Erzincan Province in the context of Üzümlü

Altıntepe (Turkish for "golden hill") or Yerez (Armenian: Երեզ) is an Urartian fortress and temple archaeological site dating from the 9th to 7th century BCE. It is located on a small hill overlooking the Euphrates River in the Üzümlü district of Erzincan Province, Turkey.

Altıntepe is located at the 12th kilometre on the highway from Erzincan to Erzurum. The site was discovered in 1938 during the construction of a nearby railway line. The remains are situated on a volcanic hill 60 m high. During excavations undertaken between 1959 and 1968 and led by Professor Dr. Tahsin Özgüç, a fortified settlement from the Urartian period was found. In the excavated area a temple or palace, a great hall, a warehouse, city walls, various rooms, and three subterranean chamber tombs on the south side of the hill were found. After a long gap, excavations were restarted in 2003 by the decision of the Council of Ministers, under the leadership of Professor Dr. Mehmet Karaosmanoğlu.

Erzincan (pronounced [æɾˈzindʒan]; Kurdish: Erzîngan), historically Yerznka (Armenian: Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni with a Kurdish Alevi minority.

The city had a population of 150,714 in 2022, an increase from 86,779 in 2007.

Giresun Province (Greek : Κερασούντα, Turkish: Giresun ili; Armenian: Գիրեսունի գավառ) is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane to the southeast, Erzincan to the south, Sivas to the southwest, and Ordu to the west. Its area is 6,972 km, and its population is 450,862 (2022). The provincial capital is Giresun. Its license-plate code is 28.

Erzurum Province (Turkish: Erzurum ili) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its area is 25,006 km, and its population is 749,754 (2022). The capital of the province is the city of Erzurum. It is the fourth largest province in all of Turkey. It is bordered by the provinces of Kars and Ağrı to the east, Muş and Bingöl to the south, Erzincan and Bayburt to the west, Rize and Artvin to the north and Ardahan to the northeast. The governor of the province is Mustafa Çiftçi, appointed in August 2023. The province has a Turkish majority.

Kemah (Kurdish: Kemax), known historically as Ani-Kamakh (Armenian: Անի-Կամախ), Gamakh, Kamacha or Kamachon (Greek: Κάμαχα, Κάμαχον) is a town in Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kemah District. Its population is 2,929 (2022). The town is located almost in the centre of Erzincan Province.

Gümüşhane Province (Turkish: Gümüşhane ili Romeika: Αργυρούπολη) is a province in northern Turkey, bordering Bayburt to the east, Trabzon to the north, Giresun and Erzincan to the west. Its area is 6,668 km, and its population is 144,544 (2022). The population was 186,953 in 2000. Gümüşhane is the capital city of the province. The name Gümüşhane means silver house. The city has a rich mining (silver and bronze) history and was the source of exports for Trabzon. The current Governor is Alper Tanrısever, appointed in August 2023.

Kemah District is a district of the Erzincan Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Kemah. Its area is 2,311 km, and its population is 7,363 (2022).

An earthquake struck Turkey's eastern Erzincan Province at 1:57:23 a.m. on 27 December 1939 local time with a moment magnitude (M_w ) of 7.8 and maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). It is tied with the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes as the most powerful earthquake in Turkey to be recorded by instruments. However, it was less powerful than estimates of the 1668 North Anatolia earthquake. This was one of the largest in a sequence of violent shocks to affect Turkey along the North Anatolian Fault between 1939 and 1999. Surface rupturing, with a horizontal displacement of up to 3.7 meters, occurred in a 360 km long segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. The earthquake was the most severe natural loss of life in Turkey in the 20th century, with 32,968 dead, and some 100,000 injured.