Hopa | |
|---|---|
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  Hopa Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates:41°23′25″N41°25′10″E / 41.39028°N 41.41944°E /41.39028; 41.41944 | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Artvin |
| District | Hopa |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Taner Ekmekçi (CHP) |
| Population (2021)[1] | 23,846 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Postal code | 08600 |
| Climate | Cfa |
| Website | www |
Hopa (Laz andGeorgian:ხოფა,romanized:khopa,[2]HamshenArmenian:Հոփա,romanized: Hop'a)[3] is a town inArtvin Province in northeast Turkey. It is located on the eastern TurkishBlack Sea coast about 67 km (42 mi) from the city ofArtvin and 18 kilometres from theborder withGeorgia. It is the seat ofHopa District.[4] Its population is 23,846 (2021).[1]
Hopa is on the Black Sea Coast 65 km (40 mi) fromArtvin and 18 km (11 mi) from the Sarp border crossing (intoSarpi) on the Georgian border. The land climbs sharply from 10m above sea level in the coastal areas up into the Sultan Selim Mountains, the hillsides are well watered and green with alder, chestnuts, hornbeams and other deciduous trees. The highest point is Mt Yavuz Sultan Selim at 1513m. The climate is mild and wet, although only July and August are warm enough to be called summer. There is annual snowfall in winter.
The town consists of 7 quarters: Bucak, Merkez Kuledibi, Ortahopa, Sundura,Yukarı Kuledibi,Cumhuriyet andSugören.[5]
The area was part of the kingdom ofColchis but was always vulnerable to invasions, first theScythians from across theCaucasus, then the Muslim armies led by Habib, son ofCaliph Uthman who controlled the area from 853 AD to 1023 when it was conquered by theByzantines from the Sac Emirate allied to theAbbasids. TheSeljuk Turks led byAlp Arslan conquered the area in 1064. With the collapse of the Seljuks, the Artvin area came under the control of theIldeniz, one of theAnatolian Turkish beyliks[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Ottoman SultanSelim I brought it into the Ottoman Empire during his campaign against the Crimea that took place in 1490–1512.Lala Mustafa Pashamade it part of theChildir Eyalet formed in 1578. The area was captured by Russia following theRusso-Turkish War (1877-1878) and many people of Hopa moved westwards away from the Russian-controlled zone. Hopa was returned as part of theTreaty of Brest Litovsk in 1918 and formally joined Turkey on 14 March 1921. The Sarp border gate was opened on 31 August 1988 with the "International Road Transport Agreement" between Soviet Union and Turkey and gave a big boost to Hopa in trade and tourism.
There is currently a high rate ofcancer in Hopa, attributed to fall-out from theChernobyl disaster, across theBlack Sea from here.[13] Between 2001 and 2004, cancer cases sharply increased in the Black Sea region, especially in Hopa, with 47.9% of all deaths during this time being due to cancer.[14]
The economy is based on trade, fishing and agriculture, mostly tea, nuts (especiallyhazelnuts) andkiwifruit. There are two tea factories, the Black Sea Copper Works, a Thermal Power Plant, the Hopa port and the Hopa Vocational School. It has direct bus connections toTrabzon,Rize, Artvin,Ardahan,Kars,Erzurum and Sarp which go on to Georgia. The Sarp border gate was opened on 31 August 1988 with the "International Road Transport Agreement" betweenSoviet Union and Turkey and gave a big boost to Hopa in trade and tourism. The Hopa Port is managed by a privately owned company Hopa Limani and is active in international trade.[15]
This area is characterized by equable climates with few extremes of temperature and ample precipitation in all months. Hopa has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa).
| Climate data for Hopa (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 11.2 (52.2) | 11.7 (53.1) | 14.0 (57.2) | 17.2 (63.0) | 20.9 (69.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 27.3 (81.1) | 28.0 (82.4) | 25.2 (77.4) | 21.5 (70.7) | 16.7 (62.1) | 13.2 (55.8) | 19.4 (66.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.4 (45.3) | 7.4 (45.3) | 9.3 (48.7) | 12.2 (54.0) | 16.6 (61.9) | 20.9 (69.6) | 23.4 (74.1) | 24.0 (75.2) | 20.6 (69.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.1 (53.8) | 9.4 (48.9) | 15.1 (59.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.8 (38.8) | 3.5 (38.3) | 5.1 (41.2) | 8.0 (46.4) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.8 (62.2) | 19.8 (67.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 13.0 (55.4) | 8.1 (46.6) | 5.7 (42.3) | 11.2 (52.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 199.06 (7.84) | 168.36 (6.63) | 155.66 (6.13) | 92.87 (3.66) | 97.66 (3.84) | 154.49 (6.08) | 154.43 (6.08) | 179.98 (7.09) | 316.78 (12.47) | 317.1 (12.48) | 264.93 (10.43) | 239.94 (9.45) | 2,341.26 (92.18) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.9 | 12.4 | 13.6 | 10.6 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 10.8 | 10.9 | 11.6 | 12.2 | 11.2 | 12.5 | 139.8 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 66.7 | 69.9 | 73.0 | 76.7 | 79.6 | 79.1 | 79.8 | 80.3 | 79.4 | 79.0 | 70.9 | 64.1 | 74.9 |
| Source:NOAA[16] | |||||||||||||
