{{pp|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox Turkey place | type = metro province | name = | other_name = Şanlıurfa ili | image_skyline = Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg | image_caption = Göbekli Tepe | image_shield = | image_map = Sanliurfa in Turkey.svg | map_caption = Location of the province within Turkey | coordinates = | seat = Şanlıurfa | leader_name1 = Hasan Şıldak | leader_party = IND | leader_name = Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 19242 | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/> | population_total = 2170110 | population_as_of = 2022 | website = {{url|http://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr/}}<br>{{url|http://www.sanliurfa.gov.tr/}} | area_code = 0414 }} '''Şanlıurfa Province''' ({{langx|tr|Şanlıurfa ili}}; {{langx|ku|Parêzgeha Rihayê}}),<ref>{{cite news |title=Li Rihayê 15 roj qedexe hat ragihandin |url=https://www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/kurdistan/081020191 |access-date=27 April 2020 |agency=Rûdaw |date=8 October 2019 |language=ku}}</ref> 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 km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref> and its population is 2,170,110 (2022).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=19 September 2023|publisher=TÜİK|language=en|format=XLS}}</ref> The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan<ref>{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=2002|title=Kurds, Kurdistān|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/kurds-kurdistan-COM_0544?s.num=167&s.start=100|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2|publisher=BRILL|pages=|isbn=9789004161214}}</ref> and has a Kurdish majority<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mutlu|first=Servet|date=1996|title=Ethnic Kurds in Turkey: A Demographic Study|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/176151|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=28|issue=4|pages=527|doi=10.1017/S0020743800063819 |jstor=176151 |s2cid=154212694 |issn=0020-7438|url-access=subscription}}</ref> with a significant Arab and Turkish minority.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mehmet Gürses|title=Anatomy of a Civil War: Sociopolitical Impacts of the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey|date=2018|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=9780472131006|page=11}}</ref>
== Districts == thumb|300px|Districts of the Şanlıurfa Province Şanlıurfa province is divided into 13 districts, listed below with their populations as at 31 December 2022 according to the official government estimates:<ref name=tuik/> {{div col|colwidth=15em}} * 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) {{div col end}}
== Geography == {{Pie chart | caption=Rainfall by season in the Urfa region <ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|194}} | label1 = Winter | value1 = 51 | color1 = lightcyan | label2 = Spring | value2 = 29 | color2 = aqua | label3 = Summer | value3 = 1 | color3 = tomato | label4 = Autumn | value4 = 19 | color4 = deepskyblue }} [[File:Urfa wind rose.png|thumb|Wind rose of the Urfa region, showing the primary directions where wind blows from.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|195}}]] With an area of {{cvt|19,242|km2}}, 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gap.gov.tr/en/what-is-gap-page-1.html|title=GAP Regional Development Administration|website=gap.gov.tr|access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref>
=== Climate === The Urfa region is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} Rainfall mostly comes in winter, when the temperature is mildest; summers are very hot and dry.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} Annual mean precipitation is 458.1 mm.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} The annual mean temperature is 18.5 °C.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} 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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} The dry season typically begins around April, peaks in intensity around July, and ends around October.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|201}} Wind typically blows from the northwest, with west-northwest winds being the strongest.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|195}}
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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}} This area is characterized by vast plains as well as "low and broad hills [that] come [one] after another".<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}} As one approaches the Syrian border in the south, the climate gets drier due to less rainfall and it becomes more desert-like.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}} In some areas, however, water from karstic sources makes things greener.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}}
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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}} Perennial xerophytes like ''Astragalus'', ''Verbascum'', ''Phlomis'', ''Centaurea'', and ''Cirsium'' predominate.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}} 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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|190}}
=== Geology === thumb|Geological map of the Urfa-Harran plain and surroundings (in German) Most of Şanlıurfa province consists of Cenozoic formations.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|191}} 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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|191–2}} 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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|191–2}} There are also basalt deposits, dating from the Pliocene-Quaternary periods, just north of the city of Urfa itself.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|191–2}} These are associated with the Karacadağ Formation.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} 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.<ref name="Kaya 2011"/>{{rp|192}} On the Harran plain, more recent alluvial deposits from the Quaternary period predominate.<ref name="Kaya 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Kaya |first1=Ömer Faruk |title=New steppic syntaxa from southeastern Anatolia (Şanliurfa, Turkey) |journal=Acta Botanica Gallica |date=2011 |volume=158 |issue=2 |pages=189–204 |doi=10.1080/12538078.2011.10516266 |bibcode=2011AcBG..158..189K |s2cid=85118123 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|191, 3}}
== Economy == Agriculture is the largest economic sector in Şanlıurfa province.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Pirili |first1=Menevis Uzbay |last2=Barbaros |first2=R. Funda |title=Regional Development in Şanlıurfa Province, the Center of South Eastern Anatolian Project (GAP): Key Sector Analysis |journal=International Conference on Emerging Economic Issues in a Globalizing World, ĐIzmir, 2008 |date=2008 |pages=41–71 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6989905.pdf&psig=AOvVaw1_YpXKRvg2Rby4Vu9jdiwG&ust=1669846111132761 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|41}} As of 2000, 43% of the province's GDP is in agriculture, 40% service, 11% industry, and 6% in construction.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|44}} The total GDP is US$1.85 billion.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|44}}
=== Agriculture === Şanlıurfa province is a major producer of cotton, wheat, and barley.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|47}} Cotton production in particular increased dramatically after the GAP was initiated in 1995.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|47}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|58}} The province's annual cotton yield rose from 277,000 tons in 1995 to 708,602 tons in 2004.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|47}} By 2021, the province produces 42% of all cotton in Turkey.<ref name="Şimşek 2021">{{cite news |last1=Şimşek |first1=Yağmur Melis |title=Şanlıurfa expects high yield in cotton |url=https://www.textilegence.com/en/sanliurfa-expects-high-yield-in-cotton/ |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=Textilegence |date=12 October 2021}}</ref> As of 2008, the province also produced 11% of all dry legumes, 6.4% of barley, and 4% of wheat in the country.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|48}} Other crops include red lentil, pistachio, grape, sesame, and various vegetables.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|47}} In terms of animal husbandry, sheep and goats are the most important.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|48}} As of 2015, about 32% of the province's workforce is employed in agriculture.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|258}} However, the employment share of agriculture has been declining.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|49}} Another problem is that excessive irrigation has caused increased soil salinity.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|49}}
thumb|Pistachio clusters growing on a tree in Şanlıurfa province. The province is one of Turkey's leading pistachio producers. Şanlıurfa province is among the leading producers of pistachios in Turkey.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022">{{cite news |last1=Ayaydın |first1=Eşber |title=Gaziantep ve Şanlıurfa arasında ismi paylaşılamayan lezzet: Fıstık |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/gaziantep-ve-sanliurfa-arasinda-ismi-paylasilamayan-lezzet-fistik/2703938 |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=Anadolu Agency |date=10 June 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/> However, most of the processing for the pistachios is done in Gaziantep instead.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/>
The province is also a major producer of several varieties of peppers.<ref name="AjansUrfa 2022 peppers">{{cite news |title=Urfa biber üretiminde önemli yere sahip |url=https://www.ajansurfa.com/haber/10209086/urfa-biber-uretiminde-onemli-yere-sahip |access-date=25 December 2022 |work=AjansUrfa |date=11 May 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AjansUrfa 2022 peppers"/>
Agriculture in Şanlıurfa province is dominated by large-scale landowners.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Lordoğlu |first1=Kuvvet |last2=Aslan |first2=Mustafa |title=Beş Sınır Kenti ve İşgücü Piyasalarında Değişim: 2011-2014 |journal=Goc Dergisi |date=2015 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=249–67 |doi=10.33182/gd.v2i2.565 |url=https://dergi.tplondon.com/goc/article/view/565 |access-date=26 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|259–60}} 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.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259–60}} 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.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|258–61}}
