Şavşat

Şavşat
Şavşat
Coordinates:
Country	Turkey
Province	Artvin
Government
• Mayor	Ahmet Sinan Öztürk (AKP)
• Kaymakam	Salih Altun
Area
• District	1,376.61 km2 (531.51 sq mi)
Elevation	1,174 m (3,852 ft)
Population (2012)
• Urban	6,753
• District	17,660
• District density	13/km2 (33/sq mi)
Post code	08700
Climate	Dfb

Şavşat (Georgian: შავშეთი/Shavsheti) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region, between the cities of Artvin and Kars on the border with Georgia at the far eastern end of Turkey.

Geography

Like most districts of Artvin this is a beautiful hilly area surrounded by high mountains on all sides, including the 3,537-metre (11,604 ft) Karçkal mountains to the west, and watered by many mountain streams and pools. There are trout in the largest, Şavşat Karagöl lake and a number of mineral water springs. The area has a cold inland climate, somewhat tempered by being above the Black Sea coast, but at these altitudes winter lasts a long time; it snows from November to April. The mountains are covered with pine forest, with some broadleaf forest at lower elevations.

In this landscape there is little agricultural land, no industry and the only real potential income is from tourism (people on trekking holidays), herding animals on the mountainside and beekeeping. There are some fruit trees (mainly pears and apples) and some potatoes are grown in the Çoruh River valley floor. Of the land area 13% can be planted while 27% is used for grazing, 42% is forest and 17% is high mountain.

The town of Şavşat is small (population 7,325) and has few amenities.

Climate

The climate in Şavşat is a mild/cool summer subtype (Köppen: Dfb) of the humid continental climate.

Climate data for Şavşat
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Daily mean °C (°F)	−3.6 (25.5)	−1.9 (28.6)	2.6 (36.7)	8.6 (47.5)	12.9 (55.2)	16.0 (60.8)	19.4 (66.9)	19.3 (66.7)	15.8 (60.4)	10.4 (50.7)	4.6 (40.3)	−0.8 (30.6)	8.6 (47.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	45 (1.77)	42 (1.65)	37 (1.46)	56 (2.2)	71 (2.8)	78 (3.07)	51 (2.01)	49 (1.93)	49 (1.93)	61 (2.4)	57 (2.24)	57 (2.24)	653 (25.7)
Source: Climate-Data.org

History

This area was occupied by the Cimmerians and the Urartu from 900 to 650 BC and later by the Ancient Romans and Sassanids.

It was then one of the Georgian princedoms in the constellation of several polities which is conventionally known as Tao-Klarjeti in Georgian. The princedom of Shavsheti included today's districts of Şavşat, Borçka, and Murgul in Turkey and Lower Machakheli in Adjara (Georgia).

This lasted until it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1547.

Following the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) Şavşat was among the territories ceded to Russia, and was returned to the new Republic of Turkey in 1921.

Villages

Akdamla köyü • Arpalı • Aşağı koyunlu • Atalar • Balıklı • Cevizli •Ciritdüzü • Çağlapınar • Çağlıyan • Çamlıca • Çavdarlı • Çayağzı • Çermik • Çiftlik • Çoraklı (Gargilop) • Çukur • Dalkırmaz • Demirci • Demirkapı • Dereiçi (Dasamop) • Dutlu • Düzenli • Elmalı • Erikli • Eskikale • Hanli • Ilıca • Karaağaç • Karaköy • Kayabaşı • Kayadibi • Kirazlı • Kireçli • Kocabey • Köprülü • Köprüyaka • Kurudere • Küplüce • Maden • Meşeli • Meydancık-Diyoban • Obaköy • Otluca • Pınarlı • Savaş köy • Saylıca • Sebzeli • Susuz • Şalcı • Şenköy • Şenocak • Tepeköy • Tepebaşı • Üzümlü • Veliköy • Yağlı Köyü • Yamaçlı köyü • Yaşarköy • Yeşilce • Yoncalı • Yukarı koyunlu • Yavuz köyü • Ziyaret köyü

Places of interest

• Papart forest
• Qenciyan Hill, overlooks the border and the Binboğa lakes.
• Şavşat Karagöl lake, a large trout lake in the forest, and the crater lake of Kuyruklu.

External links

• local information (Turkish)
• Governor's Office
• the Municipality
• local information2 (Turkish)