Bafra

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title: "Bafra" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bafra", "populated-places-in-samsun-province", "districts-of-samsun-province", "metropolitan-district-municipalities-in-turkey"] topic_path: "geography/turkey" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bafra" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox Turkey place"]

Field	Value
type	metro district
name	Bafra
image_skyline	Ataturk_Bulvar_in_Bafra.png
image_caption	Atatürk Bulvar in Bafra
image_map	Bafra District Location in Samsun Province.png
map_caption	Map showing Bafra District in Samsun Province
coordinates
province	Samsun
leader_party	AKP
leader_name	Hamit Kılıç
area_total_km2	1503
population_footnotes
population_total	143109
population_as_of	2023
postal_code	55400
area_code	0362
website
blank1_name	Climate
blank1_info	Csa
::

::callout[type=note] a district in Turkey ::

| type = metro district | name = Bafra | image_skyline = Ataturk_Bulvar_in_Bafra.png | image_caption = Atatürk Bulvar in Bafra | image_map = Bafra District Location in Samsun Province.png | map_caption = Map showing Bafra District in Samsun Province | coordinates = | province = Samsun | leader_party = AKP | leader_name = Hamit Kılıç | leader_name1 = | area_total_km2 = 1503 | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 143109 | population_as_of = 2023 | postal_code = 55400 | area_code = 0362 | website = | blank1_name = Climate | blank1_info = Csa Bafra is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Covering about 1,500 km2, and with over 140,000 inhabitants it is a settlement located 20 km from the Black Sea, in the fertile Kızılırmak Delta. The Bafra Plain is famous in Turkey for its rich soil and high quality tobacco growing conditions. The city is well known in Turkey for its ice cream, cigarettes, tobacco and agricultural produce. The city is located 52 km northwest of Samsun and is connected by State road D.010.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Bafracesme.JPG" caption="Alibey Fountain"] ::

The name of the municipality is thought to have come from the Phoenician name "bafira" or "bavra". Other beliefs about the etymology of the region come from the name "Ba-Hura" (Great River) given to Kizilirmak which generates the delta upon which the city is located. Historical records of human settlement in Bafra and the Kizilirmak delta date to as early as 5000 BC.

The region came under the rule of the Rome who renamed the area Gadilon and later Helega. After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area became part of the Byzantine Empire. The region was a part of the Byzantine Empire until the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. After that battle, Bafra was captured by the Anatolian Seljuk Ruler Kaykaus I. After being conquered by the Seljuk Empire the region was repopulated by members of various Turkmen tribes. The invasion of the Mongol Empire began in 1243 and led to the collapse of Seljuk Empire and the establishment of scattered Turkish principalities. During this period, the Bafra Principality was briefly established. This political arrangement continued until 1460, when Bafra was again conquered and made part of the Ottoman Empire.

Under the Ottoman Empire, the town of Bafra was incorporated into Trabzon Province under the leadership of Canik Sanjak. The region flourished as an agricultural, fishing and shipping center under the Ottoman Empire. Prior to the Armenian Genocide, Bafra had an Armenian population of 2,200 with a St. Garabed Church and a school for boys and girls that had opened in 1873. The exact date of the establishment of the modern town is not known, though according to historical census records it appears in 1854.

Geography

Bafra is located in the western portion of Samsun Province. The city is 52 km northwest of Samsun City Center and neighboring Atakum. The town directly to the east of Bafra is Ondokuzmayıs, the northern edge of the city is bounded by the Black Sea, to the west is Alçam and to the south Kavak, Havza and Vezirköprü.

Bafra sits in the Bafra Plain which is set in the Kızılırmak delta. To the south of the city are the Küre Mountains. The highest of these nearby mountains is Mount Nebiyan with an elevation of 1224 m. The Küre Mountains are the extensions of the Canik Mountains. The Kızılırmak River is Bafra's largest and Turkey's longest river. The river reaches the plain by crossing these mountains through a deep valley. The Bafra Plain was formed entirely by the sediment from the Kızılırmak River. The length of Kızılırmak is 1151 km. It river originates from Kızıl Mountain in Sivas and draws a wide arc through Central Anatolia before meeting the Black Sea north of Bafra. The rainy season in the region is between April and July during which floods are a common occurrence.

Subdivisions

There are 139 neighbourhoods in Bafra District:

Adaköy
Ağcaalan
Ağıllar
Akalan
Aktekke
Alaçam
Alparslan
Altınay
Altınkaya
Altınova
Altınyaprak
Asar
Asmaçam
Azay
Bahçeler
Bakırpınarı
Balıklar
Barış
Başaran
Başkaya
Bengü
Boğazkaya
Burunca
Büyükcami
Çalköy
Çamaltı
Çatak
Çataltepe
Çetinkaya
Çilhane
Çulhakoca
Cumhuriyet
Darboğaz
Dededağı
Dedeli
Derbent
Dereler
Dikencik
Doğanca
Doğankaya
Düzköy
Elalan
Eldavut
Elifli
Emenli
Emirefendi
Esençay
Evrenuşağı
Eynegazi
Fatih
Fener
Fevziçakmak
Gazibeyli
Gaziosmanpaşa
Gazipaşa
Gerzeliler
Gökalan
Gökçeağaç
Gökçekent
Gökçesu
Göltepe
Gümüşyaprak
Hacınabi
Hacıoğlu
Harız
Hıdırellez
Hüseyinbeyli
İğdir
İkizpınar
İkiztepe
İlyaslı
İnözükoşaca
İshaklı
İsmetpaşa
Kahraman
Kalaycılı
Kamberli
Kanlıgüney
Kapıkaya
Karaburç
Karakütük
Karıncak
Karpuzlu
Kavakpınar
Kaygusuz
Kelikler
Kemalpaşa
Keresteci
Kızılırmak
Kolay
Komşupınar
Koruluk
Köseli
Koşu
Kozağzı
Küçükkavakpınar
Kuşçular
Kuşluğan
Kuzalan
Lengerli
Meşelitürkmenler
Mevlana
Müstecep
Örencik
Ortadurak
Osmanbeyli
Ozan
Paşaşeyh
Sahilkent
Şahinkaya
Sarıçevre
Sarıkaya
Sarıköy
Sarpın
Selemelik
Şeyhören
Şeyhulaş
Şirinköy
Sürmeli
Tabakhane
Taşköprü
Tepebaşı
Tepecik
Terzili
Türbe
Türkköyü
Tütüncüler
Üçpınar
Uluağaç
Yağmurca
Yaka
Yakıntaş
Yenialan
Yeniköy
Yeraltı
Yeşilköy
Yeşilyazı
Yiğitalan
Yörgüç