==== 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''.<ref name="Yalçın et al 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Yalçın |first1=Suzan |last2=Ardıç |first2=Mustafa |last3=Nizamlıoğlu |first3=Mustafa |title=Urfa Peynirinin Bazı Kalite Nitelikleri |journal=Atatürk Üniversitesi Vet. Bil. Derg. |date=2007 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=90–95 |url=https://veterinarysciences-ataunipress.org/Content/files/sayilar/27/90-95.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227040333/https://veterinarysciences-ataunipress.org/Content/files/sayilar/27/90-95.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-date=27 December 2022 |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|90}} It is mostly made from sheep and goat milk.<ref name="Yalçın et al 2007"/>{{rp|90}} 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.<ref name="Yalçın et al 2007"/>{{rp|91, 3}} There is no single standardized method of production for Urfa cheese, so its qualities can vary.<ref name="Yalçın et al 2007"/>{{rp|91}} It is aged for anywhere between 3 and 7 months.<ref name="Yalçın et al 2007"/>{{rp|91}}
Another regional specialty is Urfa butter (''Urfa yaği''), a type of clarified butter made from sheep's milk.<ref name="Urfa Sade Yaği">{{cite book |title=Şanlıurfa Sade Yaği |publisher=Şanlıurfa Tıcaret Borsasi |url=https://www.sutb.org.tr/Upload/Dosya/Yayinlarimiz/sadeyag.pdf |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|1–2}} It is made in Urfa itself as well as in other towns in the province like Siverek, Viranşehir, Ceylanpınar, and Harran.<ref name="Urfa Sade Yaği"/>{{rp|1–2}}
=== Industry === Industry has been increasing in employment share in Şanlıurfa province, reached 16% in 2006.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|49}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|52}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|53}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Important industries in Şanlıurfa province (as of 2002)<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|54–5}} |- ! 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|56}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|56}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|56}}
== Demographics == As of 2000, the province has a population growth rate of 30.9%, which is well above the national rate of 14.9%.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|42}} Average household size in the province is 6.87 people, which is above the national average of 4.5.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|42}} 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.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|43}} The average per capita income is US$1,300 annually.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|44}} The province has a low literacy rate - especially among women, who are only 52% literate in the province compared to 80% nationwide.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|43}} The province also has high out-migration.<ref name="Pirili and Barbaros 2008"/>{{rp|43}}
Şanlıurfa province has the highest population of Syrian refugees in Turkey.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|258–9}} There are an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 Syrian refugees in the province, including some 80,000 living in 4 refugee camps.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|258–9}} 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.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259}} As a result, tensions between locals and refugees are somewhat lower in Şanlıurfa province than elsewhere.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259}}
Employment for Syrians is concentrated most heavily in the construction, retail and wholesale, and agricultural sectors.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259–60}} Syrian labor is desirable for many employers because they are willing to work for lower wages than locals.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259–60}} 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.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|260}} 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.<ref name="Lordoğlu and Aslan 2015"/>{{rp|259–61}}
Şanlıurfa province has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Turkey.<ref name="AjansUrfa 2022 child marriage">{{cite news |title=Şanlıurfa çocuk gelin sayısıyla utandırdı |url=https://www.ajansurfa.com/haber/13032142/sanliurfa-cocuk-gelin-sayisiyla-utandirdi |access-date=26 December 2022 |work=AjansUrfa |date=14 December 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AjansUrfa 2022 child marriage"/>
==Culture== The traditional culture of the city of Urfa differs from the rest of the province.<ref name = "Sayğan">{{cite web |last1=Sayğan |first1=Mehmet Serdar |title=Hangi Urfa- Hangi Urfalı? |url=https://www.urfagaste.com/yazar-hangi-urfa--hangi-urfali-956.html |website=Urfa Gaste |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119062809/https://www.urfagaste.com/yazar-hangi-urfa--hangi-urfali-956.html |access-date=19 January 2023|archive-date=19 January 2023 }}</ref>
