Giresun Province

Giresun Province Giresun ili
Province of Turkey
Location of Giresun Province in Turkey
Country	Turkey
Region	East Black Sea
Subregion	Trabzon
Government
• Electoral district	Giresun
Area
• Total	6,934 km2 (2,677 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	419,256
• Density	60/km2 (160/sq mi)
Area code(s)	0454
Vehicle registration	28

Giresun Province (Turkish: Giresun ili) is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane to the southeast, Erzincan to the south, Sivas to the southwest, and Ordu to the west. The provincial capital is Giresun.

Giresun is an agricultural region of great natural beauty, especially in the highlands. The lower areas near the Black Sea coast are Turkey's largest producer of hazelnuts; a Giresun folk song tells "I will not eat a single hazelnut, unless you are by my side", while another tells of a lover shot dead under a hazelnut tree.

Forests and pasture cover the high mountainous regions, and in places there is mining of copper, zinc, iron and other metals. The mountain villages are remote, with poor roads and little else in the way of infrastructure. The hillsides are too steep for most forms of agriculture, and as a result, cornbread is the traditional meal, as wheat cannot be grown.

The climate is typical of this stretch of the Black Sea coast, i.e. very wet. Local flora includes bilberries (Turkish "taflan").

Giresun province is divided into 16 districts (capital district in bold):

Due to the dense forestry in Giresun, woodwork is among the common handcrafts in the region. Some small wooden handcrafts peculiar to the city are churns, külek (a storing pot for cheese), and spoons. One of the oldest handcrafts in the city is weaving. Wool, linen threads and similar raw marerials are spun in hand looms to produce various local clothes, heybe (shoulder bags) and bags. Strong threads and knitted threads are also produced in hand looms.

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Wikipedia