Yüksekova (Kurdish: Gever;[2] Syriac: ܓܵܘܵܪ, romanized: Gāwār[3]) is a municipality (belde) in the Yüksekova District of Hakkâri Province in Turkey and is the largest city in the province.[4] The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal backgrounds including non-tribal. The city also has a large ethnic Turkish population for the region and historically had a large Assyrian Christian population[5] although, the Assyrian share of the population used to be much larger than it is today due to the Ottoman Empire's genocide of Assyrian Christians. Yüksekova had a population of 84,800 in 2023.[6][1]
Yüksekova | |
|---|---|
 Yüksekova in 2011, near the Ihsaniye Mosque and city center | |
  Yüksekova Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates: 37°34′08″N 44°16′59″E / 37.569°N 44.283°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Hakkâri |
| District | Yüksekova |
| Population (2023)[1] | 84,800 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Remziye Yaşar (Peoples' Democratic Party) was elected mayor in 2019.[7] She was arrested in October 2019 over terrorism-related charges and replaced by a trustee appointed by the central government.[8]
Name
editYüksekova was historically known as Dize meaning fortress in Kurdish.[9]
This region is attested as early as the 4-7th century in the Syriac text Acts of Mar Mari as Gāwār, a region that Christianity was introduced in, and whose inhabitants were converted to Christianity from paganism by St. Ţomīs.[10]
The word Yüksekova means 'plateau' and is a Turkification of the original name Gever which in Kurdish means 'raised meadow'. In Armenian, however, the word refers to an administrative unit such as district of province, while the word refers to Zoroastrians in Persian. For Muslims, Gavar means infidel and refers to all non-Muslims.[9]
Neighborhoods
editThe city is divided into the neighborhoods of Akalın, Aksu, Altınoluk, Beşbulak, Bölük, Cumhuriyet, Dedeler, Dize, Esen Yurt, Esentepe, Eskikışla, Güçlü, Güllüce, Güngor, Güvenli, İnanlı, İpek, Kerem Zeydan, Merkez, Mezarlık, Sarıyıldız, Vezirli, Yeni, Yeşildere, Yeşilova and Yılmaz.[11]
Demographics
editPopulation history from 1997 to 2023:[12][1]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 54,739 | — |
| 2007 | 59,410 | +8.5% |
| 2012 | 68,230 | +14.8% |
| 2017 | 69,346 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | 72,745 | +4.9% |
| 2023 | 84,800 | +16.6% |
Climate
editYüksekova has a dry-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dsb),[13] with very warm, dry summers, and very cold, snowy winters.
| Climate data for Yüksekova (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.3 (27.9) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
4.7 (40.5) |
11.5 (52.7) |
18.0 (64.4) |
24.5 (76.1) |
29.1 (84.4) |
29.7 (85.5) |
25.4 (77.7) |
18.2 (64.8) |
9.4 (48.9) |
0.9 (33.6) |
14.1 (57.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −8.4 (16.9) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
6.6 (43.9) |
12.2 (54.0) |
17.5 (63.5) |
21.7 (71.1) |
21.7 (71.1) |
17.3 (63.1) |
10.8 (51.4) |
3.2 (37.8) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
7.7 (45.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −13.6 (7.5) |
−12.0 (10.4) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
1.9 (35.4) |
6.3 (43.3) |
9.6 (49.3) |
13.4 (56.1) |
12.9 (55.2) |
8.8 (47.8) |
4.1 (39.4) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−9.3 (15.3) |
1.3 (34.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 105.0 (4.13) |
110.0 (4.33) |
120.4 (4.74) |
119.1 (4.69) |
58.3 (2.30) |
12.5 (0.49) |
7.5 (0.30) |
4.5 (0.18) |
7.1 (0.28) |
42.6 (1.68) |
74.7 (2.94) |
95.6 (3.76) |
757.3 (29.81) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.9 | 10.2 | 10.6 | 12.1 | 8.9 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 5.9 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 83.5 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 71.1 | 70.0 | 66.1 | 58.1 | 52.2 | 43.4 | 38.5 | 36.3 | 40.2 | 53.0 | 61.8 | 69.9 | 55.1 |
| Source: NOAA[14] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Population Of Municipalities, Villages And Quarters". TÜİK. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Sediyani, İbrahim (2009). Adını arayan coğrafya (in Turkish). Özedönüş Yayınları. p. 211.
- ^ Payne Smith, Robert (1879–1901). Thesaurus Syriacus (in Latin). Oxford: Clarendon Press. 688.
- ^ "Türkiye Mülki İdare Bölümleri Envanteri". T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ "Kaza Gavar / Gever / Tergavar / Mergavar / Dize". Virtual Genocide Memorial. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ Peter Alfred, Andrews; Benninghaus, Rüdiger, eds. (1989). Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. p. 218.
- ^ "Hakkari Yüksekova Seçim Sonuçları: 31 Mart 2019 Hakkari Yüksekova Yerel Seçim Sonuçları". Sözcü (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-09-10.
- ^ "Trustees appointed as mayors in southeastern province, districts". Hürriyet Daily News. 18 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Kaza Gavar / Gever / Tergavar / Mergavar / Dize". Virtual Genocide Memorial. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ Chabot, J.B., Synodicon Orientale, Paris, 1902, p. 285
- ^ "Türkiye Mülki İdare Bölümleri Envanteri". T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ "1997 Population Count" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2022.
- ^ "Table 1 Overview of the Köppen-Geiger climate classes including the defining criteria". Nature: Scientific Data.
- ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Yüksekova". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 16, 2024.