===Cuisine=== {{Main|Urfa#Cuisine}} The famous çiğ köfte belongs to the culinary traditions of the city and was unknown to the rural population until 1980s.<ref name = "Sayğan"/> ''Tırşik'' is a traditional dish of the rural population within the province.<ref name = "Sayğan"/>
=== Games and dance === "Çan Çekiç Oyunu" is a traditional dice game of Urfa played with eight dice for money.<ref name="Pinar and Özdurğun 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Pinar |first1=Mehmet |last2=Özdurğun |first2=Yunus |title=Urfa Halkevi ve Faaliyetleri (1934-1951) |journal=Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi |date=April 2016 |volume=9 |issue=43 |pages=870–81 |doi=10.17719/jisr.20164317656 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24597180 |access-date=7 December 2022 |issn=1307-9581|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|873}} "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.<ref name="Pinar and Özdurğun 2016"/>{{rp|873}} It is set to music played on the zurna and davul (types of horn and drum, respectively).<ref name="Pinar and Özdurğun 2016"/>{{rp|873}}
==== Playground games ==== "Derrebu Derinebu" is a tag-like playground game from Urfa that is a variant of the game "Darabil" from Gaziantep.<ref name="And 2003">{{cite book |last1=And |first1=Metin |title=Oyun ve Bügü |date=2003 |publisher=Yapi Kredi Yayinlari |isbn=9789750806476 |url=http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/cec/pdf/Oyun_Ve_Bugu2_Part_2.pdf |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|292}} In Derrebu Derinebu, players form two teams that face each other.<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|292}} A player from one team attempts to cross over to the other team, tag any number of players, and return, all while singing a rhyme without pausing for breath.<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|292}} The game locally known as "Arası Kesme" (called "Ara Kesme", "Esir Almaca", or other names in other parts of Turkey) is a capture-style game where one team tries to retrieve players from a designated area while the other team tries to stop them.<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|296}} A local variety of hide-and-seek (''Saklambaç'') is known as "Ebe Saklama".<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|303}} "Alkuç Balkuç" is an object-hiding game from Urfa where players stand in a circle and secretly pass an object from hand to hand.<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|303}} "Çukur Atma" is a marbles-type game of Urfa, except played with plum or apricot seeds instead of actual marbles.<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|290}} Another game particular to Urfa is "İğne Miğne Kiraz" and the finger-and-hand-based games "Beş Parmağı Yüz veya Bin Yapmak" and "Açıl Kilidim Açıl".<ref name="And 2003"/>{{rp|316}}
=== Music === A rich body of folk literature from Urfa is the mâni — a type of sung, single-stanza folk poetry consisting of seven lines with an A-A-B-A rhyme scheme.<ref name="Saraç 2018">{{cite book |last1=Saraç |first1=Mehmet Adil |title=Tanıklarıyla Urfalı Urfalıca |date=2018 |publisher=Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-975-8165-40-7 |url=https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr/files/1/bsb_sonra/urfaca_urfalica.pdf |access-date=28 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|151}} The hoyrat is a local subgenre of the mâni where the first line is missing a syllable.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|151}} The hoyrat is a cultural tradition also present at Kirkuk in Iraq.<ref name="Saraç 2018"/>{{rp|151}}
== Politics == On 1 January 1928, the province was included into the First Inspectorate-General over which an Inspector-General ruled according to the policies recommended in Report for Reform in the East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/867135/65687_13.pdf|title=Young Turk social engineering : mass violence and the nation state in eastern Turkey, 1913– 1950|last=Üngör|first=Umut|website=University of Amsterdam|pages=258|access-date=8 April 2020}}</ref> The Inspectorate was governed with martial law and span over the provinces of Hakkâri, Siirt, Van, Mardin, Bitlis, Şanlıurfa, Elaziğ and Diyarbakır.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|title=The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatical Policies, Modernity and War|date=1 January 2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-15557-2|pages=53|language=en}}</ref> The office of the Inspector General was dissolved in 1952.<ref name=":02" />
Şanlıurfa once being a relatively competitive province between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the True Path Party (DYP), it is now one of the most solid AKP provinces.
While the AKP managed to win Şanlıurfa with a comfortable 43.04% during the 2004 local elections, it has since then increased its margins of victory here. Following the diminishing popularity of smaller parties such as the DYP, Şanlıurfa heavily shifted towards the AKP, winning the November 2015 election with 64.55% of the votes. Şanlıurfa once again showed its status as an AKP stronghold in the 2017 referendum, with the Yes vote winning with a wide margin of 41.8%.
