Şanlıurfa Province (; ), also known as Urfa Province, is a province and metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which bears its name. Its area is 19,242 km2, and its population is 2,170,110 (2022). The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority with a significant Arab and Turkish minority.

Districts

Şanlıurfa province is divided into 13 districts, listed below with their populations as at 31 December 2022 according to the official government estimates:

Akçakale (123,721) Birecik (93,613) Bozova (52,680) Ceylanpınar (90,440) Eyyübiye (391,795) Halfeti (41,662) Haliliye (396,656) Harran (96,072) Hilvan (42,218) Karaköprü (265,035) Siverek (267,942) Suruç (100,961) Viranşehir (207,315)

Geography

With an area of , it is the largest province of Southeast Anatolia with:

Adıyaman Province to the north; Syria to the south; Mardin Province and Diyarbakır Province to the east; and Gaziantep Province to the west.

Şanlıurfa includes several major components of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (in Turkish Güneydogu Anadolu Projesi (GAP)) designed to:

exploit the hydropower potential of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; dramatically expand irrigation for agriculture; and develop the economy of the region.

This very large-scale, state-sponsored development project involved the damming, redirecting, hydroelectric tapping and other use of rivers in this broad, semi-arid region. (The rivers then flow into Syria and Iraq.) The GAP includes 22 dams and water supply for 1.8 million hectares for agricultural areas.

Climate The Urfa region is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. Rainfall mostly comes in winter, when the temperature is mildest; summers are very hot and dry. Annual mean precipitation is 458.1 mm. The annual mean temperature is 18.5 °C. The coldest month is January, which has an average temperature of 2.7 °C, while the hottest month is July, with an average temperature of 39 °C. The dry season typically begins around April, peaks in intensity around July, and ends around October. Wind typically blows from the northwest, with west-northwest winds being the strongest.

The area around Urfa and Viranşehir, and continuing towards Mardin further east, is the driest part of a "desert-like steppe" region in southeastern Anatolia. This area is characterized by vast plains as well as "low and broad hills [that] come [one] after another". As one approaches the Syrian border in the south, the climate gets drier due to less rainfall and it becomes more desert-like. In some areas, however, water from karstic sources makes things greener.

The plant life of this southeastern steppe region is less diverse than the steppes of central and eastern Anatolia because the dry season is longer here. Perennial xerophytes like Astragalus, Verbascum, Phlomis, Centaurea, and Cirsium predominate. In some sheltered valleys, though, pockets of Mediterranean flora still exist—remnants of what was once a more widespread distribution prior to a climactic shift in the region sometime in the past.

Geology

Most of Şanlıurfa province consists of Cenozoic formations. Calcareous formations are predominant on the Fatik plateau, west of the Urfa-Harran plain, and in the Tektek Mountains to the east of the plain. Among these are vast Eocene deposits north and west of Urfa, as well as younger Oligocene-Miocene deposits on the Tektek and lower Fatik plateaus. There are also basalt deposits, dating from the Pliocene-Quaternary periods, just north of the city of Urfa itself. These are associated with the Karacadağ Formation. These basalt deposits are generally covered by just 5 to 10 cm of soil deposits; in some places, though, there is thick enough topsoil for agriculture. On the Harran plain, more recent alluvial deposits from the Quaternary period predominate.

Economy Agriculture is the largest economic sector in Şanlıurfa province. As of 2000, 43% of the province's GDP is in agriculture, 40% service, 11% industry, and 6% in construction. The total GDP is US$1.85 billion.

Agriculture Şanlıurfa province is a major producer of cotton, wheat, and barley. Cotton production in particular increased dramatically after the GAP was initiated in 1995. The influx of irrigation availability meant that many farmers could switch from dry to irrigated agriculture, and cotton's high market value enticed a majority of farmers to start planting it. The province's annual cotton yield rose from 277,000 tons in 1995 to 708,602 tons in 2004. By 2021, the province produces 42% of all cotton in Turkey. As of 2008, the province also produced 11% of all dry legumes, 6.4% of barley, and 4% of wheat in the country. Other crops include red lentil, pistachio, grape, sesame, and various vegetables. In terms of animal husbandry, sheep and goats are the most important. As of 2015, about 32% of the province's workforce is employed in agriculture. However, the employment share of agriculture has been declining. Another problem is that excessive irrigation has caused increased soil salinity.

Şanlıurfa province is among the leading producers of pistachios in Turkey. As of 2021, the province has 29.7 million pistachio trees and produced 38,576 tons of pistachios—about a third of the national total of 119,000 tons. However, most of the processing for the pistachios is done in Gaziantep instead.

The province is also a major producer of several varieties of peppers. As of 2021, Şanlıurfa province produced 77,663 tons of capia peppers; 6,180 tons of sivri peppers; and 1,296 tons of bell peppers.

Agriculture in Şanlıurfa province is dominated by large-scale landowners. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, an influx of Syrian refugees willing to work for cheap have changed the agricultural labor market here. Local seasonal farm workers, who demand higher wages, are unable to find work in the province and are increasingly temporarily migrating to other provinces for seasonal farm work.

