Kilis

Submitted by editor on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 04:05

Kilis

Kilis
Location of Kilis within Turkey.
Country  Turkey
Region Southeastern Anatolia
Province Kilis
Elevation 663 m (2,175 ft)
Population (2009)
 - Urban 80,542
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 - Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 79
Area code(s) (0)348
Licence plate 79

Kilis is a city in south-central Turkey on the border with Syria and capital of Kilis Province.

Contents

Geography

The Öncüpınar Syrian border crossing is 5 km (3 mi) to the south and the large city of Gaziantep is 60 km (37 mi) to the north. Indeed until 1996 Kilis was a district of Gaziantep, being made into a province by Tansu Çiller following an open vote-winning gambit in the 1995 general election.

Kilis is a small town with a rural feel to it, the traffic consisting mainly of young men on mopeds. The population of the town was 20,000 in 1927, 45,000 in 1970, 60,000 in 1980 and 85,000 in 1990. It then fell in the 1990s to 70,000 by 2000. (The population is 82,109 as of 2010)

Being a border town, Kilis has long had a reputation for smuggling and drug trafficking and although this has apparently been reduced, even today cigarettes, spirits and cheap electrical items can be bought for cash at low prices.

The local kebab known as Kilis Kebabi is renowned, and also the breads, baklava and stuffed vegetables.

Natives of Kilis speak a dialect of Turkish called Inkilisce, which has a distinct lisping quality and a large number of English cognates; the first ever comprehensive language documentation project on the dialect was begun in late 2009, led by noted linguist M.A. Erdoğmuş.

Climate

Kilis has a semi-arid climate with very hot, dry and long summers and cool and rainy winters.

Climate data for Kilis
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.9
(69.6)		 22.5
(72.5)		 28.8
(83.8)		 35.4
(95.7)		 40.2
(104.4)		 41.0
(105.8)		 44.2
(111.6)		 45.0
(113)		 41.4
(106.5)		 36.4
(97.5)		 29.6
(85.3)		 25.7
(78.3)		 45
Average high °C (°F) 9.7
(49.5)		 11.4
(52.5)		 15.9
(60.6)		 21.2
(70.2)		 27.3
(81.1)		 32.6
(90.7)		 36.0
(96.8)		 36.0
(96.8)		 32.6
(90.7)		 26.3
(79.3)		 17.8
(64)		 11.4
(52.5)		 23.18
(73.73)
Average low °C (°F) 2.2
(36)		 3.1
(37.6)		 6.0
(42.8)		 10.0
(50)		 14.4
(57.9)		 18.4
(65.1)		 21.2
(70.2)		 21.2
(70.2)		 18.6
(65.5)		 14.3
(57.7)		 8.2
(46.8)		 3.8
(38.8)		 11.78
(53.21)
Record low °C (°F) -11.0
(12.2)		 -8.4
(16.9)		 -6.8
(19.8)		 -1.3
(29.7)		 5.4
(41.7)		 10.0
(50)		 14.6
(58.3)		 13.2
(55.8)		 10.2
(50.4)		 1.5
(34.7)		 -3.5
(25.7)		 -8.0
(17.6)		 -11
Precipitation mm (inches) 76.8
(3.024)		 71.0
(2.795)		 67.2
(2.646)		 48.8
(1.921)		 24.7
(0.972)		 9.3
(0.366)		 2.9
(0.114)		 9.6
(0.378)		 6.6
(0.26)		 33.6
(1.323)		 60.0
(2.362)		 81.7
(3.217)		 492.2
(19.378)
% Humidity 71 69 63 60 52 40 34 35 43 54 64 70 54.6
Avg. rainy days 12 11 11 9 6 2 0 0 2 5 8 12 78
Sunshine hours 130.2 140.0 195.3 231.0 288.3 339.0 359.6 344.1 300.0 235.6 168.0 120.9 2,852
Source no. 1: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü [1]
Source no. 2: Weather2 [2]

Places of interest

Sights in the town include a number of Ottoman Empire period mosques and stone houses with courtyards and elaborate carved wooden fittings.

See also

Coordinates: 36°42′58″N 37°06′54″E / 36.7161°N 37.1150°E / 36.7161; 37.1150

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