Afyonkarahisar District

Afyonkarahisar District
District
Afyonkarahisar Castle overlooking the city of Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar district within Afyonkarahisar Province
Afyonkarahisar District
Location in Turkey
Afyonkarahisar District
Afyonkarahisar District (Turkey Aegean)
Coordinates: 38°45′N 30°32′E / 38.750°N 30.533°E / 38.750; 30.533
CountryTurkey
ProvinceAfyonkarahisar
SeatAfyonkarahisar[1]
Area
[2]
1,261 km2 (487 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[3]
319,574
 • Density250/km2 (660/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)

Afyonkarahisar District (also known as Merkez, meaning "central") is a district in the Afyonkarahisar Province of Turkey. Its seat is the city Afyonkarahisar. Its occupied an area of 1,261 km2 (487 sq mi), and had a population of 319,574 in 2021.

Etymology

Afyonkarahisar means "opium black castle" in Turkish.[4] It was named as "Karahisar" meaning black castle ("kara" meaning black and "hisar" meaning castle[5]) in the 13th century CE after the castle overlooking the town. The prefix "afyon" meaning opium was added to the name in 1923 because of the opium production in the region.[4][6] It is also mentioned by the name Merkez meaning "central" in Turkish.[7][8]

History

Early years

Human civilization has begun in the Early Bronze Age about 5000 years ago in the region. In 1800 BCE, Hittites occupied the region until the Phrygians populated it from 12th to 6th century BCE.[9] The Hittites built a primitive fort atop the 220 m (720 ft) high granite rock overlooking the town of Afyonkarahisar (then known as Hapanuwa).[10] In 333 BCE, Alexander the Great captured the region, and named the region as Akroinon or Akronium. The name was subsequently used by the Macedonians, Selucids, and the Roman Empire, which ruled over the region.[10]

Middle ages

Akroinοn became an important fortress in the Armeniakon theme during the Byzantine rule due to its strategic location.[10] It finds mention in the Byzantine history when it was attacked in 716 and 732 CE by Arabs invaders.[11] After Byzantine emperor Leo III won a decisive victory over an Umayyad Caliphate in the Battle of Akroinon in 740 CE, the town was renamed as Nicopolis or city of Nicholas.(Greek for "city of victory").[6][12] Since the 10th century, it was also a bishopric of Phrygia Salutaris.[11] In the 11th century CE, the region became part of the frontier zone between the Byzantine Empire and the invading Turks.[13]

The region was lost by the Byzantines to the Seljuk Turks from the Sultanate of Rum when Manuel I Komnenos captured the region in the middle of 12th century CE.[11][14] The Seljuks renamed the castle as "Kara Hisar".[10] When the town was occupied by the Sâhib Ata in the 13th century CE, the region was called as Sahip Kara Hisar in honour of him.[6] The region had been in the middle of battles for much of the Crusades, and was finally conquered by the Ottomans under Beyazid I in 1392 CE. The Ottomans lost it after the invasion of Timur Lenk in 1402 CE, but recaptured it in 1428-29 CE.[10]

Later years

Under the Ottoman empire, the region was situated on the major trade route linking Smyrna and Western Asia.[12] It thrived as a major centre of opium production, and Afyon became a wealthy city.[4][10] In 1902, a fire burning for 32 hours destroyed parts of the city.[15] The region was a major producer of raw opium until the late 1960s,[4] when the production was controlled and a ban was enforced except licensed production for pharmaceutical purposes.[6][16] The name was officially changed to Afyonkarahisar in 2004.[10]

Geography

Afyonkarahisar district is one of the 18 districts in the Afyonkarahisar Province of Turkey.[7] Its occupied an area of 1,261 km2 (487 sq mi),[2] and had a population of 319,574 in 2021.[3] The region is home to many thermal springs, which were used by human since the Bronze Age. The Romans constructed various marble baths using the springs, and large social complexes were built around these during the Ottoman era.[9] The waters of the springs have a temperature range of 46–71 °C (115–160 °F) and contain various mineral salts such as sodium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate.[9]

Sub-divisions

There are 15 municipalities in Afyonkarahisar district including the city and capital of Afyonkarahisar:[1][17]

There are 22 villages in the district:[18]

  • Alcalı
  • Anıtkaya
  • Bayramgazi
  • Belkaracaören
  • Bostanlı
  • Burhaniye
  • Çavdarlı
  • Değirmendere
  • Gözsüzlü
  • Halımoru
  • Kaplanlı
  • Karaarslan
  • Kızıldağ
  • Kozluca
  • Köprülü
  • Küçükkalecik
  • Olucak
  • Omuzca
  • Saadet
  • Saraydüzü
  • Sarık
  • Yarımca

References

  1. ^ a b "İl Belediyesi". Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2021" (XLS). TÜİK (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Maarten J. M. Christenhusz; Michael F. Fay; Mark W. Chase (2017). Plants of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants. University of Chicago Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-226-52292-0.
  5. ^ Lewis Thomas (Apr 1, 1986). Elementary Turkish. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 12. ISBN 978-0486250649.
  6. ^ a b c d John Everett-Heath (2017). "Afyon". The Concise Dictionary of World Place Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-192-55646-2.
  7. ^ a b "TR332 Afyonkarahisar". Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Merkez". Tureng. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Afyon, Turkey". Historic Thermal Towns. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Afyonkarahisar castle". Castles.nl. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Kazhdan, Alexander; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Akroinon". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  12. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Afium-kara-hissar" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 319–320.
  13. ^ Pitcher, Donald Edgar (1972). An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire from Earliest Times to the End of the Sixteenth Century. Brill. p. 26. ISBN 978-9-004-03828-8. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  14. ^ Matthews, Roger (1990). Ancient Anatolia Fifty Years. British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. pp. 309–311. ISBN 978-0-995-46569-5. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Latest intelligence - Turkish town burnt". The Times. No. 36861. 1 September 1902. p. 4.
  16. ^ "Archived copy". fco-stage.fco.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2 September 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ "Belde Belediyesi". Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Köy". Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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