Of, Turkey

Of
District
Of

Location of Of within Turkey.

Coordinates: 40°56′42″N 40°15′52″E / 40.94500°N 40.26444°E / 40.94500; 40.26444
Country  Turkey
Region Black Sea
Province Trabzon
Government
  Mayor Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu (AKP)
Area[1]
  District 177.81 km2 (68.65 sq mi)
Elevation 10 m (30 ft)
Population (2012)[2]
  Urban 19,970
  District 42,138
  District density 240/km2 (610/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 61830
Area code(s) (+90) 462
Licence plate 61
Climate Cfa
Website www.of.bel.tr

Of (possibly from Ancient Greek: Οφιούς Ophious) is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of Trabzon and is an important historical district of the province. The mayor is Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu (AKP).

Etymology

There are several stories about the origins of Of's name. It was called Ofis in 1910 by its native Pontic Greek speaking inhabitants.[3] According to another view it means "village" or "settlement" in the Laz language (Laz: oput'e); the old name of the town is mentioned in one source as "Opinute". By another version of events, the city got its name from a nearby river described by Arrian as Ophis, a Greek word for "snake".[4] The other assumption suggests that the name of the district stems from "Op" which means "gun" in the old South Siberian Turkic language.

The history of Trabzon started with the Greek colonies in the region.

A small number of Muslim Pontic Greek speakers, using a dialect called "Ophitic", still live in the area.[5][6][7]

Notable people

References

  1. "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. Dawkins, R.M. (1916). Modern Greek in Asia Minor. A study of dialect of Silly, Cappadocia and Pharasa.
  4. Arrian (1805). Arrian's voyage round the Euxine Sea translated: and accompanied with a geographical dissertation, and maps. J. Cook. p. 33.
  5. "Against all odds: archaic Greek in a modern world | University of Cambridge". Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  6. Jason and the argot: land where Greek's ancient language survives, The Independent, Monday, 3 January 2011
  7. Özkan, Hakan (2013). "The Pontic Greek spoken by Muslims in the villages of Beşköy in the province of present-day Trabzon". Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 37 (1): 130–150. doi:10.1179/0307013112z.00000000023.
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