Kars Province Information & Kars Province Links at HealthHaven.com

Kars Province
Kars Province
Location of Kars Province in Turkey
Overview
Region:	Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey
Area:	9,587 (km²)
Total Population	287,106 TUIK 2007 (est)
Licence plate code:	36
Area code:	0474
Governor Website	http://www.kars.gov.tr

Kars is a province (Turkish: il) of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its border with the Republic of Armenia. From 1878 until 1917 all of the present-day province of Kars was part of the Russian oblast of Kars. From 1918 to 1920 the province was under the administration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as the Vanand province (with the city of Kars as its capital). Its territory was ceded to Turkey by the Soviet Union in the Treaty of Kars.

The provinces of Ardahan and Iğdır were until the 1990s part of Kars Province.

[edit] Districts

Kars province is divided into 8 districts (ilçe), each named after the administrative center of the district:

There are 383 villages in Kars.

[edit] Kars nature, wildlife and ecotourism

The church of St. Gregory of the Abughamrents in Ani

Kars has a wealth of wildlife that is being documented by the Kars-Igdir Biodiversity Project.^[1] The project has recorded 313 of Turkey's 465 bird species in the region. At least 207of these occur at Kuyucuk Lake,^[2] that is the most important wetland in the province. Sarikamis Forests in the south harbor wolves, brown bear, lynx and other animals, and Aras (Araxes) River wetlands comprise a key stop-over site for many migrating birds. Aras River Bird Research and Education Center at Yukari Ciyrikli village has recorded 215 bird species at this single location alone.

[edit] Monuments

Kars contains numerous monuments, the most notable being the ruined city of Ani and the 9th century Church of the Apostles.

[edit] Trivia

Kars was also the setting for the popular novel Snow by Orhan Pamuk. The Siege of Kars, 1855 is a book published by The Stationery Office, 2000, and is an account of its defence and capitulation as reported by one General Williams, one of many British officers lent to the Turkish army to lead garrisons and train regiments in the war against Russia.