Kilis Province

Infobox Province TR
name=Kilis
region=Southeastern Anatolia
area=1,642
total population=114,724 (200)
licence = 79
area_code= 348|

History

There is evidence of human occupation from 4,000 years ago, in the Middle Bronze Age. The region has been ruled by the Hurrians, the Assyrian Empire, the Hittite Empire, the Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Roman Empire (including the Byzantine Empire), and finally by Ottoman Empire.

Kilis Province used to be the southern part of the province of Gaziantep and was formed in 1994. The town of Kilis is home to around 67% of the inhabitants of the province, the other towns and villages are very small.

Places of historical interest include a number of burial mounds, castles and mosques.

Geography

Kilis is located in the southern foothills of the Taurus Mountains west of the Euphrates River on the northern edge of the Syria Plain. The district contains areas of good agricultural land, watered by small rivers and 68% of the land area of Kilis is planted. Almost 4% of Turkey's grape production comes from Kilis. Other important agricultural products are olives, fruit, wheat, barley and tobacco. A Mediterranean climate dominates over the region, which is around 60 to 80 km away from the sea. Winters are cool and rainy, spring and fall months warm, and summers are hot. Average winter temperatures are 4 to 7 degrees Celsius, while in summer the temperatures do not fall under 25 degrees Celsius.

There is a border crossing into Syria, from where the road goes south to the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Prominent citizens

* Former chief-of-staff General Doğan Güreş was later Member of Parliament for Kilis.
* Army general Izettin Iyigün born in Kilis 1938
* Columnist and beauty contest judge Hıncal Uluç born Kilis 1939

Districts

Kilis province is divided into 4 districts (capital district in bold):
*Elbeyli
*Kilis
*Musabeyli
*Polateli