Eastern Anatolia Region

The Eastern Anatolia Region (Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.

It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in the north, the Central Anatolia Region in the west, the Mediterranean Region in the southwest, the Southeastern Anatolia Region and Iraq in the south, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran in the east.



The region encompasses most of Western Armenia and had a large population of indigenous Armenians until the Armenian genocide. The Anatolia peninsula historically never encompassed what is now called "Eastern Anatolia" which was, instead, referred to as the Armenian highlands. It was renamed by the newly founded Turkish Republic in the 1920s. This has been seen as an attempt by Turkey to erase the Armenian history of the region.

It has the highest average altitude, largest geographical area, and lowest population density of the seven Turkish regions.

Etymology


The English-language name Anatolia (Anadolu) derives from the Greek Ἀνατολή (Anatolḗ) meaning "the East" and designating (from a Greek point of view) eastern regions in general. Traditionally, Anatolia was considered to be a peninsula the eastern boundary of which was a line from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Alexandretta, which is to the west of what is now the Eastern Anatolia Region. As a geographical term, this definition continues to be used.

Historically, the region was referred to as the Armenian highlands or Western Armenia. In 1923, the newly founded Republic of Turkey renamed the territory "Eastern Anatolia" as part of a wider policy of removing all non-Turkish names of places following the Armenian genocide. Beginning in 1880, the name Armenia was forbidden to be used in official documents of the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to play down the role of Armenians in the region. The government of Sultan Abdul Hamid II replaced the name Armenia with such terms as "Kurdistan" or "Anatolia". The Sublime Porte believed there would be no Armenian question if there was no Armenia. The process of "nationalization" of toponyms was continued and gained momentum under the Kemalists after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

The region encompasses most of Western Armenia (Արեւմտյան Հայաստան) and had a large population of indigenous Armenians until the Armenian genocide. The Anatolia peninsula never encompassed what is now called "Eastern Anatolia", which has been seen as an attempt by Turkey to erase the Armenian history of the region.

Subdivision
Eastern Anatolia Region has four subdivisions:
 * Upper Euphrates division (Yukarı Fırat Bölümü)
 * Erzurum-Kars division (Erzurum-Kars Bölümü)
 * Upper Murat-Van division (Yukarı Murat-Van Bölümü)
 * Hakkari division (Hakkari Bölümü)

Provinces
Provinces that are entirely in the Eastern Anatolia Region:


 * Ağrı
 * Bingöl
 * Elazığ
 * Malatya
 * Hakkari
 * Iğdır
 * Kars
 * Tunceli
 * Van

Provinces that are mostly in the Eastern Anatolia Region:
 * Ardahan
 * Erzurum
 * Şırnak

Location and borders
The Eastern Anatolia Region is located in the easternmost part of Turkey. It is bounded by Turkey's Central Anatolia Region to the west; Turkey's Black Sea Region to the north; Turkey's Southeast Anatolia Region and Iraq to the south; and Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia to the east, where Eastern Anatolia overlaps and converges with the South Caucasus region and Lesser Caucasus mountain plateau.

The area of the region is 164,330 km2, which comprises 20.9% of the total area of Turkey.

Population
The total population of the region is 5,966,101 (2019 estimate), down from 6,100,000 at the 2000 census. The population density (40 PD/km2) is lower than the average for Turkey (98 PD/km2). The region has the second most rural population in Turkey after the Black Sea region. Migration, especially to Marmara Region, is high. Migration to other regions and abroad is higher than the natural population increase. Until the Armenian genocide, the region also had a large population of indigenous Armenians, when it was also known as Western Armenia, and in addition had significant minorities of Georgians, Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks.

Geography
The average altitude is 2,200 m. Major geographic features include plains, plateaus and massifs. There is some volcanic activity today.

Lakes and rivers

 * Located in the Eastern Anatolia Region Aras and Kura rivers flooded the shed outside the territory of Turkey to the Caspian Sea. Euphrates, the Tigris and the Zab river waters are poured back onto the Persian Gulf Turkey outside.
 * The regime of the streams of the region is irregular. This is because; the irregularity of the precipitation regime and the fall of winter precipitation in the form of snow. As the snow falls on the ground for a long time without melting, the flow rates of the rivers decrease. The snow melting in spring and summer causes streams to increase their flow rates and flow enthusiastically. On the other hand, the rivers of the region have high hydroelectric energy potential. The reason for this is that it has high elevations and slopes.
 * Lakes were formed on the fault lines throughout the region. Turkey's largest lake, Lake Van along with Lake Çıldır, Lake Nazik, Lake Erçek, Lake Hazar, Lake Balık, Lake Haçlı and Lake Akdoğan are located within the region.

Massifs and mountains

 * There are three massif lines running north–south:
 * To the north, the Çimen Dağı, Kop Dağı and Yalnızçam mountains, Allahuekber Mountains, Aras Mountains and Mount Ararat.
 * In the centre, the Munzur, Karasu Dağı, Aras Dağı, Bingöl Mountains and Akdoğan mountains.
 * To the south, Southeast Tauros; Karaçavuş Mountains, Bitlis, Hakkâri, and Buzul mountains.
 * The volcanic mountains Nemrut, Süphan, Tendürek and Ararat are in the region.

Plateaus and plains

 * The largest plateau in the region is Erzurum-Kars Plato.
 * The region includes the Malatya, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş plains and the Van Lake basin.
 * The largest plain in the region is the Iğdır Plain. The second largest plain is the Muş Plain.

Lakes
• Lake Balık

• Lake Bulanık

• Lake Çıldır

• Lake Erçek

• Lake Hazar

• Lake Kuyucuk

• Lake Nazik

• Lake Van, the largest of Turkey

• Lake Gerendal

• Lake Karagöl

• Lake Bahri

• Lake Aygır (Erzurum)

• Lake Aygır (Kars)

Rivers
• Euphrates

• Tigris

• Aras River

• Kura (Caspian Sea)

• Zab River

Climate and nature
Since most of the region is far from the sea, and has high altitude, it has a harsh continental climate with long winters and short summers. During the winter, it is very cold and snowy, during summer the weather is cool in the highlands and warm in the lowlands.

The region's annual temperature difference is the highest in Turkey. Some areas in the region have different microclimates. As an example, Iğdır (near Mount Ararat) has a milder climate.

The region contains 11% percent of the total forested area of Turkey, and it is rich in native plants and animals. Oak and yellow pine trees form the majority of the forests.

The region has high potential for hydroelectric power.