Tufanbeyli is municipality and

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Adana Province Adana Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey located in central Cilicia. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 78.25% of the r ...

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 851 km², and its population is 16,400 (2022). It is 196 km north-east of the city of

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

, on an uneven, sloping plateau high in the Tahtalı range of the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...

. It has been bounded economically to

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

, 178 km far. Its neighbors are Sarız from North,

Göksun Göksun (, or , ''Koukousós''; or ; ) is a municipality and district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,942 km2, and its population is 50,676 (2022). It is near one of the sources of the Ceyhan River (ancient Pyramos), in the ...

from east, Saimbeyli from south,

Develi Develi, formerly known as ''Averak'' or ''Everek'', is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kayseri Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,892 km2, and its population is 66,840 (2022). History The historical name of the town is Eve ...

from south-west and Tomarza from west. Tufanbeyli is reached by crossing one of three high mountain passes. It's a struggle to reach but the views are incredible. The river

Göksu The Göksu River (), known in antiquity as the Calycadnus and in the Middle Ages as the Saleph, is a river on the Taşeli Plateau in southern Turkey. Its two sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northern in the Geyik Mountains and the s ...

, a tributary of the

Seyhan Seyhan is a Districts of Turkey, district-municipality in the Adana Province of Turkey. Its area is 444 km2, and its population is 795,012 (2022). It forms the core of the Adana urban area. Seyhan is home to 35 percent of the residents of Ada ...

runs across the plateau. The climate is hot dry summers and cold winters. The mountains are forested but these are steadily being consumed by the local people.

History

During the Bronze Age, the area was part of the kingdom of

Kizzuwatna Kizzuwatna (or Kizzuwadna; in Ancient Egyptian ''Kode'' or ''Qode'') was an ancient Anatolian kingdom, attested in written sources from the end of the 16th century BC onwards, but though its origins are still obscure, the Middle Bronze Age in Cili ...

. In classical antiquity, the region of Tufanbeyli was in the southwestern corner of

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

(while the parts of the Adana region south of Tufanbeyli were in

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

). The city of Comana was situated near Şarköy, some kilometers north of Tufanbeyli. The area is now settled by descendants of Turks from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and the Avşar (

Afshar tribe Afshar ( ; , ; ; ) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Afshar means "obedient". According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz ...

; the former having come to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

as a result of the Russian influx into the Caucasus in the 18th and 19th centuries. The latter being one of the group of Turkish migrants from Asia that have preserved their clan identity in Anatolia. The Avşar played a key role in the Turkish conquest of the

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

region and remained a local authority right up until the 19th century, especially in mountain strongholds like Tufanbeyli. Its former names were Höketçe before 1923 and Mağara between 1923 and 1967. It became a district in 1958 by separating from Saimbeyli.

Composition

There are 35

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Tufanbeyli District: * Akçal * Akpınar * Ayvat * Bozgüney * Çatalçam * Çukurkışla * Cumhuriyet * Damlalı * Demiroluk * Doğanbeyli * Doğanlı * Elemanlı * Evci * Fatih * Fatmakuyu * Güzelim * Hanyeri * İğdebel * İstiklal * Karsavuran * Kayapınar * Kayırcık * Kirazlıyurt * Koçcağız * Mehmet Akif Ersoy *

Ortaköy Ortaköy (, ''Middle Village)'' is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 9,121 (2024). It is on the European shore of the Bosphorus. it was originally a small fishing villag ...

* Pekmezli * Pınarlar * Polatpınarı * Şarköy * Taşpınar * Tozlu * Yamanlı * Yenicami * Yeşilova

Power station

Mercury air pollution from the

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

has been estimated at over 500 kg/year.

References

External links

Tufanbeyli District Governorship

Tufanbeyli MunicipalityShort introduction to the areaWebsite about the Avşar culture
{{Authority control Populated places in Adana Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Districts of Adana Province