Rize Province (Turkish: Rize ili) is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. The province of Erzurum is to the south. Its area is 3,835 km, and its population is 344,016 (2022). The capital is the city of Rize. It was formerly known as Lazistan, however the designation of the term of Lazistan was officially banned in 1926.
The province is home to Turkish, Laz, Hemshin and Georgian communities.
The Hemshin people (Armenian: Համշենցիներ, Hamshentsiner; Turkish: Hemşinliler), also known as Hemshinli or Hamshenis or Homshetsi, are a bilingual ethnographic group of Armenians who mostly practice Sunni Islam after their conversion from Christianity in the beginning of the 18th century and are affiliated with the Hemşin and Çamlıhemşin districts in the province of Rize, Turkey.
They are Armenian in origin, and were originally Christians and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, but evolved into a distinct community over the centuries and converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of the region by the Ottomans during the second half of the 15th century. In Turkey, Hemshin people do not speak the Homshetsi dialect apart from the "Eastern Hamsheni" group living in provinces of Artvin and Sakarya and their mother tongue is now Turkish.
Turkey is divided into 81 provinces (Turkish: il). Each province is divided into a number of districts (ilçe). Each provincial government is seated in the central district (merkez ilçe). For non-metropolitan municipality designated provinces, the central district bears the name of the province (e.g. the city/district of Rize is the central district of Rize Province). In the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the vilayet.
Each province is administered by an appointed governor (vali) from the Ministry of the Interior.
Rize (Turkish pronunciation: [ɾi'ze]; Greek: Ριζούντα, romanized: Rizoúnta; Laz: რიზინი, romanized: Rizini; Georgian: რიზე) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District. Its population is 346,977 (2024). Rize is a typical Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. Since the border with Georgia was opened in the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and the town is much wealthier than it used to be. Current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's family has its roots in Rize and the local university is named after him. The city is linked by road with Trabzon (41 miles [66 km] west), Hopa (55 miles [88 km] east on the Georgian border, and Erzurum (south). The Rize–Artvin Airport started operating in 2022.
Rize District (also: Merkez, meaning "central") is a district of the Rize Province of Turkey. Its seat is the city of Rize. Its area is 253 km, and its population is 150,414 (2021).
Rize–Artvin Airport (Turkish: Rize–Artvin Havalimanı) (IATA: RZV, ICAO: LTFO) is an airport off the coast of Rize Province, northeastern Turkey.
Trabzon Province (Turkish: Trabzon ili) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its area is 4,628 km, and its population is 818,023 (2022). Located in a strategically important region, Trabzon is one of the oldest trade port cities in Anatolia. Neighbouring provinces are Giresun to the west, Gümüşhane to the southwest, Bayburt to the southeast and Rize to the east. Aziz Yıldırım was appointed Governor of the province in August 2023. The capital of the province is Trabzon.
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.
Artvin Province (Turkish: Artvin ili; Georgian: ართვინის პროვინცია, Artvinis p'rovintsia; Laz: ართვინიშ დობადონა Artvinish dobadona;) is a province in Turkey, on the Black Sea coast in the northeastern corner of the country, on the border with Georgia. Artvin also borders the Turkish provinces of Erzurum, Ardahan and Rize. Its area is 7,393 km, and its population is 169,403 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of Artvin.
Lazistan (Laz: ლაზონა / Lazona, ლაზეთი / Lazeti, ჭანეთი / Ç'aneti; Ottoman Turkish: لازستان, Lazistān) was the Ottoman administrative name for the sanjak, under Trebizond Vilayet, comprising the Laz or Lazuri-speaking population on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. It covered modern day land of contemporary Rize Province and the littoral of contemporary Artvin Province.
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