Kastamonu Province (Turkish:Kastamonu ili) is aprovince of Turkey, in theBlack Sea region in the north of the country. It is surrounded bySinop to the east,Bartın,Karabük to the west,Çankırı to the south,Çorum to the southeast and theBlack Sea to the north. Its area is 13,064 km2,[2] and its population is 378,115 (2022).[1] The population density is 29 inhabitants per km2. The provincial capitalKastamonu has a population of 128,707 (2022).[1]
It is not definitively known when Kastamonu was first founded. However, some sources[which?] dating back to the EarlyMiddle Ages refer to the province. There are also some archeological findings that date to about 100,000[citation needed] years that suggest the region was inhabited at that time.
There are many ideas about the derivation of the name Kastamonu:
According to the first view, it should be considered that the name Kastamonu is Turkishized from the namePaphlagonía[Greek "land of Paphlagon (people)"]. The region covering theWest Black Sea and Central Black Sea regions was called Paphlagonia before theTurks. Today, Kastamonu,Sinop,Bartın,Çankırı andKarabük are located in this region, while parts ofÇorum,Bolu,Zonguldak andSamsun provinces remain within the region. The Paphlagonians, who dominated this region in 1000 BC, gave their name to this geography.[3]
According to a second opinion, the city of Kastamonu took its name from the name Kastama, which was used for the same region in theHittite period. The name Kastama turned into Kastamonu over time.[4]
According to another view, the city of Kastamonu took its name from the combination of the words Gas and Tumanna. Gas, or better known as Kashkas, are among the first settlers of Kastamonu. Tumanna is the name of a city/region located on Kastamonu at that time. The combination of these two words took the form of Kastamonu over time.[5]
According to a third opinion, the city of Kastamonu took its name from the combination of the words Kastra and Komnen. The word Kastra means "castle" in Latin. The Komnens are aByzantine Dynasty and the settlers of this region during the Byzantine period. These two words took the form of Kastamonu over time.[6]
With the weakening of theMacedon kings, thePaphlagonia andBithynia regions were engulfed by the newly formedPontus kingdom. After the fall of the Pontus kingdom in first century BC, the area was incorporated by theRoman Empire by joining Paphlagonia with Bithynia. The capital center of this new city-state wasPompeiopolis, of which the remains still stand nearTasköprü District in Kastamonu.
The region then fell under the hegemony of theSeljuq dynasty (11th century AD), followed by theDanishmends, theByzantines during thecrusades, Çobanoğlu andJandaridbeyliks. TheOttoman sultanBeyazid I conquered the province in 1392; however, following his capture and death inBattle of Ankara, the area was granted back to the Çandaroğlu by theMongol warlordTimur Lenk. Ottoman sultanMehmed II incorporated the region back into the empire in 1461.
During the Ottoman reign, the province boundaries were expanded up to reachConstantinople. The sultan's heirs were often sent to rule the province as governors to gain experience.
After theFirst World War, during the battles of theTurkish War of Independence, Kastamonu played an important role in the supply of ammunition and troops to theİnebolu–Ankara front, transporting the war machines that would arrive to İnebolu by sea fromIstanbul (Constantinople) and theSoviets. When theGreeks noticed this activity, the İnebolu port was bombarded from the sea on 9 June 1921.
Ilısu Waterfall, at Küre national Park, near Pınarbaşı, Kastamonu, Turkey
The province is mostly covered with forests, thanks to the mild Black Sea climate.Ilgaz National Park, where a micro-climate dominates due to the mountainous terrain and numerous streams, is 63 km south of the province center of Kastamonu.
According to the 2000 census, 77.5% of the labor force is occupied in agriculture. This ratio is higher than the country average. The second largest sector is public and privateservices (8.9%).
Almost all of the arable land has permanent crops. The agricultural products make up about of 0.01% of the total in Turkey. A large portion of the agricultural produce consists of cereals. Thanks to its widespread forest areas (a total of 57% of the surface area),forestry is also an important industry. Industries largely consist of manufacturing of forestry, agriculture and mining products.
Kastamonu shares about 0.4% of the GDP, the composition of the GDP is as follows (1998 est.):
Agriculture: 32.8%
Communication and transport: 20%
Services: 16.8%
Industry: 9.5%
Transportation is possible only through paved and unpaved highways; a railroad that will connect Çankırı, Kastamonu and İnebolu is under construction.[when?] Although the province has a 135 km long coastline to Black Sea, only İnebolu has a small port and transportation by the sea is almost non-existent.
There are around 112,000 telephone main lines in use, about 200,000 cellphone subscribers and 15,000 Internet users in the province.[citation needed]
