Tatvan

Tatvan
Overview of Tatvan from Nemrut-Dagi
Tatvan
Coordinates: 38°30′08″N 42°16′53″E / 38.50222°N 42.28139°E / 38.50222; 42.28139Coordinates: 38°30′08″N 42°16′53″E / 38.50222°N 42.28139°E / 38.50222; 42.28139
Country	Turkey
Province	Bitlis
Government
• Mayor	Fettah Aksoy (AKP)
• Kaymakam	Orhan Şefik Güldibi
Area
• District	1,606.46 km2 (620.26 sq mi)
Elevation	1,690 m (5,540 ft)
Population (2012)
• Urban	67,035
• District	85,490
• District density	53/km2 (140/sq mi)
Post code	13200
Website	www.tatvan.bel.tr

Tatvan (Armenian: Դատվան Datvan, Kurdish: Têtwan) is a city on the western shore of Lake Van. It is the chief city of Tatvan District within Bitlis Province in eastern Turkey, and has about 96,000 inhabitants. The mayor is Fettah Aksoy (AKP).

Tatvan is the eastern terminus of the railway line from Ankara, with freight and passenger trains. It is connected eastwards to Van, 100 km away, and westwards to the rest of Turkey, by Highway D300. There is also a train ferry across the lake to Van. The ferry was upgraded in 2015.

There is no railway around the lake to Van; it is intended eventually to build one but to date there are no plans. This would actually create an unbroken rail link between Europe and the Indian subcontinent, as Van is effectively the western terminus of the Iranian railway network.