The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) came in second with 38.1 in the general elections in June 2015,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2015/sanliurfa-ili-secim-sonuclari|title=Şanlıurfa Haziran 2015 Genel Seçimi Sonuçları|website=Yeni Safak|access-date=27 March 2020}}</ref> and with 28.2% the HDP was also second in the November 2015 general election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2015-kasim/sanliurfa-ili-secim-sonuclari|title=Şanlıurfa Seçim Sonuçları 2015 – Genel Seçim Kasım 2015|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=28 March 2020|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR|access-date=27 March 2020}}</ref>
The far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) scored an exceptional 7.18% in the 1999 local elections. Its vote share eventually ebbed to a more usual 2.97% in the 2004 local elections. The MHP showed a significant recovery in the indecisive June 2015 election by winning 5.56% of the votes. However, the MHP went on to suffer from a nationwide loss in the upset November 2015 election, with its vote share declining to 2.75% in Şanlıurfa.
The centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) usually maintains a modest share of slightly below 5%. Similar to the other two opposition parties, the CHP suffered a loss in Şanlıurfa, going from 4.10% in the June 2015 election to 2.70% in the November 2015 election.
The current Governor of Sanliurfa is Abdullah Erin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sanliurfa.gov.tr/|title=Şanlıurfa Valiliği|website=www.sanliurfa.gov.tr|access-date=27 March 2020}}</ref>
==Places of interest== The province is famous for its Abrahamic sites such as Balıklıgöl, where Prophet Abraham was cast by Nimrod into fire that is believed to have turned to water. Also the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque, where Abraham is believed to be born in the cave next to the mosque is well known.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Delanghe|first=Cyriane|title=Harper & Hicks: 2 – Les larmes de Zénobie|date=20 August 2018|isbn=978-2-36475-431-7|pages=18|publisher=Voy'el |language=fr}}</ref> Within the province, approximately 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city of Şanlıurfa, is the pre-historic site of Göbekli Tepe, where continuing excavations have unearthed 12,000-year-old sanctuaries dating from the early Neolithic period, considered to be the oldest temples in the world, predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years.
The following tombs and sacred spots are located within the province:<ref>[http://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr/tr/icerikkategori/26/33/turbeler.aspx TÜRBELER]</ref>
* Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)'s birthplace * Prophet Ayyub (Job)'s cave and tomb * Prophet Alyasa (Elisha)'s Tomb * Imam Bakir's Tomb * Shaykh Hayat al-Harrani's Tomb * The first burial place of Said Nursi * Rahma Hatun's Tomb * Neolithic Temple at Göbekli Tepe * Neolithic Settlement at Nevalı Çori
=== Gallery === <gallery> File:Şanlıurfa,_Şanlıurfa_Merkez-Şanlıurfa_Province,_Turkey_-_panoramio_(16).jpg|{{center|Ridwaniya Mosque}} File:Balikli_Göl_03.jpg|{{center|Balıklı Göl (Fish Pond) and people}} File:Mevlid-i_Halil_Mosque_19.jpg|{{center|Mevlid-i Halil (Birth of Abraham) Mosque}} File:Eyyup Peygamber mosque urfa.jpg|{{center|Salahaddin Mosque}} File:UrfaBasar.jpg|{{center|Urfa's central market}} File:Urfastreet.jpg|{{center|Traditional Narrow Streets}} File:Urfa01.jpeg|{{center|Urfa's retailers}} File:Harran-beehouses.jpg|{{center|Harran District}} </gallery>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr Website of the City of Sanliurfa]
{{Provinces of Turkey}} {{Districts of Turkey |provname=Şanlıurfa|sortkey=Sanlıurfa}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanliurfa Province}} Category:Şanlıurfa Province Category:1928 establishments in Turkey Category:States and territories established in 1928 Category:Provinces of Turkey Category:Turkish Kurdistan Category:Upper Mesopotamia