The geographical distrubition of natural leather industry in Turkey

Leather has been the material used by people to protect themselves from adverse climatic conditions since ancient times. Although leather materials had used in their most natural form at first, they had been converted into long-lasting materials thanks to the increasing knowledge and developed methods (like vegetable tanning), and then they started to be used in a broad range of daily life besides clothing. Thus, leatherworks had been developed by many civilizations as a craft branch. Although the history of leather goods production is based on the ancient Egyptian civilization, the major developments had been occured in the Central Asian Turkish communities. With the migrations from Central Asia to Anatolia, the information of leatherworks had been transferred to Anatolia by way of nomadic Turkish tribes. While leatherworks was one of the significant field of activity during the Seljuk period, it was further developed during the Ottoman period with various techniques and methods, and then it experienced its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries. During the periods, the Middle East geography became the largest production area on the earth for leather production. In the 18th century, thanks to the technological developments that emerged with the effect of the industrial revolution, leather working activities continued to develop as an industrial branch in Western Europe. In the 19th century, the gorgeous developments and production increases in the leather industry in Western Europe caused the center of the leather industry to shift from Ottoman geography to Western Europe. Leatherworking activities in Turkey started with the ruined leather establishments taken over from the Ottoman Empire and it was carried out with simple methods and tools untill 1960s. Then it continued it's development as a branch of the industry thanks to the five-year development plans put into practice in the 1960s. Leather production in Turkey made for local markets till 1960s, then it also began being made for the foreign markets 1980s and after. Leather parks were established in many cities and towns in Marmara and Aegean regions in the 1990s and after, because of the reasons such as proximity to major markets, transportation facilities, water supply, etc. Today, Turkey plays a significant role in the global leather markets thanks to the it's the quality of leather products, despite the fact that Turkey comes up against difficulties (shortage of quality raw hide, under-capitalization and supply of skilled labour, etc.). In addition, leather industry has an important place in domestic markets with the job opportunities providing to thousands of people and its contribution to the economy. In our thesis, in the beginning, it is investigated that the historical development of leather industry in Turkey and in the world. Then, the main factors affected on establishment and working of leather industry, leather sub-sectors, and the geographical distribution of leather Industry in Turkey were determined. During the preparation of the thesis, it has also carried out such as company visits, land studies besides various methods and techniques (literature study, questionnaire, interview, etc.). The data obtained is presented visually with maps, tables, figures, and photographs. Keywords: World, Turkey, Leather Trade, Import, Export.