| Vilayet of the Archipelago | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vilayet of theOttoman Empire | |||||||||||||||
| 1867–1913 | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Flag .svg) Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||
.svg) The Vilayet of the Archipelago and theVilayet of Crete in 1890 | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Kale-i Sultaniye,Chios,Rhodes | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
• 1885[1] | 12,850 km2 (4,960 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
• 1885[1] | 325,866 | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
| 1867 | |||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1913 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| area does not include Cyprus | |||||||||||||||
TheVilayet of the Archipelago (Ottoman Turkish:ولايت جزائر بحر سفيد,Vilâyet-i Cezair-i Bahr-i Sefid,[2][3] "Vilayet of the Islands of theMediterranean Sea") was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of theOttoman Empire extant from 1867 to 1912–13, including, at its maximum extent, the OttomanAegean islands,Cyprus and theDardanelles Strait.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it reportedly had an area of 4,963 square miles (12,850 km2), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 325,866.[1] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.[1]
It was established in 1867 as the successor of the homonymous "Eyalet of the Archipelago", which was established in 1533.[4][5] Until 1876/7, when it was transferred to theIstanbul Vilayet,[6] thesanjak (sub-province) ofBiga was the capital (pasha-sanjak), with the seat of the governor atKale-i Sultaniye, while the othersanjaks were those ofRodos (Rhodes),Midilli (Lesbos),Sakiz (Chios),Limni (Lemnos), and Kıbrıs (Cyprus).[4]
_Boundaries_and_Ethnic_Makeup.png)
Cyprus, which had been ruled as an independentmutasarrifate under the direct jurisdiction of thePorte since 1861, was included in the vilayet in April 1868,[7] only to be made a separate mutasarrifate again after 1870.[8] In 1878, Cypruscame underBritish rule.[4] After the separation of Biga, Rhodes becamepasha-sanjak, then Chios in 1880, and then Rhodes again in 1888.[9]
TheDodecanese islands were occupied byItaly during theItalo-Turkish War of 1911–12, and the remaining islands of the eastern Aegean were captured by Greece during theFirst Balkan War (1912–13), leading to the vilayet's dissolution.[4] Of the Aegean islands,Imbros andTenedos remained finally under Turkish rule according to theTreaty of Lausanne (1923), while the Dodecanesepassed to Greece afterWorld War II.[4]
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Media related toVilayet of the Archipelago at Wikimedia Commons
