Aksaray Province

Aksaray Province Aksaray ili
Province of Turkey
Location of Aksaray Province in Turkey
Country	Turkey
Region	Central Anatolia
Subregion	Kırıkkale
Government
• Electoral district	Aksaray
Area
• Total	7,626 km2 (2,944 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	377,505
• Density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)
Area code(s)	0382
Vehicle registration	68

Aksaray Province (Turkish: Aksaray ili) is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Konya along the west and south, Niğde to the southeast, Nevşehir to the east, and Kırşehir to the north. It covers an area of 7,626 km². The provincial capital is the city of Aksaray.

This is a region of great natural beauty: Aksaray is one of the four provinces in the much-visited area of Cappadocia, along with Nevşehir, Niğde and Kayseri. Also the 3,000m volcano Mount Hasan stands between Aksaray and Niğde. Summers are hot and dry on the plain, but the area is green and covered in flowers in springtime, when water streams off the mountainside. The 2400 km² salt lake, Tuz Gölü, lies within the boundaries of Aksaray, a large area of swamp with a maximum depth of 1 metre.

Aksaray province is divided into 7 districts (capital district in bold):

In antiquity the area was named Archelais Garsaura, which was mutated to Taksara during the Seljuk Turkish era, and then to Aksaray.

The plains of central Anatolia have been settled for 8,000 years. and the area around Aksaray bears monuments to a string of civilisations that have settled on the plain in that time. The mound of Aşıklı Höyük in the town of Kızılkaya indicates a settlement dating back to 5,000BC (and also a skull of a woman who had apparently been trepanned, the earliest known record of brain surgery).

Later the Silk Road came through here so caravanserai and then larger and larger settlements were built to supply and shelter travellers and traders. The city and surroundings of Aksaray thrived in the Roman, Byzantine and the Turkish periods.

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Wikipedia