Sinop, Turkey

Sinop
Sinop
	A collage of Sinop, Turkey.
Country	Turkey
Region	Black Sea
Province	Sinop
Districts	9
Government
• Mayor	Baki Ergül (Republican People's Party, CHP)
• Governor	Ahmet Cengiz
Population (2010)
• City	202,740
• Urban	107,275
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	57xxx
Area code	(+90) 368
Licence plate	57
Website	www.sinop.bel.tr

Sinop (Greek: Σινώπη, Sinōpē) is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince), by its Cape Sinop (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of the Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope^{[pronunciation?]}. It is the capital of Sinop Province.

Climate

Sinop is situated on the Black Sea coast, hence has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb).

Sinop has warm and humid summers with an average of 26°C (78.8°F) however temperatures rarely exceed +30°C (86°F). The highest recorded temperature for Sinop was 34.4°C (93.92°F) on 06 July 2000.

The winters are cool and wet. The average for winter ranging around 5°C (41°F). The lowest recorded temperature for Sinop was -7.5°C (18.5°F) on 21 February 1985.

Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two

Climate data for Sinop
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	9.5 (49.1)	9.3 (48.7)	10.6 (51.1)	14.2 (57.6)	18.3 (64.9)	23.2 (73.8)	26.0 (78.8)	26.5 (79.7)	23.2 (73.8)	19.2 (66.6)	15.1 (59.2)	11.7 (53.1)	17.2 (63.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	4.6 (40.3)	4.0 (39.2)	5.2 (41.4)	8.1 (46.6)	12.2 (54.0)	16.8 (62.2)	19.9 (67.8)	20.4 (68.7)	17.3 (63.1)	13.6 (56.5)	9.5 (49.1)	6.6 (43.9)	11.5 (52.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	71.2 (2.80)	49.2 (1.94)	49.3 (1.94)	37.7 (1.48)	33.1 (1.30)	36.3 (1.43)	37.3 (1.47)	41.1 (1.62)	65.0 (2.56)	94.2 (3.71)	85.0 (3.35)	82.8 (3.26)	682.2 (26.86)
Average rainy days	15.0	12.9	13.2	11.8	9.9	8.8	5.9	6.5	8.8	12.6	12.5	15.6	133.5
Average relative humidity (%)	68	68	73	75	76	74	74	67	71	71	68	68	71
Mean monthly sunshine hours	71.3	86.8	127.1	153	207.7	264	291.4	263.5	207	145.7	96	68.2	1,981.7
Source 1: Sinop Turkish State Meteorological Service
Source 2: Weatherbase ^[2]

History

Long used as a Hittite port which appears in Hittite sources as "Sinuwa" (J. Garstang, The Hittite Empire, p. 74), the city proper was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus in the 7th century BC (Xenophon, Anabasis 6.1.15; Diodorus Siculus 14.31.2; Strabo 12.545). Sinope flourished as the Black Sea port of a caravan route that led from the upper Euphrates valley (Herodotus 1.72; 2.34), issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red arsenic sulfate mined in Cappadocia, called "Sinopic red earth" (Miltos Sinôpikê) or sinople. ^[3]

Sinope escaped Persian domination until the early 4th century BC, and in 183 BC it was captured by Pharnaces I and became capital of the kingdom of Pontus. Lucullus conquered Sinope for Rome in 70 BC, and Julius Caesar established a Roman colony there, Colonia Julia Felix, in 47 BC. Mithradates Eupator was born and buried at Sinope, and it was the birthplace of Diogenes, of Diphilus, poet and actor of the New Attic comedy, of the historian Baton, and of the Christian heretic of the 2nd century AD, Marcion.

It remained with the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantines. It was a part of the Empire of Trebizond from the sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 until the capture of the city by the Seljuk Turks of Rûm in 1214.

After 1261, Sinop became home to two successive independent emirates following the fall of the Seljuks: the Pervâne and the Jandarids. It was captured by the Ottomans in 1458.

In November 1853, at the start of the Crimean War, in the Battle of Sinop, the Russians, under the command of Admiral Nakhimov, destroyed an Ottoman frigate squadron in Sinop, leading Britain and France to declare war on Russia.

Sinop hosted a US military base that was important for intelligence during the cold war era. The US base was closed in 1992.

Explorer Bob Ballard discovered an ancient ship wreck north west of Sinop in the Black Sea and was shown on National Geographic.

Historic sites

Notable historical places are^[4] ^[5]:

Notable people from Sinop

Historical

Aquila of Sinope (2nd century), Bible translator
Diogenes of Sinope (412 or 404 BCE-323 BCE), philosopher
Gazi Chelebi (14th century), naval commander
Saint Helen of Sinope (18th century)
Marcion of Sinope (ca. 85-160), heretic
Seydi Ali Reis, Ottoman admiral, writer and scientist, was born into a family who was originally from Sinop.

Contemporary

Ahmet Muhip Dıranas (1909-1980), poet
Necmettin Erbakan (1926-2011), former prime minister
Patriarch Maximus V of Constantinople (1897-1972), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Osman Pamukoğlu (1947- ), politician
Metin Tuğlu (1984- ), footballer
Hakan Ünsal (1973- ), footballer
Sinan Uzun (1990- ), footballer

Miscellaneous

Sinope has given its name to the outermost satellite of Jupiter. A crater on Mars is named after Sinop.

Sister cities

Sinop has 9 sister cities^{[citation needed]}

References

^ "Sinop" (in Turkish). YerelNet. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
^ http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=62071&refer=&units=us&cityname=Sinop-Turkey
^ [1]
^ Sinop (en)
^ About Sinop (en)

John Garstang, The Hittite Empire (University Press, Edinburgh, 1930).

External links

[1] "Sinop" (in Turkish). YerelNet. Retrieved 2011-05-29.

[2] ttp://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=62071&refer=&units=us&cityname=Sinop-Turkey

[3] [1]

[4] Sinop (en)

[5] About Sinop (en)

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[2]

[3]

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