Malatya Province

Malatya Province (Turkish: Malatya ili; Kurdish: Parezgêha Meletîyê[2]) is a province of Turkey. It is part of a larger mountainous area. The capital of the province is Malatya. The area of Malatya province is 12,313 km². Malatya Province had a population of 853,658 according to the results of 2000 census, whereas in 2010 it had a population of 740,643. The provincial center, the city of Malatya, has a population of 426,381 (2010).

Malatya Province
Malatya ili
Province of Turkey
Location of Malatya Province in Turkey
CountryTurkey
RegionCentral East Anatolia
SubregionMalatya
Government
 • Electoral districtMalatya
Area
 • Total12,313 km2 (4,754 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total797,036
 • Density65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Area code0422
Vehicle registration44

According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan.[3]

Demographics

The province had a population of 306,882 in 1927 of which 98.9% was Muslim and 1% Christian.[4] Linguistically, Turkish was the most spoken first language at 57.3%, followed by Kurdish at 40.2% and Armenian at 0.9%.[5] The population increased to 410,152 in 1935 of which 99.3% was Muslim and 0.6% Christian.[6] Turkish remained the most spoken first language at 60.2%, followed by Kurdish 39.3% and Armenian at 0.4%.[7] The province had a population of 483,568 in 1950 of which Turkish was spoken by 64.8% of the population, followed by Kurdish at 34.9%. Armenian remained the third most spoken language but decreased to 0.2%.[8] The modern province of Malatya doesn't fully coincide with the province of Malatya until 1954, before when the province also included the modern Turkish province of Adıyaman,[9] which was more than double Kurdish-speaking than Malatya according to the 1965 census.[10]

It was estimated in 2012 that about 20% to 30% of the province was Alevi the vast majority of which was Kurdish. This group is mostly politically aligned with nationalist Kurdish parties especially after the Sivas Massacre and activity of the Kurdistan Workers' Party since the early 1990s.[11]

History

The province was the regional center of Kurdish nationalism in the early 20th century. The local governor of the province and mayor of Malatya city were both sympathetic to the Kurdish cause and Celadet Bedir Khan, Kamuran Alî Bedirxan and other members of the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan visited the region various times and established cordial relations with the local tribes including with the Reşwan tribe.[12]

Geography
Malatya Turgut Ozal Nature Park. View of stream and trees

Districts

Malatya province is divided into 14 districts (capital district in bold):

  • Akçadağ
  • Arapgir
  • Arguvan
  • Battalgazi
  • Darende
  • Doğanşehir
  • Doğanyol
  • Hekimhan
  • Kale
  • Kuluncak
  • Malatya
  • Pütürge
  • Yazıhan
  • Yeşilyurt

Local sites
  • İnönü University (since 1975)
  • Turgut Özal Medical Center (in İnönü University)
  • Malatya Erhaç Airport (serving both public and military)
  • Eskimalatya (old city centre, historical place)

Bibliography
  • Dündar, Fuat (2000), Türkiye nüfus sayımlarında azınlıklar (in Turkish), ISBN 9789758086771

References
  1. "Population of provinces by years - 2000-2018". Turkish Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  2. "Li Meletî 3 tax û li Êlihê gundek hatin kerentînekirin" (in Kurdish). Rûdaw. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. "Kurds, Kurdistān". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2 ed.). BRILL. 2002. ISBN 9789004161214. Turkish Kurdistan numbers at least 17 of them almost totally:... the provinces of Malatya, Tunceli, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş, Karaköse (Ağrı), then Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Bitlis and Van; Finally, the southern provinces of Şanlıurfa, Mardin and Çölamerik (Hakkarî)...
  4. Dündar (2000), p. 159.
  5. Dündar (2000), p. 157.
  6. Dündar (2000), p. 168.
  7. Dündar (2000), pp. 163–164.
  8. Dündar (2000), p. 188.
  9. "Adıyaman Tarihi". T.C. Adıyaman Valiliği. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. Ahn, Elise Soyun (2011). "SEEING TURKISH STATE FORMATION PROCESSES: MAPPING LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION CENSUS DATA" (PDF): 105. Retrieved 29 July 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. Massicard, Elise (2012). The Alevis in Turkey and Europe : Identity and Managing Territorial Diversity. Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 170–172. ISBN 9780415667968.
  12. Henning, Barbara (2018). Narratives of the History of the Ottoman-Kurdish Bedirhani Family in Imperial and Post-Imperial Contexts: Continuities and Changes. University of Bamberg Press. p. 443. ISBN 9783863095512.
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