Dairy products Urfa cheese (Urfa peyniri) bears similarity to other cheeses in the region, such as Diyarbakır's örgü, Kahramanmaraş's Maraş-sıkma, or Gaziantep's Antep-sıkma. It is mostly made from sheep and goat milk. Most production is done in villages using traditional techniques and low-tech equipment and lacking hygienic standards or pasteurized milk; however, industrial-scale production has begun in recent decades. There is no single standardized method of production for Urfa cheese, so its qualities can vary. It is aged for anywhere between 3 and 7 months.

Another regional specialty is Urfa butter (Urfa yaği), a type of clarified butter made from sheep's milk. It is made in Urfa itself as well as in other towns in the province like Siverek, Viranşehir, Ceylanpınar, and Harran.

Industry Industry has been increasing in employment share in Şanlıurfa province, reached 16% in 2006. The biggest industries include food processing (especially baked goods and dairy products) and textiles (especially cotton fabrics), which as of 2002 together employ 54% of industrial workers in the province. Other important industries (based on location quotient) include treatment and coating of metals (especially copper) and the manufacturing of pumps, compressors, and other agricultural equipment.

+ Important industries in Şanlıurfa province (as of 2002) Industry Number of firms Number of employees Manufacture of crude oils and fats 9 86 Dairy products and cheese making 6 1,727 Ice cream manufacturing 9 19 Grain mills 142 324 Bread, pastry, and other baked goods 803 3,315 Preparing and spinning of cotton fabrics 57 966 Wood carpentry and joinery 366 766 Baked clay bricks, tiles, and other construction products 57 189 Concrete construction products 8 121 Plaster construction products 5 22 Ready-mix concrete 6 105 Metal carpentry and joinery 106 270 Forging, pressing, stamping, and roll forming of metals; as well as powder metallurgy 47 105 Treatment and coating of metals 183 317 Manufacture of pumps and compressors 19 92 Tractor manufacturing 11 34 Manufacture of non-electric domestic appliances 42 106 Manufacture of electric motors, generators, and transformers 10 73 Jewellery making 82 103 Collection, purification, and distribution of water 8 224 Test drilling and boring 7 14 General construction 67 1,993 Construction of water projects 3 794

Services The largest part of the service sector in Şanlıurfa province, both in GDP and employment, is wholesale and retail trade. Many wholesalers and retailers in the province are closely linked to the agricultural sector—for example, through wholesale of seeds for farmers, wholesale of dairy products, retail sale of meat products, or retail sale of textiles. Another important activity in this sector is freight transport by road, which has a high location quotient for the province because it lies on the main road connection between the port of Mersin and the Habur border crossing into Iraq.

Demographics As of 2000, the province has a population growth rate of 30.9%, which is well above the national rate of 14.9%. Average household size in the province is 6.87 people, which is above the national average of 4.5. About 42% of the province's population lives in rural areas and 58% in urban areas—a somewhat lower rate of urbanization than the country as a whole, which is 65% urban. The average per capita income is US$1,300 annually. The province has a low literacy rate—especially among women, who are only 52% literate in the province compared to 80% nationwide. The province also has high out-migration.

Şanlıurfa province has the highest population of Syrian refugees in Turkey. There are an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 Syrian refugees in the province, including some 80,000 living in 4 refugee camps. The presence of large Kurdish and Arab populations in the province means that there is less of a language barrier for Syrians in Şanlıurfa province than in other parts of Turkey, and the similar cultural and religious values make the province a more comfortable setting for many migrants as well. As a result, tensions between locals and refugees are somewhat lower in Şanlıurfa province than elsewhere.

Employment for Syrians is concentrated most heavily in the construction, retail and wholesale, and agricultural sectors. Syrian labor is desirable for many employers because they are willing to work for lower wages than locals. For example, while mechanized cotton harvesting is an option for farmers, it is cheaper for them to hire Syrian workers to pick cotton by hand. Competition between Syrian and local seasonal farm workers has contributed to tension between the two groups, as the influx of Syrian labor has driven local farm workers to migrate to other provinces for seasonal farm work.

Şanlıurfa province has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Turkey. According to TÜİK, there were 955 marriages of girls under the age of 18 in Şanlıurfa province in 2021, which was the second-highest in the country behind Gaziantep.

Culture The traditional culture of the city of Urfa differs from the rest of the province.

Cuisine

The famous çiğ köfte belongs to the culinary traditions of the city and was unknown to the rural population until 1980s. Tırşik is a traditional dish of the rural population within the province.

Games and dance "Çan Çekiç Oyunu" is a traditional dice game of Urfa played with eight dice for money. "Dörtlü Oyunu" is a traditional dance of Urfa involving four people who each hold a red handkerchief in the right hand and a white one in the left hand. It is set to music played on the zurna and davul (types of horn and drum, respectively).

Playground games