Bingöl
City in Bingöl Province, Turkey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bingöl (Armenian: Ճապաղջուր, romanized: Chapaghjur; Kurdish: Çewlik;[2] Zazaki: Çewlîg[3]), known as Çapakçur before 1944, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Bingöl Province and Bingöl District,[4] and has a population of 133,423 (2022).[1] The city is situated in a predominantly Kurdish-speaking region of eastern Turkey and is known in Kurdish as Çewlik; it has been the subject of scholarly attention as a site of Kird/Zaza and Kurmanji Kurdish identity formation.[5]
Bingöl | |
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 Coat of arms | |
  Bingöl Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates: 38°53′10″N 40°30′6″E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Bingöl |
| District | Bingöl |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Erdal Arıkan (AK Party) |
| Elevation | 1,120 m (3,670 ft) |
| Population (2022)[1] | 133,423 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Postal code | 12000 |
| Area code | 0426 |
| Website | www |
Etymology
History
Bingöl is located in what was historically the region of Sophene (first an independent kingdom and later an Armenian and Roman province).[8] The settlement is mentioned by its Armenian name, Chapaghjur (meaning "spread out water" in Armenian), by the 11th-century Armenian historian Stepanos Asoghik, who mentions it while describing the 995 Balu earthquake.[8] Chapaghjur is sometimes identified with the Roman fortress-town of Citharizum (Ktarich in Armenian).[8]
In the Middle Ages, Bingöl was known as Romanoupolis (Greek: Ῥωμανούπολις) after the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos, who incorporated it into the Byzantine Empire in 942. It initially formed a subdivision of the thema of Mesopotamia, but it was later (c. 970) elevated into a separate theme.[9]
Bingöl was ruled by the Suwaydid dynasty, a cadet branch of the Barmakids, from the 13th century until mid-Ottoman rule, autonomously from the Ottomans.[10] Bingöl and the surrounding district had a large Armenian population prior to the Armenian genocide.[8] Until the middle of the 20th century, the city was known as Çapakçur/Çabakçur, derived from its Armenian name.[11][12] In 1944, the place was renamed Bingöl, meaning "thousand lakes" in Turkish.
Kurdish-Turkish conflict
Bingöl has been the site of several violent incidents of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. On 23 October 2016, a car bombing targeting an armored police vehicle perpetrated by PKK militia members killed two police officers and injured 19 others.[13] On 8 June 2018, a group of PKK militia members attacked a military station and killed one Turkish soldier while injuring three others.[14]
Geography
Bingöl is 144 kilometres (89 mi) east of Elazığ and is situated in the high region of Eastern Anatolia. Bingöl is a mountainous area with heights reaching 3000 m, Bingöl city is at about 1120 m above sea level.[15] The Gayt River (Gayt Çayı), a right-bank tributary of the Eastern Euphrates (Murat River), runs through the city.
Climate
Bingöl has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsa, or Trewartha climate classification Dca), with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The driest months are July and August and the wettest is February and December.
Highest recorded temperature:42.0 °C (107.6 °F) on 26 July 2001
Lowest recorded temperature:−25.1 °C (−13.2 °F) on 27 February 1992[16]
| Climate data for Bingöl (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2025) (Station height:1139, coordinates:38°53′5″N 40°30′3″E) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) |
16.2 (61.2) |
22.3 (72.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
33.9 (93.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
42.0 (107.6) |
41.3 (106.3) |
39.4 (102.9) |
32.1 (89.8) |
25.5 (77.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
42.0 (107.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) |
4.1 (39.4) |
10.2 (50.4) |
16.9 (62.4) |
23.1 (73.6) |
29.8 (85.6) |
34.7 (94.5) |
35.1 (95.2) |
29.9 (85.8) |
22.0 (71.6) |
12.7 (54.9) |
5.2 (41.4) |
18.8 (65.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −2.1 (28.2) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
4.7 (40.5) |
10.9 (51.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
22.2 (72.0) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.7 (80.1) |
21.3 (70.3) |
14.5 (58.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
0.7 (33.3) |
12.3 (54.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.5 (22.1) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
