Çorum Province


Çorum is a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, but lying inland and having more characteristics of Central Anatolia than the Black Sea coast. Its provincial capital is the city of Çorum, the traffic code is 19.

Geography

The province of Çorum is a mixture of mountains and high plateaus, some of it watered by the Kızılırmak and Yeşilırmak rivers. The province includes much attractive high meadow and mountain for walking and excursions from the city and towns.
Çorum is also known as a Geographical centre of Earth. In 2003, a revised calculation by Holger Isenberg using the higher resolution ETOPO2 global digital elevation model with data points every 2' led to a more precise result of 40°52′N 34°34′E in the region of Çorum, Turkey and thereby validated Woods' calculation.

History

Excavations reveal that Çorum area was inhabited during the Paleolithic, Neolithic period and the 4th stage of the Calcolithic Age. Remains of these periods have been found at Büyük Güllüce, Eskiyapar and Kuşsaray.
In later times Çorum and its environs were dominated by Hittites and in the district of Boğazkale is one of the most important Hittite sites in Anatolia, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire from 1700 BC to 1200 BC. Other important Hittite site include the open-air temples at Yazılıkaya and Alacahöyük; royal tombs; and the excavations of Boğazköy including tablets proving tradings links between the Hittites and the Ancient Egyptians.
Then came the other civilizations: Phrygians, who left remains at Pazarlı, north of Çorum;
Then Cimmerians, Medes, Persians, Galatians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Danishmends, Mongol Empire, Eretnids, Kadi Burhan al-Din and finally the Ottoman Empire. As well as the Hittite archaeology the province also contains a number of castles, bridges and mosques from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods.
In 1980, Nationalist Movement Party militants perpetrated the Çorum Massacre against the Alevi Turk minority, killing 57 and injuring more than 200.

Population