Osmancık is a district of Çorum Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, located at 59 km north of the city of Çorum.

[edit] Geography

Located on an important crossing of the River Kızılırmak on the ancient Silk Road to the orient, Osmancık has long had a strategic value, and is still today a popular stopping-place on the road from Istanbul to the Black Sea city of Samsun and further east.

Today Osmancık is known for its rice production, being especially suitable for a new strain of rice developed especially for the region by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and named "Osmancık-97".

The North Anatolian geological fault line runs right through the valley, and Osmancık is very vulnerable to earthquakes.

[edit] History

The area was settled by the Kayı clan of the Oghuz Turks as they migrated westwards into Anatolia from their heartland of Central Asia.

[edit] Notable natives

• Osmancıklı İmamzade Halil Paşa - 15th century Ottoman statesman, in the court of Mehmed I.
• Osmancıklı (Amasyalı) Koca Mehmed Nizamüddin Paşa - 15th century Ottoman statesman.
• Pakçemüezzin Baltacı Mehmed Paşa - 18th century Ottoman statesman, rumoured to have been a lover of Catherine I of Russia.

[edit] Places of interest

• In the village of Ardıç to the west of Osmancık there is a road cut by the Ancient Romans through a rock named Çalınkaya.
• Koyunbaba bridge over the Kızılırmak, built in 1489.
• The Seljuk Turk castle of Kandiber, in the town centre.
• The Ottoman period tomb of Sufi mystic Koyunbaba.
• The Trojan war hero Achilles was said to have been finally buried on the hill of Adatepe.

v • d • e Osmancık in Çorum Province (in the Black Sea region) of Turkey Urban districts Çorum Rural districts Alaca - Bayat - Boğazkale - Dodurga - İskilip - Kargı - Laçin - Mecitözü - Oğuzlar - Ortaköy - Osmancık - Sungurlu - Uğurludağ Regions Provinces Aegean Afyonkarahisar - Aydın - Denizli - İzmir - Kütahya - Manisa - Muğla - Uşak Black Sea Amasya - Artvin - Bartın - Bayburt - Bolu - Çorum - Düzce - Giresun - Gümüşhane - Karabük - Kastamonu - Ordu - Rize - Samsun - Sinop - Tokat - Trabzon - Zonguldak Central Anatolia Aksaray - Ankara - Çankırı - Eskişehir - Karaman - Kayseri - Kırıkkale - Kırşehir - Konya - Nevşehir - Niğde - Sivas - Yozgat Eastern Anatolia Ağrı - Ardahan -Bingöl - Bitlis - Elâzığ - Erzincan - Erzurum - Hakkâri - Iğdır - Kars - Malatya - Muş - Siirt - Tunceli - Van Marmara Balıkesir - Bilecik - Bursa - Çanakkale - Edirne - Istanbul - Kırklareli - Kocaeli - Sakarya - Tekirdağ - Yalova Mediterranean Adana - Antalya- Burdur - Hatay - Isparta - Kahramanmaraş - Kilis - Mersin - Osmaniye Southeastern Anatolia Adıyaman - Batman - Diyarbakır - Gaziantep - Mardin - Şanlıurfa - Şırnak

This article about a Black Sea Region of Turkey location is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e