Of | |
---|---|
District | |
Location of Of within Turkey. | |
Coordinates: 40°56′42″N 40°15′52″E / 40.94500°N 40.26444°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Region | Black Sea |
Province | Trabzon |
Government | |
• Mayor | Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu (AKP) |
Area | |
• District | 177.81 km2 (68.65 sq mi) |
Elevation | 10 m (30 ft) |
Population (2012) | |
• Urban | 19,970 |
• District | 42,138 |
• District density | 240/km2 (610/sq mi) |
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Postal code | 61830 |
Area code(s) | (+90) 462 |
Licence plate | 61 |
Climate | Cfa |
Website | www |
Of (possibly from Ancient Greek: Οφιούς Ophious) is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of Trabzon and is an important historical district of the province. The mayor is Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu (AKP).
There are several stories about the origins of Of's name. Of was called Ofis in 1910 by its native Pontic Greek speaking inhabitants. According to another view it means "village" or "settlement" in the Laz language (Laz: oput'e); the old name of the town is mentioned in one source as "Opinute". By another version of events, the city got its name from a nearby river described by Arrian as Ophis, a Greek word for "snake". The other assumption suggests that the name of the district stems from "Op" which means "gun" in the old South Siberian Turkic language.
The history of Trabzon started with the Greek colonies in the region.
A small number of Muslim Pontic Greek speakers, using a dialect called "Ophitic", still live in the area.
A large and dramatic map of Asia Minor in antiquity by J. B. Bourguignon d'Anville (1794)