Rize
| Rize | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
|
Panoramic view of Rize. | |
  Rize | |
| Coordinates: 41°01′29″N 40°31′20″E / 41.02472°N 40.52222°ECoordinates: 41°01′29″N 40°31′20″E / 41.02472°N 40.52222°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Rize |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Reşat Kasap (AKP) |
| Area[1] | |
| • District | 250.14 km2 (96.58 sq mi) |
| Population (2012)[2] | |
| • Urban | 104,508 |
| • District | 141,524 |
| • District density | 570/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
| Post code | 5300 |
| Climate | Cfa |
| Website |
www |
Rize is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey.
Etymology
The name comes from Greek ριζα (riza) or Ριζαίον (Rizaion), meaning "mountain slopes".[3] In modern times, its name in Greek was usually Ριζούντα (Rizounta). Its Latin forms are Rhizus and Rhizaeum, the latter of which is used in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees as the name of bishopric of the town, which was once part of the late Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus[4]). In the Ottoman period, it was called Rize (ريزه). The Armenian name is Rize (Ռիզե), the Georgian name is Rize (რიზე), Laz name is Rizini (რიზინი)[5]
History
The first written mention of Rize is made by Arrian in a work named Periplus (Ship's Voyage).[6] Dated at 132-131 B.C., the work records how its author, the governor of Cappadocia, made an inspection tour of the Eastern Black Sea territories that were part of his jurisdiction, first visiting the Roman Empire's Eastern Anatolian frontier garrisons before pushing on to the Black Sea coast in the Trabzon (Trebizond) region. Note: Arrian only mentions the River Rhizius, not any settlement by that name. It is quoted as being to the east of the river Ophis after the rivers Psychrus and Calus. Also, the Periplus or Voyage Round the Euxine Sea is a letter written to Emperor Caesar Adrian Augustus, i.e., during the Common Era and not before Christ, so it may have been written more towards 131-132 AD or CE. [ARRIAN'S VOYAGE ROUND EUXINE SEA TRANSLATED AND ACCOMPANIED WITH A GEOGRAPHICAL DISSERTATION,AND MAPS TO WHICH ARE ADDED THREE DISCOURSES, I. On the Trade to the East Indies by means of the Euxine Sea. II. On the Distance which the Ships of Antiquity usually sailed in twenty-four Hours. III. On the Measure of the Olympic Stadium. OXFORD: SOLD BY J. COOKE; AND BY MESSRS. CADELL AND DAVIESr STRAND, LONDON. 1805.
Geography
The city is built around a small bay on the Black Sea coast, on a narrow strip of flat land between the sea and the mountains behind. The coastal strip is being expanded with landfill and the city is growing up the steep hillsides away from the coast. Rize enjoys a mild, extremely wet climate, vulnerable to storms coming off the Black Sea and therefore the surrounding countryside is rich with vegetation and is attracting more and more visitors every year.
Rize is a center for processing and shipping Rize Tea, the tea grown in the surrounding area. Tea was introduced in the region in the 1940s and 1950s, changing the destiny of the region, which was desperately poor until then.[7] The city has a tea research institute founded in 1958 and tea gardens are the main sight in the town's panoramic view. Tea and kiwifruit plants are even planted in gardens around the town. The secondary activity is fishing. Rize is linked by road with Trabzon (41 miles [66 km] west), Hopa (55 miles [88 km] east on the Georgian border, and Erzurum (north). The nearest airport is in Trabzon.
Rize is a quiet town, a typical Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of night life or entertainment. However the border with Georgia has been open since the early 90's, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and Rize is now wealthier than in previous decades; there are more cars in the streets, higher buildings on the sea front, and some places for young people to go are opening up now. The visitors to the surrounding countryside also contribute to the economy of the town.
Climate
Rize has a borderline oceanic/humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb/Cfa), like most of the eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey, with warm summers and cool winters. Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two, and it can be heavy once it snows. Rize and the eastern part of the Black Sea coast where it is situated has the highest precipitation in western Asia, with an annual precipitation averaging around 2,500 millimetres (100 in), with heavy rainfall year round and a maximum in late autumn (October to December). The Black Sea coast receives the greatest amount of precipitation in Turkey and is the only region of Turkey that receives high precipitation throughout the year. The water temperature, as in the whole Turkish Black Sea coast, is always cool, fluctuating between 8 and 20 °C (46 and 68 °F) throughout the year.
