The Vilayet of Trebizond (; ) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) in the north-eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, corresponding to the area along the eastern Black Sea coastline and the interior highland region of the Pontic Alps.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it reportedly had an area of , while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 1,047,700.Asia by A. H. Keane, page 459 The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.
After the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, the sanjak of Lazistan was established.Gündüz Ali, Hemşinliler, Dil-Tarih-Kültür, Ardanuj Kültür Yardımlaşma Derneği, Yayın No: 2, Ankara, 2002, s. 61. Rize became the center of the district due to the cession of Batumi, the former centre of the sanjak, to Russia with kaza of Artvin. The salname of the year 1344h/1904-1905 mentioned several Armenian pharmacists. The Vilayet also counted with a considerable Pontic Greek population.Krikorian, Mesrob K. (1 January 1977), p. 49
During World War I eastern half of vilayet (Kazas of Görele, Vakfıkebir, Akçaabat, Trabzon, Of and Maçka with sanjaks of Lazistan and Gümüşhane) was occupied by Russian troops by summer 1916. It was retaken by Ottomans in 1918.
Demographics
The Sanjak of Trabzon had a Muslim majority since the 16th century. Western estimates given in the 19th century about the City of Trabzon estimate a Turkish majority.
Census of 1914 Ethno-religious composition of the districts of the Trabzon vilayet 1914 Sanjak/Kaza Muslims Greek Orthodox Armenian Jewish Others Total Trabzon 64,726 23,806 14,846 8 127 104,858Ordu 111,421 18,505 12,349 – 1,211 143,491 Of 75,050 1,819 – – – 76,869 Akçaabat 56,401 6,561 3,517 – – 66,479 Tirebolu 48,999 10,530 868 – - 60,397 Sürmene 57,698 9,762 323 - – 67,783 Giresun 92,301 24,138 2,275 – – 118,714 Görele 42,823 1,648 312 – – 44,783 Vakfıkebir28.484 1351 – – 28,548 Maçka 17,950 19,575 258 – - 37,783 Trabzon Sanjak 595,853 116,357 36,149 8 1,338749,705 Lazistan (Rize) 122,055 1,507 5 – – 123,567 Atina 50,297 171 28 – – 50,496 Hopa 38,156 44 2 – – 38,202 Lazistan sanjak 210,508 1,722 35 -- 212,265 Gümüşhane 29,639 9,179 1,817 – – 40,635 Şiran 29,686 30,547 24 - – 60,257 Torul 22,312 3,155 392 – – 25,859 Kelkit 33,130 614 482 – – 34,226 Gümüşhane sanjak 114,76743,4952,715- -160,977 Canik (Samsun) 44,992 54,709 4,791 18 533 105,044 Ünye 58,351 5,251 5,861 9 – 69,472 Bafra 48,944 30.838 1,735 – 81,517 Fatsa 35,678 3,026 1,250 – 385 40,339 Çarşamba 54,353 3,948 10,820 – 609 69,730 Terme 23,632967 2,601 – – 27,200 Canik sanjak 265,950 98,739 27,31927 1,267 393,302 Total 1,187,078 260,313 66,218 352,6051,516,249 Note: Included in the 66,218 Armenians are 64,607 Apostolics and 1,611 Catholics.
Administrative divisions The vilayet included three sanjaks (four after 1889)Yurt Ansiklopedisi, Rize, s. 6365. and 22 kazas.Yüksel A., Doğu Karadeniz Araştırmaları, Kitabevi, İstanbul, 2005, s. Sanjaks of the Vilayet: Trabzon Sanjak (Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Tirebolu, Görele, Vakfıkebir, Sürmene, Of, Akçaabat, Maçka) Gümüşhane Sanjak (Gümüşhane, Kelkit, Şiran, Torul) Lazistan Sanjak (Its center was Batumi at first until 1878, later Rize after 1878) (Rize, Atina, Artvin; Sometimes included Of as well) Canik Sanjak (Its center was Samsun after 1889) (Samsun, Bafra, Ünye, Fatsa, Çarşamba, Terme)
References