0.4 (32.7) |
5.8 (42.4) |
10.2 (50.4) |
15.0 (59.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
13.9 (57.0) |
8.6 (47.5) |
2.2 (36.0) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
6.8 (44.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −23.2 (−9.8) |
−21.6 (−6.9) |
−20.3 (−4.5) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
1.0 (33.8) |
3.5 (38.3) |
8.8 (47.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
4.2 (39.6) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
−15.0 (5.0) |
−25.1 (−13.2) |
−25.1 (−13.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 138.7 (5.46) |
128.9 (5.07) |
134.4 (5.29) |
110.5 (4.35) |
82.5 (3.25) |
21.3 (0.84) |
6.6 (0.26) |
5.1 (0.20) |
15.4 (0.61) |
65.3 (2.57) |
93.1 (3.67) |
133.3 (5.25) |
935.1 (36.81) |
| Average precipitation days | 12.67 | 12.2 | 14.3 | 14.83 | 14.37 | 5.37 | 2 | 1.5 | 2.83 | 8.47 | 8.93 | 12.57 | 110 |
| Average snowy days | 10.7 | 9.0 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.6 | 31.9 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 72.8 | 71.1 | 65.5 | 60.9 | 57.1 | 44.3 | 37.2 | 35.9 | 41.4 | 56.4 | 65 | 73.2 | 56.7 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 105.4 | 124.3 | 148.8 | 165.0 | 213.9 | 270.0 | 285.2 | 275.9 | 240.0 | 189.1 | 135.0 | 102.3 | 2,254.9 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.4 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 6.9 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 6.2 |
| Source 1: Turkish State Meteorological Service[17] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA NCEI (humidity),[18] Meteomanz(snowy days 2000-2024, extremes since 2024)[19] | |||||||||||||
Earthquakes
On 1 May 2003, the whole area suffered from an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4, leaving 177 dead and 520 injured.[20] On 8 March 2010, the area suffered another earthquake, of magnitude 6.1, with its epicenter in Elazığ Province, 45 km (28 mi) west of Bingöl. On 14 June 2020, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in the region, killing a village guard and injuring 21 others.[21]
Demographics
Ethnic background
In 1891, the kaza had 20,800 inhabitants: 16,465 Muslims and 4,385 Armenians.[22]
| Turkish | Arabic | Kurdish | Circassian | Armenian | Unknown or other languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 975 | 1 | 9,416 | – | – | – |
| Muslim | Armenian | Orthodox | Other Christian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,395 | – | – | – |
The 1927 census data, recording Kurdish as the mother tongue of approximately 9,400 of the district's roughly 10,400 inhabitants, reflects the historically predominant linguistic character of the region. Zeyneloğlu, Sirkeci, and Civelek, in a spatial and demographic analysis of Kurdish language shift in Turkey published in Kurdish Studies, identify Bingöl as a province with a historically high concentration of Kurdish speakers, noting that even provinces located closer to predominantly Turkish-speaking areas, such as Bingöl, maintained substantial Kurdish-speaking populations through the mid-twentieth century.[24]
Language
The population of Bingöl and its surrounding province has historically comprised speakers of two Kurdish language varieties: Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish) and Zazaki (also called Kird or Kirmanckî), the latter being spoken by a significant portion of the provincial population.[25] Ishakoglu (2018) examines the province as a key site of contest over Kird/Zaza identity, noting that a majority of Bingöl Province's population is of Kurdish Zazaki background, with ongoing scholarly debate regarding the classification of Zazaki as a dialect of Kurdish or as a distinct but closely related Iranian language.[26]
Population
Historical population | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Population censuses (1965–1997)[27][28][29][30][31][32][33] and TÜIK (2007–2022)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transport
Bingöl Airport opened on 12 July 2013. It has a passenger capacity of 500,000 a year.
Education
Bingöl University opened on 29 May 2007.[34] The university has nine faculties, six vocational schools and five institutes.
Mayors of Bingöl
- 1977–1979 Hikmet Tekin (MHP)
- 1979–1980 Hilmi Elçi (Independent)
- 1984–1989 Mehmet Sıddık Börü (ANAP)
- 1989–1994 Selahattin Kaya (SHP)
- 1994–1995 Selahattin Aydar (Refah Party)
- 1995–1999 Bedri Tuğ (Refah Party, Fazilet Party)
- 1999–2004 Feyzullah Karaaslan (HADEP, DEHAP)
- 2004–2009 Hacı Ketenalp (AK Party)
- 2009–2014 Serdar Atalay (AK Party)
- 2014–2019 Yücel Barakazi (AK Party)
- 2019–present Erdal Arıkan (AK Party)