Climate

Bafra experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), with very warm, moderately dry summers, and cool, rainy, sporadically snowy winters.

| Jan humidity = 75.3 | Feb humidity = 76.9 | Mar humidity = 79.1 | Apr humidity = 80.5 | May humidity = 81.3 | Jun humidity = 77.4 | Jul humidity = 75.1 | Aug humidity = 75.9 | Sep humidity = 78.2 | Oct humidity = 80.2 | Nov humidity = 75.2 | Dec humidity = 73.6 | year humidity = 77.4 | source = NOAA{{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Bafra_17622.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Bafra |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = January 13, 2024}}

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Panoramic_photo_of_Bafra.jpg" caption="A Panoramic Photo of Bafra"] ::

Economy

Bafra's economy has historically been driven by the growth and export of tobacco. The region's tobacco is known to be very low nicotine, small, red, light red colored, fine-grained, fine-grained, elastic, high-smoked, sweet, and aromatic. Foreign cigarette manufacturers were said to desire the tobacco grown on the Bafra Plain in order to improve the quality of their products. Bafra tobacco was long sought as the highest quality of natural tobacco in the world. Due to a variety of factors including agricultural mismanagement, reduced demand, logistical challenges and innovation in tobacco growth elsewhere in the world has led to a decline in tobacco exports from Bafra. This has had a significant adverse effect on the local population and contributed to persistently high unemployment and out-migration among working age people in the region. This crisis was further exacerbated by the Turkish government's shutdown of TEKEL. Today tobacco production in the region is negligible with most former farms now growing other products.

Cuisine

İçli Pide: is Bafra's most famous dish. Colloquially known as Pide, this is a popular and savory dish known for its origins in and around Samsun.
Nokul: is a type of puff pastry. Nokul is a type of pastry eaten in Turkey and Bulgaria with variations. Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which feta-style white cheese, walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions, and baked.
Turkish delight with Cream: Residents of Bafra use a special cream made from buffalo milk. This is only available during certain months of the year.
Dondurma: A special type of sticky, yellow vanilla ice cream is produced in Bafra and is regionally popular. The ice cream is pounded and produced in a fashion that takes several hours.

Festivals

Karadede Fair: A fair with over 100 years of history that was established in Gökçeağaç Village. The festival is held annually in Bafra on the last Sunday of August. Thousands of people attend the fair enjoying concerts, various events and shows. The fair has a wide array of stands and food vendors.
Bafra Watermelon Festival: An annual celebration is held in Bafra to celebrate the welcoming of watermelon to Turkey. The festival includes concerts, folklore performances, exhibitions and conferences about watermelon. The festival ceased operation in 2014.
Sele-Sepet top Kandil: A festival held on the 15th night of Ramadan month.
Kapikaya Festival: Nature and Sports Festival: A festival that lasts for 5 days on the Kapikaya Hill to the south of Bafra. The festival offers the opportunity to do various outdoor sports and aims to bring together national and international athletes over a shared love of nature.

Weaving and crafts

Regional crafts such as carpet and rug knitting have continued to hold an important place in the life of residents of Bafra. Rug weaving, wicker and zembell knitting and other handicrafts made by residents play a part in the region's economy and touristic appeal.

References

[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-07-06 , Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.)
"İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping.
"Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2023, Favorite Reports". [[Turkish Statistical Institute]].
[http://docs.neu.edu.tr/library/6292179770.pdf Zengin, H. 2001. Samsun with its Cultural Values from Past to Present] {{web archive. (February 2, 2017). [link](https://web.archive.org/web/20170202062450/http://docs.neu.edu.tr/library/6292179770.pdf, p.27. Near East University, Nicosia, KKTC.)
[http://web.deu.edu.tr/erdin Erdin, E., 2006. Bafra and Dams] {{web archive. link. (31 December 2015, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey.)
"Baframız Hakkında".
Hilal Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600
http://nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=61&dt=HY_HY&pageNumber=670
"Bafra date information".
"Bafra date".
[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-07-06 , Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.)
"Table 1 Overview of the Köppen-Geiger climate classes including the defining criteria.". Nature: Scientific Data.
"Kar Örtülü Gün Sayısı".
"Bafra and World Use of Turkish Tobacco".
"Decreased Production AA News".
"Pita and Bafra Pita History".
"Cevizli lokum Bursa'nın". blog.milliyet.com.tr.
"Bafra'da Sosyal ve Kültürel Hayat".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::