Human and economic geography of Hoş and Akmezra (Elaziğ-Center) villages

Hoş and Akmezra villages are located in the northeastern part of Uluova, which is in the chains of depression in the upper Euphrates Section of the Eastern Anotolia Region. While Hoş village is surrounded by Beydoğmuş in South, Kıraç in East, Akmezra in South (beach front) and Sedeftepe villages in West, Akmezra is surrounded by Hoş and Sedeftepe in North, Kıraç in East,Yurtbaşı center boundaries in West and Keban dam lake. 14,3 km square of research area, which has an area of approximately 20,8 square km, belongs to the village of Hoş. 6,5 km square belongs to the Akmezra. The first settlement in village of Hoş takes place during the Ottoman period, in a time period that coincides with 16th century; on the other hand, Akmezra is a very new settlement; but, it is known that the first settlement took place between 1972-1973 and an independent headman's office was established in 1984 as a rural neighborhood in the town of Yurtbaşı. In our research area, while Hoş village has an altitude of 1100 meters, Akmezra has an altitude of 875 meters. The erosion phenomenon and flooding in spring period are among the problems of the settled people in the area. The most important problems related to agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood of the field, are irrigation, over spraying and stoniness of agricultural lands. The population of village of Hoş is 354 as of 2019, the population of Akmezra is 393.When we look at the population development process, we can say that the population loss seen in the rural areas of our country is valid in most our research area. In both of our villages, there has been a loss of population due to migration throughout the settlement dates. After the Keban dam lake filled its area, both of our villages, which become a migration area, failed to increase or protect their population in the later periods. This study aims to reveal the current situation related to the economic activity structure of the field and to make determinations about the problems, as well as to reveal the changes in the spatial distribution of the population of the rural settlements in both villages with their reasons. Key Words: Human Geography, Economic Geography, Hoş, Akmezra, Agriculture, Livestock Farming.