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Giresun Province

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Giresun is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane to the south-west, Erzincan to the south, Sivas to the south-east, and Ordu to the west. The provincial capital is Giresun.

Geography

Giresun is an agricultural region of great natural beauty, especially in the highlands. The lower areas near the Black Sea coast are Turkey's largest producer of hazelnuts, indeed a Giresun folk song tells "I will not eat a single hazelnut, unless you are by my side" , while another tells of a lover shot dead under a hazelnut tree The higher mountain areas are forest and pasture and in places there is mining of copper, zinc, iron and other metals. The mountain villages are remote, with poor roads and little else in the way of infrastructure. And the hillsides are too steep for agriculture also, so for example cornbread is the traditional meal, as they cannot grow wheat. Life here is hard and in the past many people have left to find jobs in Turkey's larger cities or abroad.

The climate is typical of this stretch of the Black Sea coast i.e. very wet. Local flora includes bilberries (Turkish "taflan").

Districts

Giresun province is divided into 16 districts (capital district in bold):

Places of interest

  • Kümbet, Karagöl and Bektaş - areas of attractive mountain pasture in the district of Dereli, where people can enjoy walks and picnics. Annual folklore festivals are held here in summer.

Notable residents

Politicians

Writers and artists

Musicians

Giresun shares the folk music of the Black Sea region and is the birthplace of:

  • Katip Şadi (b 1932, Görele -) folk musician, player of the Kemençe, a local version of the violin.

Other musicians include:

Sports people

Giresunspor are a minor league football team.

Giresun in popular culture

  • The TV series Uy Başuma Gelenler was filmed in the village of Düzköy, its the story of a young man from Istanbul who inherits a hazelnut grove in Giresun (a Turkish twist on Monarch of the Glen.
  • The folk song Giresun üstünde vapur bağrıyor (Eşref Bey Ağıtı) meanwhile has been recorded by a number of artists including Ismail Hakkı Demircioğlu, and tells of a wounded soldier dying in Giresun
  • Giresun'un içinde has been sung by Musa Eroğlu, Selda Bağcan and Fuat Saka, who also sang Lazutlar which means corn in the local dialect and is a kind of Cider with Rosie rural idyll in verse.
  • Ahmet Kaya sang Mican a ballad about a local bandit in the mountains.

    • References

    External links



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    Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 07:26:00 PDT (GMT -0700)
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