 Tunceli Province |
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| Location of Tunceli Province in Turkey | |
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| Overview | |
| Region: | Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey |
| Area: | 7,774 (km²) |
| Total Population | 76,401 TUIK 2007 (est) |
| Population density | 9.8 (pop/km²) |
| Licence plate code: | 62 |
| Area code: | 0392 |
| Governor Website | http://www.tunceli.gov.tr |
Tunceli is a province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The province was named Dersim until 1936 (Dersim meaning 'silver door' in Zazaki and Kurdish), and some still call the region by this name. Its adjacent provinces are Erzincan to the north and west, Elazığ to the south, and Bingöl to the east. The province covers an area of 7,774 km² and has a population of 76,401. It has the lowest population density of any province in Turkey, just 9.8 inhabitants/km². Tunceli is the only Turkish province with an Alevi majority.
The name of the provincial capital, Kalan, was then officially changed to match with the province's name. Tunceli is known for its old buildings (though mainly destroyed by Hamidiye Alays in the late 19th century and the Turkish army in 1936-37 military operations against the last remaining Armenians and Alevi derebeys, or local rulers), and impressive scenery, especially along the Munzur River.
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Districts
Tunceli province is divided into 8 districts (capital district in bold):
Although a distinct province, it was administered from Elazığ until 1947.
History
The history of the province stretches back to antiquity. It has been mentioned as 'Daranalis' by Ptolemy, and seemingly, it was referred to as 'Daranis' before him. One theory as to the origin of the name associates with the Persian Emperor Darius.
The area that would become Tunceli province formed part of Urartu, Media, the Achaemenid Empire, and the Greater Armenian region of Sophene. Sophene was later contested by the Roman and Parthian Empires and by their respective successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires. Arabs invaded in the 7th century, and Seljuq Turks in the 11th.[1]
As of the end of the 19th century, the region (called "Dersim") was included in the Ottoman sancak (subprovince) of Hozat, depending the city and the province of Mamuret-ül Aziz (Elazığ today), with the exception of the actual district of Pülümür, which depended on the neighboring sancak of Erzincan, then a part of the Erzurum Province. This status continued through the first years of the Republic of Turkey, until 1936 when the name of the province ("Dersim") was changed to Tunceli, literally 'the land of bronze' in Turkish (tunç meaning 'bronze' and el (in this context) meaning 'land') after the Dersim Revolt. The center of the province has been fixed in the town of Kalan and the district of Pülümür has been added within the boundaries of the new province.
Education
Ninety-eight percent of Tunceli's population has at least a primary school education, leading to one of the highest rates of literacy for a district within Turkey. In 1979/1980 Tunceli had the highest number of students attending universities as well as the top entry points until the only higher education school shut down and converted to a military base.
The university which claimed to be converted to a military is still there. It was just two institutions exchanged their buildings. Those buildings originally belonged to the University of Fırat in Elazığ. The education has never stopped there up to now. A brand new university, which belongs to Tunceli itself has just been established. The university has important departments such as international relationships, economy,environment protection engineering, industrial engineering, electronic engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering and so on. The aim of this new institution is to serve the people in the region since they got high rate of literacy.
References
External links
- Official Homepage of the Province Governor
- Official Homepage of the Culture and Tourism head office
- Official Homepage of the police head office
- Official Homepage of the Education head office
- Official Homepage of the health head office
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Coordinates: 39°12′53″N 39°28′17″E / 39.21472°N 39.47139°E
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