Malatya (province)

Malatya Province (; Parezgêha Meletîyê) is a province of Turkey. It is part of a larger mountainous area. The capital of the province is Malatya. The area of Malatya province is 12,313 km2. Malatya Province had a population of 853,658 according to the results of 2000 census, whereas in 2010 it had a population of 740,643. The provincial center, the city of Malatya, has a population of 426,381 (2010). According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan. Malatya province is divided into 14 districts (capital district in bold): Akçadağ Arapgir Arguvan Battalgazi Darende Doğanşehir Doğanyol Hekimhan Kale Kuluncak Malatya Pütürge Yazıhan Yeşilyurt According to German geographers Georg Hassel and Adam Christian Gaspari, Malatya was composed of 1200 to 1500 houses in early 19th century, inhabited by Ottomans, Turkmens, Armenians, and Greeks, while the mountainous areas in the sanjak of Malatya were mostly inhabited by Kurdish tribes such as Reşwan. The province had a population of 306,882 in 1927 of which was Muslim and Christians. Linguistically, Turkish was the most spoken first language at , followed by Kurdish at and Armenian at . The population increased to 410,152 in 1935 of which was Muslim and Christian. Turkish remained the most spoken first language at , followed by Kurdish and Armenian at . The province had a population of 483,568 in 1950 of which Turkish was spoken by of the population, followed by Kurdish at . Armenian remained the third most spoken language but decreased to . The modern province of Malatya does not fully coincide with the province of Malatya until 1954, before when the province also included the modern Turkish province of Adıyaman, which was more than double Kurdish-speaking than Malatya according to the 1965 census. It was estimated in 2012 that about 20% to 30% of the province was Alevi the vast majority of which was Kurdish. This group is mostly politically aligned with nationalist Kurdish parties especially after the Sivas Massacre and activity of the Kurdistan Workers' Party since the early 1990s.