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Anatolia

Anatolia: Encyclopedia - Anatolia

Anatolia (Greek: Aνατολή Αnatolē or Ανατολία Anatolìa) is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey, also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor. It means "rising of the sun" or "East", is . In Turkish it is called Anadolu, a derivation of its original Greek version. Because of its strategic location at the intersection of Asia and Europe, Anatolia has been a cradle for several civilizations since prehistoric ages, with Neolithic settlements su ...

Including:

Anatolia - States of Anatolia

Anatolia - Ottoman Rule of Asia Minor after 1885

Anatolia - Ethnic distribution in Asia Minor in the early 20th century before the Treaty of Lausanne

Anatolia, Anatolia - Ethnic distribution in Asia Minor in the early 20th century before the Treaty of Lausanne, Anatolia - Ottoman Rule of Asia Minor after 1885, Anatolia - States of Anatolia, Hayastan (Greater Armenia), Cilicia (Lesser Armenia), Western Armenia (Ottoman Armenia), Kurdistan, Lazistan, Pontus, Ajaria, List of ethnic groups, Levant, Ancient Near East, Middle East, History of Ottoman Armenia

Anatolia: Encyclopedia - Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia (Greek: Aνατολή Αnatolē or Ανατολία Anatolìa) is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey, also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor. It means "rising of the sun" or "East", is . In Turkish it is called Anadolu, a derivation of its original Greek version.

Because of its strategic location at the intersection of Asia and Europe, Anatolia has been a cradle for several civilizations since prehistoric ages, with Neolithic settlements such as Çatalhöyük (Pottery Neolithic), Cayönü (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to pottery Neolithic), Nevali Cori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), Hacilar (Pottery Neolithic), Göbekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and Mersin. The settlement of Troy starts in the Neolithic and continues forward into the Iron Age.

Major civilizations and peoples that have settled in or conquered Anatolia include the Colchians, Hattians, Luwians, Hittites, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Persians, Celts, Tabals, Meshechs, Greeks, Pelasgians, Armenians, Romans, Goths, Kurds, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, and Ottomans. These peoples belonged to many varied ethnic and linguistic traditions. Through recorded history, Anatolians have spoken both Indo-European and Semitic languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation. In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages have radiated. Other authors have proposed an Anatolian origin for the Etruscans of ancient Italy.

Today the inhabitants of Anatolia are mostly native speakers of the Turkish language, which was introduced with the conquest of Anatolia by Turkic peoples and the rise of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. However, Anatolia remained multi-ethnic until the early 20th century Rise of Nationalism under the Ottoman Empire. The Turks in Thrace were forced to leave their homes and settle in Anatolia during the Balkan Wars. The last population exchange, as result of the Treaty of Lausanne, between Turkey and Greece eliminated the majority of Turks in Greece and Greeks in Turkey. A significant Kurdish ethnic and linguistic minority exists in the south eastern regions.

Anatolia - States of Anatolia

Anatolia has been the center of many great states throughout history. The first known state was built by Hittites.

Hayastan (Greater Armenia), Cilicia (Lesser Armenia), Western Armenia (Ottoman Armenia), Kurdistan, Lazistan, Pontus, Ajaria, List of ethnic groups, Levant, Ancient Near East, Middle East, History of Ottoman Armenia

Anatolia - Ottoman Rule of Asia Minor after 1885

After 1885, with the governing reforms of Tanzimat, the control of the Ottoman land in Asia Minor divided into 15 vilayets, one sanjak and one mutersaflik of the vilayet of Constantinople (both being on the asiatic side of the Bosporus).

Every vilayet was further divided in a number of sanjaks.

More specifically the political division of Asia Minor in 1915 was as follows;

Vilayet of Izmir divided in the sanjaks of Manisa, Izmir, Aydin, Denizli, Mentese
Independent vilayet of the Dardanelles
Vilayet of Bursa divided in the sanjaks of Balikesir, Bursa, Erdogrul, Kutahya, Afyon
Vilayet of Konya divided in the sanjaks of Burdur, Hamid abad, Atalya, Konya, Nigde
Vilayet of Kastamonu divided in the sanjaks of Bolu, Cankiri, Kastamonu, Sinop
Vilayet of Ankara divided in the sanjaks of Ankara, Kirsehir, Yozgat, Kayseri
Vilayet of Adana, divided in the sanjaks of Icel(Mersin), Adana, Hozan, Jebel-i-Bereket
Vilayet of Sivas divided in the sanjaks of Sivas, Tokat, Amasya, Karahisar-Sarki
Vilayet of Trabzon divided in the sanjaks of Samsun, Trabzon, Argiropolis, Lazistan
Vilayet of Erzerum
Vilayet of Bitlis divided in the sanjaks of Mus, Ghen, Siirt
Vilayet of Van divided in the sanjaks of Van, Hakkari
Vilayet of Mosul divided in the sanjaks of Mosul, Sehrizan, Suleymanih
Vilayet of Mamure-ul-Azil divided in the sanjak of Diyarbakir and the mutersaflik of Zor
Vilayet of Halep divided in the sanjaks of Halep, Urfa, Maras

Also the

Independent mutersaflik of Izmit and
the sanjak of Uskudar

Anatolia - Ethnic distribution in Asia Minor in the early 20th century before the Treaty of Lausanne

Based on French census files of 1915 the total population of Asia Minor (not including Eastern Thrace, the vilayets of the orient & the city of Constantinople) was 10,372,411 persons of all nationalities and religions.

More specifically the distribution of differerent ethnic groups as per Vilayet and Sanjak is as follows;