Vilâyet-i Ankara | |||||
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire | |||||
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Ankara Vilayet in 1890 | |||||
Capital | Ankara | ||||
History | |||||
• | Established | 1867 | |||
• | Disestablished | 1922 | |||
Population | |||||
• | Muslim, 1914 | 877,285 | |||
• | Greek, 1914 | 20,240 | |||
• | Armenian, 1914 | 51,556 | |||
Today part of | Turkey |
The Vilayet of Ankara or Angora was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, centered on the city of Ankara in north-central Anatolia, which included most of ancient Galatia.
At the beginning of the 20th century it reportedly had an area of 32,339 square miles (83,760 km2), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 892,901. The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered. As of 1920, the population was described as being mainly Muslim from Turkey, and Armenian Christians.
It was an agricultural country, depending for its prosperity on its grain, wool and the mohair obtained from the Angora goats. An important industry was carpet-weaving at Kırşehir and Kayseri. There were mines of silver, copper, lignite and salt, and many hot springs, including some of great repute medicinally.Rock salt and fuller's earth was also mined in the area.
Weaving was a popular industry in the vilayet but declined after the introduction of the railroad, where locals would export wool and mohair instead of weaving it. A small carpet industry was also found in the region in the early 20th century.
Sanjaks of the Vilayet: