkabi) is a town in Artvin Province located in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Arhavi District.Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District.Borçka * Hopa *

Kemalpaşa Kemalpaşa is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 681 km2, and its population is 114,250 (2022). Kemalpaşa town is from the historical and traditional center of İzmir, (Konak, İzmir, Ko ...

* Murgul *

Şavşat Şavşat ( ka, შავშეთი, tr) is a town in 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. It is the seat of Şavşat District.

*

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

Sister cities

*

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

*

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

*

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Demographics

Places of interest

Notable people

Districts

Sister cities

See also

References

External links