Tunceli Province

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(Redirected from Dersim)

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Tunceli is a province in eastern Turkey. The province was named Dersim until 1936 (Dersim meaning 'Silver door' in Kurdish and Persian), and some still call the region by this name. Its adjacent provinces are Erzincan to the north and west, Elazığ to the south, and Bingöl to the east. The province covers an area of 7,774 km² and has a population of 82,000. It has the lowest population density of any province in Turkey, just 10.6 inhabitants/km². Tunceli is the only Turkish province with an Alevi majority.

The history of the province stretches back to antiquity. It has been mentioned as 'Daranalis' by Ptolemy, and seemingly, it was referred to as 'Daranis' before him. One theory as to the origin of the name associates with the Persian Emperor Darius.

As of the end of the 19th century, the region (called "Dersim") was included in the Ottoman sancak (subprovince) of Hozat, depending the city and the province of Mamuret-ül Aziz (Elazığ today), with the exception of the actual district of Pülümür, which depended on the neighboring sancak of Erzincan, then a part of the Erzurum Province. This status continued through the first years of the Republic of Turkey, until 1936 when the name of the province ("Dersim") has been changed to Tunceli -literally 'the land of bronze' in Turkish, tunç meaning bronze and el (in this context) land.- The center of which has been fixed in the town of Kalan and the district of Pülümür has been added within the boundaries of the new province. Although a distinct province with 8 districts, it was administered from Elazığ till 1947. The name of the provincial capital, Kalan, was then officially changed to match with the province's name, and is Tunceli today.

Tunceli is known for its old buildings (though mainly destroyed by Hamidiye Alays in the late 19th century and Turkish army in 1936-37 military operations against the last remaining Armenians and Alevi Derebeys-local rulers), and wonderful natural landscape, especially along the Munzur River, Munzur Mountain and Mercan Mountains.

Ninety-eight percent of Tunceli's population has at least primary school education, leading to one of the highest rates of literacy for Turkey. In 1979/1980 Tunceli had highest number of students attending University as well as top entry points until the only Higher Education School shut down and converted to a Military Base.