Editing Urfa (section)

{{Short description|City in southeastern Turkey}}
{{hatnote|For other uses, see [[Urfa (disambiguation)]]. For the province, see [[Şanlıurfa Province]].}}
{{Very long|words=14,706|date=February 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name                     = Urfa
| official_name            = Şanlıurfa
| settlement_type          = City
| image_skyline            = {{multiple image|total_width=270px|perrow=1/2/2/2|border=infobox
| image1                          = Mevlid-i Halil Mosque 19.jpg
| alt1                            = View of Urfa
| image2                          = 
| alt2                            = 
| image3                          = Rizvaniye Mosque 03.jpg
| alt3                            = Rizvaniye Mosque
| image4                          = Balıklıgöl_park_9401.jpg
| alt4                            = Urfa Castle
| image5                          = 
| alt5                            = 
| image6                          = Urfa_Selahaddin_Eyyubi_Camii_Vali_Fuat_Bey_Street_side_3686.jpg
| alt6                            = Selahaddin Eyyubi Mosque
| image7                          = Şanlıurfa 25 05 2010 Burg mit Ayn Zeliha Gölü und Park.jpg
| alt7                            = Ayn Zeliha
| image8                          = 
| alt8                            = 
}}
| image_caption            = '''Clockwise from top:''' View of Urfa, [[Şanlıurfa Castle|Urfa Castle]], Ayn Zeliha, St. Johannes Prodromos Addai Church, Rizvaniye Mosque
| image_shield             = 
| nickname                 = City of Prophets<ref name="rel">{{cite web|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/city-of-prophets-drawing-faith-tourists-74542|title='City of prophets' drawing faith tourists|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=November 20, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2020}}</ref>
| pushpin_map              = Turkey#Near East
| coordinates              = {{coord|37|09|30|N|38|47|30|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = [[Turkey]]
| subdivision_type1        = [[Provinces of Turkey|Province]]
| subdivision_type2        = 
| subdivision_name1        = [[Şanlıurfa Province|Şanlıurfa]]
| subdivision_name2        = 
| leader_party             = Independent
| leader_title             = Mayor
| leader_name              = Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar
| leader_title1            = Governor
| leader_name1             = Abdullah Erin
| elevation_m              = 477
| population_urban         = 596,637
| population_as_of         = 2022
| population_footnotes     = <ref name=citypop>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/sanliurfa/_/1926__%C5%9Fanl%C4%B1urfa/|title=Şanlıurfa|website=citypopulation.de|access-date=10 January 2024}}</ref>
| timezone                 = [[Time in Turkey|TRT]]
| utc_offset               = +3
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| website                  = {{URL| https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr | www.sanliurfa.bel.tr }}
| founder                  = [[Seleucus I Nicator]]
| established_title        = Founded
| established_date         = 303/302 BC
| image_blank_emblem       = Şanlıurfa City Logo.png
| blank_emblem_type        = Emblem of Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality
}}
'''Urfa''', officially called '''Şanlıurfa''' ({{IPA|tr|ʃanˈɫɯuɾfa}}), is a city in southeastern [[Turkey]] and the capital of [[Şanlıurfa Province]]. The city was known as [[Edessa]] from [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about {{cvt|80|km}} east of the [[Euphrates]]. Its climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.

About {{cvt|12|km|0}} northeast of the city is the famous [[Neolithic]] site of [[Göbekli Tepe]], the world's oldest known temple, which was founded in the 10th millennium BC.<ref name="The World's First Temple">{{cite web|url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html|title=The World's First Temple – Archaeology Magazine Archive|website=archive.archaeology.org|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> The area was part of a network of the first human settlements where the [[Neolithic Revolution|agricultural revolution]] took place. Because of its association with [[Jewish history|Jewish]], [[History of Christianity|Christian]], and [[History of Islam|Islamic history]], and a legend according to which it was the hometown of [[Abraham]], Urfa is nicknamed the "City of Prophets."<ref name="rel"/>

Religion is important in Urfa. The city "has become a center of fundamentalist Islamic beliefs"<ref name="Miller 1995">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Julie A. |editor1-last=Ring |editor1-first=Trudy |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places, Vol. 3: Southern Europe |date=1995 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |location=Chicago and London |isbn=1-884964-02-8 |pages=617–20 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74JI2UlcU8AC&dq=gumruk+hani+sanliurfa&pg=PA620 |access-date=3 October 2022 |chapter=Şanlıurfa}}</ref>{{rp|620}} and "is considered one of the most devoutly religious cities in Turkey".<ref name="JTA 2003">{{cite web |title=The secret Jews of remote Turkey |url=https://www.jta.org/2003/03/04/lifestyle/the-secret-jews-of-remote-turkey |website=Jewish Telegraph Agency |date=4 March 2003 |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref>

The city is located 30 miles from the [[Atatürk Dam]], at the heart of the [[Southeast Anatolia Project]], which draws thousands of job-seeking rural villagers to the city every year.<ref name="JTA 2003"/>