Browse / Türkiye / Van / Erciş
Erciş
Vantown
Erciş
Total population
173,203
Demographic figures from TurkStat. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Erciş is a municipality and district of Van Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,133 km2, and its population is 171,000 (2022). It is located at the northern end of Lake Van. The district's population is predominantly Kurdish, characteristic of the broader Van Province region. Demographic studies of Turkey's Kurdish-majority provinces have consistently identified Van Province, including Erciş, among the areas with substantial Kurdish-speaking populations.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
During Classical Antiquity, the town was known as Arsissa, and Archesh (Arčeš) in Armenian and Arjish in Arabic. The Byzantines knew it as Arzes (Ἂρζες or Ἀρζές) and the 10th-century emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos wrote in his De administrando imperio (Chapter XLIV) that it was under the rule of the Kaysite emirate of Manzikert. This small district served as the capital city of a number of ruling states. It was the main center of the province of Turuberan as part of the ancient Armenian Empire. The city changed hands on several occasions between the Arabs and the Byzantines, in the early Middle Ages. From the mid 1020s onwards Archesh was governed by the Byzantines. In 1054, it was captured and sacked by the Seljuk Turks commanded by Tuğrul after an eight-day siege. It was indefinitely conquered by the Turks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. It was fortified in the early 14th century by the Ilkhanid vizier Ali Shah. Archesh became part of the Qara Qoyunlu state and later became a part of the Ottoman Empire. From 18th century, because of the increase of level of Lake Van the old town (called Archesh) slowly disappeared. By the second half of the 19th century few traces of the buildings, churches and dwelling houses remained. After old Archesh/Erciş was flooded by water, the city was moved to north to a much higher place called Alada in 1841. There the new town was built called Akants (Նոր Արճեշ (, New Artchesh in Armenian and Erciş () in Turkish). While the new site inherited the old city's name and identity, as well as most of the population, some of the old site's residents moved out into the surrounding countryside instead and settled in villages such as Çelebibaği. The Erciş district also experienced forced evacuations of some of its…
Geography
The district covers an area of 2,133 km² and is surrounded by Muradiye District to the east, Bitlis Province to the west, Ağrı Province on the north and by Lake Van on the south. There is a volcanic mountain and caldera called Mount Meydan in the district. To the north of Erciş is a large, steep highland area known as the Ala Dağ (literally "mottled mountain"), which contains the tributaries of the Zilan Dere. This is part of a general highland belt that separates the small plains north of Lake Van from the districts of Doğubayazıt and Diyadin further north. with hot, dry summers, and cold winters.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Erciş
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Events
Gallery
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikidata
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image