Land use and land cover change in Hekimhan (Malatya) district (1990-2024)

Hekimhan district is located in the Upper Euphrates Section of the Eastern Anatolia Region, north of Malatya province. Hekimhan district has hosted important civilizations from past to present, was established on various trade routes and has been used as a continuous settlement area. This has caused significant changes in land cover over the years. While urbanization in the district center was stable over the years, it received significant migration with the 2023 major earthquake disaster and settlements shifted to the east of the district. This study was prepared with the aim of revealing the land use/land cover change between 1990-2024, i.e. a 34 year period. Field studies, literature review were conducted and the data obtained with Remote Sensing (RS) were mapped with the ARC-GIS application. CORINE data was used. Drone footage was taken in the field and the effect of human factors on land cover was shown. The greatest negative effect on land cover change was seen around the high-reserve iron deposits in the region. In my master's thesis, land use in the district was discussed in relation to geographical factors. And it was determined that the settlements, transportation, economic activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry and mining in the district developed in accordance with the land structure. With the effect of the dams built in the district in recent years, the most important areas were allocated to irrigated agriculture and apricot farming is carried out in an area of ​​approximately 82,000 decares. Thus, dry farming areas have decreased. There are dry farming areas after 1600-1800 m. Animal husbandry has also developed with the supports and has an effect on land use. Keywords: Land use, land cover change, population, settlement.