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Rize
Municipality
Clockwise from top: View of Rize, Arch bridge across Firtina River, Rize Castle, Kaçkar Mountains National Park, Kiz Kulesi, Laz monument in Rize, Pokut Yaylası.
RizeLocation in Turkey
Coordinates: 41°01′29″N 40°31′20″E / 41.02472°N 40.52222°E / 41.02472; 40.52222
Country	Turkey
Province	Rize
District	Rize
Government
• Mayor	Rahmi Metin (AKP)
Area	3,920 km (1,510 sq mi)
Population	119,828
• Density	31/km (79/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code	53000
Climate	Cfa
Website	www.rize.bel.tr

Rize (Turkish pronunciation: [ɾi'ze]; Greek: Ριζούντα; Laz: რიზინი; Georgian: რიზე; Armenian: Ռիզե) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District. Its population is 119,828 (2021). Rize is a typical Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. Since the border with Georgia was opened in the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and the town is much wealthier than it used to be. Current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's family has its roots in Rize and the local university is named after him. The city is linked by road with Trabzon (41 miles west), Hopa (55 miles east on the Georgian border, and Erzurum (south). Rize–Artvin Airport started operating in 2022.

Name

The name comes from Greek ρίζα (riza) or Ριζαίον (Rizaion), meaning "mountain slopes" (ρίζα in Greek means root). In modern times, its Greek name was usually Ριζούντα (Rizunda). Its Latin forms are Rhizus and Rhizaeum, the latter of which is used in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees as the name of bishopric of the town, which was once part of the late Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus).

Other names (17th -– 19th c.) : Rizeh, Riseh, Rhizium, Irizeh, Irissa; used in trade or by merchants.

History

Arrian was the first writer to mention Rize. In his Periplus of the Euxine Sea, he described it as a city founded at the mouth of the river of the same name, the ancient and Byzantine ῾Ρίζιος ποταμός. Dated to 130–131AD and written as a letter to Roman Emperor Hadrian, the work records how its author, the governor of Cappadocia, made a tour of the Eastern Black Sea territories that formed part of his jurisdiction, first visiting the Roman Empire's Eastern Anatolian frontier garrisons before pushing on to the Black Sea coast in the Trabzon (Trebizond) region. The city of Rize formed part of the historic Georgian province of Chaneti (Georgian: ჭანეთი).

From 1547, Chaneti province was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and became a part of the sancak of Lazistan. The city was claimed by the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia between 1918 and 1920. On the basis of the 1921 Treaty of Kars, Soviet Russia granted Rize to Turkey along with the other territories of Artvin, Ardahan, and Hopa (Georgian: ხუფათი).

• Rize in 1890s
• Rize, 1910s, Ottoman-era postcard

Geography

The city is built around a small bay on the Black Sea coast, on a narrow strip of flat land between the sea and the mountains behind. The coastal strip is being expanded with landfill and the city is expanding up the steep hillsides away from the coast.

Rize is probably best known for its black tea which was introduced to the region in the 1940s and 1950s, changing the destiny of a region which was until then desperately poor. The local tea research institute was founded in 1958 and other tea gardens can be seen all around the town. Tea is even planted in local gardens. Rize is a centre for processing and shipping locally grown Rize Tea. More recently kiwifruit plants have also been grown in Rize. Fishing remains another important local source of income.

Tourism to destinations in and around Rize is growing in importance.

• Kaçkar Mountains National Park
• Pokut Yayla is a popular tourism destination
• Tar Creek Waterfall
• Entrance to Rize Castle

Climate

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Rize has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa, Trewartha: Cf). However, as any mountainous region of Turkey, it is rich in climatic variety. The climate turns oceanic (Cfb) on the hillsides, continental (Dfb/Dc) and subarctic (Dfc/Eo) on the mountain slopes and in the yaylas, the highlands and highland plateaus. When the Köppen climate classification was being created, the city centre had a borderline oceanic-humid subtropical climate, falling just under the 22 °C (72 °F) threshold for the hottest month of the year, yet climate change and global warming have contributed to the city being classified as humid subtropical in recent decades.

The city's climate is defined by mild temperate conditions, with warm summers, cool winters and heavy rainfall year-round with a maximum in late autumn (October to December). The city has relatively few sunshine hours, lower than many stereotypically cloudy locations in Western Europe. Snowfall is occasional, but can be very heavy once it starts. The water temperature, typical for the Black Sea coast, is never too warm or cold, fluctuating between 8 and 20 °C (46 and 68 °F) throughout the year.

Economy and produce

Historically, Rize grew oranges. However, weather destroyed the crops in the early 20th century, and the industry declined. The area also produced small amounts of manganese.

Rize's economic structure is primarily based on its geographic location since it is in a very mountainous location, making industrial development impractical. Given the lack of rail transit, most goods have to travel by truck or ship, which makes exporting and importing difficult. Rize's primary trading partner is Trabzon, the most developed city of the northeast Black Sea region. Rize's main exports are agriculturally based; tea and kiwifruit are among its most popular commodities. In particular the state-owned tea company Çaykur is based in Rize.

