Sivas

Sivas is a city in east-central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. According to the 2007 TURKSTAT estimate, its population was 300,795. The city, which lies at an elevation of 4,193 feet in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a moderately-sized trade center and industrial city, although the economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. Rail repair shops and a thriving manufacturing industry of rugs, bricks, cement, and cotton and woolen textiles form the mainstays of the city's economy. The surrounding region is a cereal-producing area with large deposits... of iron ore which are worked at Divriği. Sivas is also a communications hub for the north-south and east-west trade routes to Iraq and Iran, respectively. With the development of railways, the city gained new economic importance as junction of important rail lines linking the cities of Kayseri, Samsun, and Erzurum. The city is linked by air to Istanbul. Excavations at a mound known as Topraktepe indicate Hittite settlement in the area as early as 2600 BC, though little is known of Sivas' history prior to its emergence in the Roman period. In 64 B.C.
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