Taşlıçay is a town and district of Ağrı Province

Agri Province

The Ağrı Province is a province in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran to the east, Kars to the North, Erzurum to the Northwest, Muş and Bitlis to the Southwest, Van to the south, and Iğdır to the northeast. Area 11,376 km². Population 542,022 ....

 in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. It is located in the valley of the Murat River

Murat River

The Murat River or Eastern Euphrates is the major source of the Euphrates. It was also called Arsanias in antiquity. The river originates near Mount Ararat north of Lake Van, in eastern Turkey, and flows westward for through mountainous area...

 on the road from the city of Ağrı

Agri

Agri may refer to:* As shorthand or prefix referring to agriculture* Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development * Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector * Ağrı, a city in eastern Turkey* the Agri in southern Italy...

 to Doğubeyazıt

Dogubeyazit

Doğubeyazıt is a city and district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran. Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km². Population 115.354 of which 69.447 live in the town of Doğubeyazıt, the remainder in the surrounding countryside...

 and Turkey's border with Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. It covers an area of 798 km², and the altitude is 1,660 m. Population (2010) is 23,000 of which 6,212 live in the town of Taşlıçay and the remainder on the surrounding countryside. The mayor is İsmail Taşdemir (DP).

Taşlıçay is surrounded by high mountains (2,000 m plus), these include; to the north Perili, Balıkgölü 3,159 m and Ziyarettepe 1,800 m of the South Aras range; and to the south the Aladağ

Aladag

Aladağ, formerly Karsantı, is a small city and a district in Adana Province, Turkey about 100 km north of the city of Adana, up in the mountains. This is an undeveloped area, the people live from agriculture and forestry...

(including Muratbaşı (Koçbaşı) (3,510 m) and Kandil 2,750 m.

History

A burial mound (höyük) to the south of Taşlıçay and numerous other ruins in the district indicate this long and varied history. There is an Urartu

Urartu

Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....

 temple on the hill above the village of Taşteker, and an Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n monastery.

Taşlıçay today

The people live by farming, mainly raising livestock. Although the mountainsides cannot be farmed the land in the valley is fertile, watered in the spring melt by streams running into the Murat, and is used for growing beet and grains. Summers are hot, winters are cold and snowy (permanent snow lies above 2,700). In summer the villagers move up the mountainside to graze animals in high meadow, including on the banks of Lake Balık (which contains trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 and carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

).

The population includes a community of Shiites (rare in mainly Sunni Turkey).