Education

Rize University was founded in 2006. Its name was changed to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in 2011.

Culture

Rize Castle is a partly ruined medieval castle to the southwest of the city centre.

Sports

Rize's sports venues include Rize Atatürk Stadium, Yeni Rize Şehir Stadı and Rize Sports Complex consisting of Rize Sports Hall and Rize Indoor Swimming Pool.

The football team of Çaykur Rizespor play in the Süper Lig. Pazarspor football team compete in the TFF Third League.

Rize Municipality Mayors

• Ethem Şevki Kepenek (1950-1954) DP
• Ekrem Orhon (1965-1981) AP
• Şevki Yılmaz (1994-1995) RP
• Hızır Hop (1995-2004) ANAP
• Halil Bakirci (2004-2014) AKP
• Reşat Kasap (2014-2019) AKP
• Rahmi Metin (2019-present) AKP

Population

Notes

1. ^ "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2021" (XLS) (in Turkish). TÜİK. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
2. İl Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
3. Rize Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine article from Özhan Öztürk, Encyclopedia of Black Sea (Karadeniz Ansiklopedik Sözlük), 2005
4. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 959
5. Cressoni, B. E. (1854). Dizionario tascabile di geografia universale [Pocket Dictionary of Universal Geography] (in Italian). Turin. p. 370. Retrieved 2024-08-05.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. Schiffner, Albert (1826). Allgemeines deutsches Sach-Wörterbuch aller menschlichen Kenntnisse und Fertigkeiten [General German dictionary of all human knowledge and skills] (in German). Vol. 4. Meissen (Germany): Friedrich Wilhelm Goedsche. p. 488.
7. Balbi, Adriano (1824). Compendio di geografia universale [Compendium of universal geography] (in Italian). Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Livorno. p. 370.
8. Stein, Christian Gottfried Daniel (1820). Geographisch-statistisches Zeitungs-, Post- und Comtoir-Lexicon [Geographical-statistical news, post and comptoir lexicon] (in German). Vol. 3. Leipzig: Hinrichs. p. 931.
9. "Irizeh". Complément du dictionnaire de l'Académie française [Supplement to the dictionary of the French Academy] (in French). Paris: Firmin Didot Frères. 1842. p. 631.
10. An Overview of Rize's History
11. Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου
12. The Periplus of the Euxine Sea. Oxford: sold by J. Cooke; and by Messrs. Cadell and Davies Strand, London. 1805. Note: Arrian only mentions the River Rhizius, not any settlement by that name. It is quoted as being to the east of the river Ophis after the rivers Psychrus and Calus.
13. "Rize Çayı ve Rize kenti (tr)". Archived from the original on 2020-05-23. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
14. Beck, Hylke E.; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; McVicar, Tim R.; Vergopolan, Noemi; Berg, Alexis; Wood, Eric F. (2018-10-30). "Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution". Scientific Data. 5 (1): 180214. Bibcode:2018NatSD...580214B. doi:10.1038/sdata.2018.214. hdl:20.500.11850/302311. ISSN 2052-4463. PMC 6207062. PMID 30375988.
15. "Climate Explorer: Time series". climexp.knmi.nl. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
16. "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
17. "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Rize". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
18. Prothero, W.G. (1920). Armenia and Kurdistan. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 62.
19. Prothero, W.G. (1920). Armenia and Kurdistan. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 73.
20. "Rize". Bologna Course Package, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi. Retrieved 2021-10-08.

References

• . 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. Istanbul. ISBN 978-975-6121-00-9

External links

• Media related to Rize at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Rize District
Municipalities	Kendirli Muradiye Rize Salarha
Villages	Akarsu Akpınar Aktaş Ambarlık Ayane Azaklıhoca Balıkçılar Beştepe Bıldırcınköy Boğaz Camidağı Çaybaşı Çaycılar Çimenli Derebaşı Dörtyol Düzköy Elmalı Erenköy Gölgeli Güzelköy Güzelyurt Karasu Karayemiş Ketenli Kırklartepesi Kocatepe Köprülü Küçükçayır Küçükköy Kurtuluş Melek Ortapazar Örnek Pazarköy Pekmezli Pınarbaşı Selimiye Soğukçeşme Söğütlü Sütlüce Taşköprü Taşlık Taşpınar Tekke Topkaya Tuğlalı Üçkaya Uzunköy Veliköy Yemişlik Yenidoğan Yenigüzel Yenikale Yenikasarcılar Yeniselimiye Yeşildere Yolüstü Yolveren Zincirliköprü

• Rize
• Populated places in Rize District
• Roman towns and cities in Turkey
• Black Sea port cities and towns in Turkey
• Fishing communities in Turkey
• Populated coastal places in Turkey
• Provincial municipalities in Turkey