In the 1881–1882 Ottoman census, the sanjak of Van had a population of 113,964 of which52.1% wasArmenian and47.9% Muslim.[10] In the 1914 census, the sanjak had a population of 172,171 of which63.6% was Muslim and35.7% Armenian. The remaining population wasAssyrians at0.7%.[11]
In the first Turkish census in 1927,Kurdish was the most-spokenfirst language in Van Province (which includedHakkari Province until 1945) at76.6% whileTurkish remained the second most-spoken first language at23.1%. Other languages enumerated includedHebrew at0.2% andArabic at0.1%. In the same census, Muslims comprised99.8% of the population and the remaining0.2% beingJews.[13]
In the subsequent census in 1935, Kurdish stood at72.4% and Turkish at27.2%. Other smaller languages includedCircassian at0.2%, Hebrew at0.1%, Arabic at0.1%.
Muslims remained the largest denomination at99.8%, Jews stood at0.1% andChristians at0.1%.[14] In 1945, Kurdish stood at59.9% and Turkish at39.6%, while99.9% of the population was Muslim.[15] In 1955,Kurdish andTurkish remained the two most spoken languages at66.4% and33.1%, respectively.[16]
This area was the heartland ofArmenians, who lived in these areas from the time ofHayk in the 3rd millennium BCE right up to the late 19th century when the Ottoman Empire seized all the land from the natives.[17] In the 9th century BC the Van area was the center of theUrartian kingdom.[18] The area was a major Armenian population center. The region came under the control of theArmenianOrontids in the 7th century BC and laterPersians in the mid-6th century BC. By the early 2nd century BC it was part of theKingdom of Armenia. It became an important center during the reign of theArmenian king,Tigranes II, who founded the city ofTigranakert in the 1st century BC.[19]
With the victory of theSeljuk Turks at theBattle of Malazgirt in 1071, just north ofLake Van,[20] it became a part of theSeljuq Empire and later theOttoman Empire during their century long wars with their neighboring IranianSafavid arch rivals, in which SultanSelim I managed to conquer the area over the latter. The area continued to be contested and was passed on between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavids (and their subsequent successors, theAfsharids andQajars) for many centuries until theBattle of Chaldiran which set the borders till this day. During the 19th century it was reorganized asVan Vilayet.
According to the 2012 Metropolitan Municipalities Law (Law No. 6360), all Turkish provinces with a population more than 750 000, will have ametropolitan municipality and thedistricts within the metropolitan municipalities will be second level municipalities. The law also creates new districts within the provinces in addition to present districts.[25] The currentGovernor is Mehmet Emin Bilmez.[26]
Several earthquakes have occurred in Van Province. In 1881 an earthquake occurred and caused the death of 95 people.[27] In 1941, Van suffered a destructive5.9 Mw earthquake. Two moreearthquakes occurred in 2011 in which 644 people died and 2608 people were injured.[27] In a7.2 Mw earthquake on 23 October 2011, more than 500 people were killed.[28] On 9 November 2011, a 5.6 Mw magnitude earthquake killed also several people and caused buildings to collapse.[27]
Van Province is divided into 13 districts,[29] listed below with their populations as at the end of 2022.[1] In 2013 the former Van District was split into İpekyolu and Tuşba districts, which between them contain almost all of the city of Van.
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