| Climate data for Rize (1960-2012) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 24.0 (75.2) |
28.1 (82.6) |
32.6 (90.7) |
35.8 (96.4) |
38.2 (100.8) |
35.2 (95.4) |
35.4 (95.7) |
34.0 (93.2) |
33.4 (92.1) |
33.4 (92.1) |
29.2 (84.6) |
26.7 (80.1) |
38.2 (100.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 10.6 (51.1) |
10.6 (51.1) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.4 (59.7) |
19.3 (66.7) |
23.7 (74.7) |
26.1 (79) |
26.5 (79.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.4 (68.7) |
16.3 (61.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
18.14 (64.65) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.4 (43.5) |
7.9 (46.2) |
11.6 (52.9) |
16.0 (60.8) |
20.3 (68.5) |
22.8 (73) |
23.0 (73.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
11.7 (53.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
14.22 (57.58) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.5 (38.3) |
3.4 (38.1) |
4.8 (40.6) |
8.4 (47.1) |
12.5 (54.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
19.6 (67.3) |
19.9 (67.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
12.9 (55.2) |
8.6 (47.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
11.02 (51.83) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −5.4 (22.3) |
−6.4 (20.5) |
−7 (19) |
−2.8 (27) |
4.2 (39.6) |
7.8 (46) |
12.0 (53.6) |
13.6 (56.5) |
9.2 (48.6) |
2.5 (36.5) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−4 (25) |
−7 (19) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 218.8 (8.614) |
178.5 (7.028) |
150.9 (5.941) |
97.4 (3.835) |
97.4 (3.835) |
137.6 (5.417) |
146.7 (5.776) |
186.9 (7.358) |
240.8 (9.48) |
288.7 (11.366) |
248.5 (9.783) |
244.0 (9.606) |
2,236.2 (88.039) |
| Average precipitation days | 15.2 | 14.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 14.4 | 14.9 | 15.2 | 15.6 | 14.1 | 15.2 | 179.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 65.1 | 84.0 | 111.6 | 135 | 179.8 | 201 | 164.3 | 158.1 | 153 | 127.1 | 84 | 58.9 | 1,521.9 |
| Source: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü [8] | |||||||||||||
Economy
Historically, Rize grew oranges. However, weather destroyed the crops in the early 20th century, and the industry declined.[9] The area also produced small amounts of manganese.[10]
The economic structure of Rize is based primarily around its geographic location. Rize is a very mountainous city, making industrial development difficult and impractical. Given the lack of air and rail transit, most goods have to travel by truck or ship, which makes exporting and importing difficult. Rize's primary trading partner is Trabzon, the most developed city of northeast Black Sea region. Rize's main exports are agriculturally based; tea and kiwifruit are among its most popular commodities.
Education
Rize University was founded in 2006. After a while, the name of the Rize University is changed by the university senate's approval to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University.
Culture
- Rize Castle
History
Notable natives
- Kazım Ayvaz - Olympic medalist and world champion in wrestling
- Zafer Biryol - football player
- Nikos Kapetanidis - journalist and newspaper publisher
- İbrahim Çolak- member of Istanbul provincial council
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - politician, former prime minister and current president of Turkey
- Temel Kotil - aeronautical engineer and CEO of Turkish Airlines
- Tuncay Mataracı (born 1935) - convicted former government minister
- Mehmet Akif Pirim - Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling
- Köksal Toptan - politician
- İsmail Türüt - singer of folk music of the Black Sea region
- Yaşar Yılmaz - wrestler
- Mesut Yılmaz - politician and former prime minister
Çaykur Rizespor, the local football team, play in the Turkish Super League and are local heroes, occasionally capable of defeating even the big Istanbul teams. They play in green and blue, reflecting the blue of the sea and the green of the tea growing on the hillsides.
Others who have never lived in Rize but come from Rize families include:
- Sezen Aksu - singer and song writer, born in Izmir but originally from Pazar/Rize
- Tarkan - pop singer
Population figures
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 36,044 |
| 1980 | 43,407 |
| 1985 | 50,221 |
| 1990 | 52,031 |
| 1997 | 73,420 |
| 2000 | 78,144 |
| 2009 | 96,503 |
Notes
- ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
- ↑ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
- ↑ Rize article from encyclopedia of Black Sea. Özhan Öztürk, 2005
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 959
- ↑ Öztürk claims that it amy be related with Laz irizeni means "flat places" Özhan Öztürk.Pontus: Antiçağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi. Ankara, 2011 ISBN 978-605-54-1017-9 pp. 739-740
- ↑ An Overview of Rize's History
- ↑ Rize Çayı ve Rize kenti (tr)
- ↑ İl ve İlçelerimize Ait İstatistiki Veriler- Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü
- ↑ Prothero, W.G. (1920). Armenia and Kurdistan. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 62.
- ↑ Prothero, W.G. (1920). Armenia and Kurdistan. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 73.
References
- [Encyclopedic Dictionary of Black Sea]. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. Istanbul. ISBN 978-975-6121-00-9
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rize. |
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