Ardahan Province
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Ardahan Province |
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| Location of Ardahan Province in Turkey | |
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| Overview | |
| Region: | Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey |
| Area: | 5,661 (km²) |
| Total Population | 119,172 TUIK 2006 (est) |
| Licence plate code: | 75 |
| Area code: | 0478 |
| Governor Website | http://www.ardahan.gov.tr |
| Weather forecast | turkeyforecast.com/weather/ardahan |
Ardahan Province is a province in the far north-east of Turkey, at the very end of the country, where Turkey borders with Georgia and Armenia.
The provincial capital is the city of Ardahan.
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[edit] Etymology
Its historical names include Ардаган (Ardagan) in Russian, არტაანი, artaani in Georgian and Արդահան in Armenian.
[edit] Geography
This is attractive open countryside which however spends many months of the year under snow. At this altitude temperatures quite commonly reach -20 and can drop below freezing right up until May.
The local economy depends on farming and raising livestock. Until 1993 Ardahan was a district of the province of Kars, becoming a province in its own right has meant more investment in infrastructure, but still this is an impoverished area that since the 1950s has seen a large number of its people migrate to other parts of Turkey or abroad. The population declined from 170,000 people in 1990 to 119,000 in 2000. Ethnic groups in the region include, Kipchak Turkish, Turkman, Karapapaks and Azeri Turkish people.
There are two crossing points into the Samtskhe-Javakheti district of Georgia, one at Posof and the other (currently closed) at Çıldır. The Turkish military have a strong presence in this border district, another boost to the local economy.