Tourism geography of Eleşkirt district

Eleşkirt county, the subject of my research project is bounded to the province of Ağrı which takes part in Upper Murat - Van Section of Eastern Anatolia Region. The E-80 highway which has an important position for transportation crosses the county of Eleşkirt at the south of Eleşkirt city, the county capital. There is no other transportation opportunity to the county. The floor area of Eleşkirt county is 1307 km². According to ADNKS data the population of Eleşkirt city is about 10,162. The county as whole counts 33,940 people with the population of villages of the county. The population per square kilometer of county is 25 km²/people. According to TÜİK data of 2016, 867 births and 141 deaths have occurred. Several factors cause a considerable amount of migration from Eleşkirt to other parts of the country. The most migration receiving cities are Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Ankara, Tekirdağ, Kayseri, Konya. There is a public hospital and a community clinic in Eleşkirt city. The highest literacy rate of Eleşkirt county is 6-13 group of age. There are an education center, a teacher's house, an evening art school, two preschools, totally 59 primary schools with 36 multi grade classes, 25 secondary schools with 5 İmam Hatip secondary schools, and totally 7 high schools with 2 high schools of towns and 5 high schools of Eleşkirt city. As economic activity stands in Eleşkirt county livestock keeping and agriculture in dependence of livestock keeping in foreground. Cattle farming is the most practiced animal husbandry in the county. The most planted agricultural products are used for animal feeding. The mountainside settlements are mostly dispersed whereas the settlements in level areas show an orderly settlement. In Eleşkirt county, there is a parallelism between the climate and the housings. The residences are adapted to the snow rich climate with low temperatures. Due to its ancient history there are important historical constructions within the boundaries of Eleşkirt county. The plain of Eleşkirt is a depression area surrounded by the mountains with a height of 2000 m above sea level. There are two important streams in the plain of Eleşkirt. These are the brooks of Şeryan and Eleşkirt, named after the county. There are two volcanic mountains in Eleşkirt county. The one is Kösedağ in the northwest and Sekirdağ in the west of Eleşkirt. Eleşkirt county has a high tourism potential. The manifold geomorphological structure enables a rich flora and fauna family in the county. The mountain sides of the county that has a mild slope. This bestows Eleşkirt an important advantage in regard to ski resorts. The plain of Eleşkirt which has been a place of ancient civilizations or passing route has an important potential regarding to archaeological tourism. Keywords: Eleşkirt county, Şeryan streamlet, Kösedağ, migration, agricultural husbandry, Eleşkirt ski resort, tourism of Eleşkirt county.