Nigde is a small rural province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Population is 365,812 (2006 est) of which 78,088 live in the city of Nigde. The population was it was 348,081 in 2000 and 305.861 in 1990. It covers an area of 7,312 km². Neighbouring provinces are Kayseri, Adana, Mersin, Konya, Aksaray and Nevşehir.

The province is surrounded on three sides by ranges of the Taurus Mountains, including Mount Hasan and the Melendiz mountains. To the west lies the plain of Emen, which opens up into the wide plain of Konya. The plain is covered with nutritious volcanic soil and Niğde is a successful agricultural region, particularly apples and potatoes.

Surrounded by mountains and at a fairly high altitude the area has a dry and chilly climate and is exposed to snows brought by cold north winds in winter. Average rainfall 0.9 mm, 78.5 mm in April, practically zero in July and August. Therefore the hillsides are more or less bare of vegetation, with some forest at the higher altitudes.

Nigde today

Niğde benefits from its rich agriculture, its apples are particlularly famous, and its location between the wealthy regions of Konya and Adana on the Mediterranean coast. Also because the province is near the tourist attractions of Cappadoccia it is close to the airports of Kayseri and Nevşehir.

As well as apples important crops include potatoes, cabbages, grain and sugar beet. Niğde is Turkey's biggest potato growing region and has the most apple trees (although newer plantings in other provinces are achieving greater production).

Meat and dairy are also important activities along with beekeeping and more recently trout farms.

Niğde has a rich tradition of folk culture including song and dance and the famous proverb (the Turkish equivalent of "the early bird catches the worm") - "In Bor market day is over, now ride your donkey to Niğde".Another Niğde tradition is to plum someone (Erikletmek) meaning if you have visitors sit them in the garden and fill them up with plums (or other fruit) so you don't have to give them dinner.

Mount Hasan

Mount Hasan is an inactive volcano in Niğde Province, Turkey. With an altitude of 3,253 m (10,672 ft.), it ranks as the second highest mountain of central Anatolia. A caldera 4-5 kilometres wide formed near the current summit around 7500 BC, in an eruption recorded in Neolithic paintings.

The ancient settlement of Çatalhöyük collected obsidian from the area of Hasan Dağ, which they probably traded with other settlements for luxury goods. Obsidian mirors and flakes have also been found. The importance of Hasan Dağ to the people of Çatalhöyük may be shown by a wall painting, sometimes called the "first landscape" by art historians, which depicts Hasan Dağ towering over the settlement's houses.

Approximately six hours walk is required to climb to the top of the mountain, as it is not possible to drive up. At the summit, one is faced with a fabulous view over the central Anatolian plateau, including the distant Cappadocia.

History

The area has been settled since the Neolithic period of 8000-5500 BC, as proved excavations of burial mounds höyük in the district of Bor, and tin mines on the district of Çamardı -Keste. The area was later settled by the Hittites, who lived here for a thousand years up until 800BC. The name Nig˘de first occurs in written sources in the form na-hi-ti-ia in a Luwian inscription of king Saruanis from Andaval as was pointed out by Gelb (Hittite Hieroglyphs II [1935] pp. 17-18). Then came Assyrians and Phrygians, Greeks, Persians, Alexander the Great, Roman18)s, who built the city of Tyana with its palaces and waterworks.

Roman rule persisted from the Eastern capital of Byzantium until the area was occupied by the Seljuk Turks from 1166 onwards. By the early 13th century Nigde was one of the largest cities in Anatolia and a number of impressive mosques and tombs date from this period. The area was brought within the Ottoman Empire in 1471 and thus passed into the territory of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s.