Geographical analysis of the new rurality at Şırnak province

Şırnak province became a province in 1990 with Beytüşşebap and Uludere districts of Hakkâri province, Cizre, Silopi and İdil districts of Mardin, Şırnak district of Siirt province and Fındık Sub-district and affiliated villages of Eruh district. Şırnak province is located within the borders of two different geographical regions. Şırnak central district, Beytüşşebap and Uludere districts are located in the Hakkâri section of the Eastern Anatolia Region. Idil, Cizre, Silopi and Güçlükonak districts are located in the Southern Plains subregion in the Dicle Section of the Southeastern Anatolia Region. There are a total of 261 settlement units in Şırnak, 7 of which are district centers and 12 are town municipalities. The largest settlement is Cizre with a population of 130,290. The new concept of rurality is different from the rural ones we know in the traditional sense, which live on agriculture and animal husbandry, where social and cultural heritage is preserved, and where there is a lack of infrastructure and access. Rural areas are no longer the homogeneous opposite of the city. In this context, the new concept of rurality refers to a rural phenomenon in which the number of people working in non-agricultural sectors increases, and there are no or fewer problems in connection with trade, industry, city, infrastructure, transportation and communication. Although the province of Şırnak is seen as a rural area throughout Turkey, it has a heterogeneous structure within itself in the appearance of a rural geographical area. Rural areas in Şırnak have been shaped under the influence of transportation networks, migration chains, commerce, industry, public and semi-public institutions, and periodic population movements. The most influential human factor in shaping the rural areas in Şırnak has been the phenomenon of migration and the Habur Border Gate. As a result, settlements with different characteristics have emerged in the rural area. In this study, the settlement units of Şırnak province were evaluated according to criteria such as economic structure, administrative characteristics, social life characteristics, infrastructure, and were again subjected to rural separation from the perspective of the new rurality concept. As a result of the field work and surveys, 27 rural areas integrated into the city were determined in Şırnak. It has been determined that rural areas integrated into the city are generally close to either urban areas or important transportation networks. At the same time, these areas are advantageous areas in terms of features such as social life features, health services and infrastructure. Almost all of the population working in integrated rural areas work in sectors other than agriculture and livestock. 34 medium rural areas and 200 dominant rural areas were identified. In moderately rural areas, nearly half or slightly more than half of the population works in non-agricultural sectors. Housing types in both integrated rural areas and moderate rural areas are generally houses built using modern construction materials. In the dominant rural areas, the majority of the population works in agriculture and animal husbandry. Transportation difficulties are observed in these areas. Traditional housing types are common. Access to health services is limited and education is at the level of primary school in some of them bussed and in others. Keywords: Şırnak, rurality, migration, new rurality, demographic transformation