Editing Urfa (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Şanlıurfa Hotel El-Ruha 9381.jpg|thumb|A hotel in Şanlıurfa. Tourism contributes to the economy of the city.]]
[[File:Şanlıurfa_GAP_Arena.jpg|thumb|[[Şanlıurfa 11 Nisan Stadium|Şanlıurfa GAP Arena]] is the largest stadium]]
As of 2018, the average per capita income in Urfa is $4,400 USD per year.<ref name="Ergu 2018">{{cite news |last1=Ergu |first1=Elif |title=Urfa ayakkabı üssü oluyor |url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/urfa-ayakkabi-ussu-oluyor-40994065 |access-date=29 November 2022 |work=[[Hürriyet]] |date=2018}}</ref> As of 2018, unemployment in Urfa is 18%, among young people it is 35%.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/>

Urfa is a center of footwear production in the region,<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> and around 5,000 people are employed in this sector.<ref name="Orange 2021">{{cite book |author1=Orange – MEAL Department |title=Labor Market Assessment and Mapping of Şanliurfa (COVID-19 Integration with Needs) Key Findings Report |date=2021 |url=https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/86671 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|15}} The Istanbul-based shoe retailer [[FLO Mağazacılık|FLO]], owned by the Ziylan Group, opened a shoe factory in Urfa in 2012.<ref name="Ertan 2021">{{cite book |last1=Ertan |first1=Serhat |title=51 Company Book – SHOE AND SHOE SIDE INDUSTRY |date=2021 |publisher=ERP Destekli Bütçe Danışmanlığı A.Ş. |pages=652–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wB0uEAAAQBAJ&dq=sanliurfa+shoes&pg=PA653 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref> As of 2018, this factory employed 900 people and was the largest footwear factory in the region,<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> producing 1.8 million pairs of shoes per year.<ref name="Türkiye 2016">{{cite news |title=Şanlıurfa FLO'nun üretim üssü olacak |url=https://www.turkiyegazetesi.com.tr/ekonomi/emeklilik-yasi-degisti-mi-e-devlet-emeklilik-yasi-sorgulama-islemi-eyt-emeklilik-yas-sarti-kac-930767 |access-date=30 November 2022 |work=[[Türkiye (newspaper)|Türkiye]] |date=23 November 2016}}</ref> FLO was planning to open a second factory, employing 1,500 more people, in the city in early 2019.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/> According to the province governor Abdullah Erin, there were also plans to open some 13 more shoe factories in the Organized Industrial Zone by 2023, employing as many as 20,000 people and producing 30 million pairs of shoes annually.<ref name="Ergu 2018"/>

Urfa is a major producer of [[pistachio]] nuts, with 29.7 million trees in the whole province producing 38,576 tons of pistachios in 2021.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022">{{cite news |last1=Ayaydın |first1=Eşber |title=Gaziantep ve Şanlıurfa arasında ismi paylaşılamayan lezzet: Fıstık |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/gaziantep-ve-sanliurfa-arasinda-ismi-paylasilamayan-lezzet-fistik/2703938 |access-date=24 December 2022 |work=[[Anadolu Agency]] |date=10 June 2022}}</ref> However, most processing is done in Gaziantep, which is the other main pistachio producer in Turkey.<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/> Both cities' pistachios have [[geographical indication]]s under different names for different cultivars, with Urfa's officially known as the "Urfa flax village pistachio" (''Urfa keten köyneği fıstığı'').<ref name="Ayaydın 2022"/>

===Handicrafts===
Urfa has a rich tradition of [[handicraft]]s: [[coppersmith]]s, [[furrier]]s, weavers and carpetmakers, [[felt]] makers, [[saddle]] makers, and [[jeweler]]s all form part of this tradition.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Akpınarlı |first1=H. Feriha |last2=Uluişik |first2=Yaprak Pelin |title=Yerel Kalkınmada Halk Kültürü Projelerinin Önemi "Şanlıurfa Örneği" |journal=Uluslararası Kazan Halk Kültürü Sempozyumu |date=2021 |volume=4 |pages=365–72 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353841085 |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>{{rp|369}} Historically, the various trades had their own bazaars where artisans sold their wares.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|369}} In the 21st century, however, these handicrafts have been on the decline, and new generations are generally not learning them.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}}

Copper-smithing is relatively prosperous among Urfa's handicrafts, although demand has fallen in favor of more contemporary décor.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Many coppersmiths have left the profession altogether, and those who remain often face declining incomes.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Jewelry making also remains a thriving business; its continued importance is partly because of traditional wedding customs that are still practiced.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} The making of prayer beads (''[[tespih]]'') also continues in Urfa, with craftsmen working particularly around the Gümrük Han and the shopping areas around Balıklıgöl.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} Woodcarvers, although few in number, are still in demand for restoration of old buildings.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|370}} A few furriers and saddle makers also continue to ply their trades in the city.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}}

Artisanal [[tanning (leather)|leather tanning]], on the other hand, is no longer practiced in Urfa, and new apprentices are not taught.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}} Professionals now send the hides to industrial-scale leather factories instead.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|371}} Commercial production of handmade [[embroidery]] has also ceased in Urfa, although many women continue the craft for [[dowry]] purposes.<ref name="Akpınarlı and Uluişik 2021"/>{{rp|369}}

=== Limestone quarrying ===
[[File:Urfa Göbeklitepe Building E sept 2019 5284.jpg|thumb|Limestone bedrock at [[Göbekli Tepe]], an example of Urfa limestone]]
There is an abundance of [[limestone]] in the Urfa area, and it has been quarried extensively since ancient times for use as a building material.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Öztürk Tel |first1=Hülya |last2=Sarıışık |first2=Gencay |title=Research on some effective properties in nomination of Urfa Limestone to the "Global Heritage Stone Resource" designation |journal=Arabian Journal of Geosciences |date=2020 |volume=13 |issue=18 |page=958 |doi=10.1007/s12517-020-05948-w |bibcode=2020ArJG...13..958T |s2cid=221674298 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344372760 |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref>{{rp|1–3, 5–7}} This limestone, known as [[Urfa limestone]], was mostly deposited in [[Eocene]] through [[Miocene]] times (about 56-5 million years ago).<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|8}}
It has a light, whitish-yellow [[ochre]] color.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|3, 10}} When freshly extracted from the quarry and still rather moist, Urfa limestone is relatively soft and can easily be cut with a handheld saw.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|489–90}} Once exposed to the atmosphere, though, its surface gradually hardens so that it makes a suitably strong building material.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Turgut |first1=Paki |last2=Yesilnacar |first2=Mehmet Irfan |last3=Bulut |first3=Husamettin |title=Physico-thermal and mechanical properties of Sanliurfa limestone, Turkey |journal=Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment |date=2008 |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=485–90 |doi=10.1007/s10064-008-0145-2 |bibcode=2008BuEGE..67..485T |s2cid=1715021 |url=http://eng.harran.edu.tr/~hbulut/SanliurfaLimestone.pdf |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref>{{rp|490}}

Urfa limestone has been quarried for human use since at least the Neolithic period: it was the main building material used at [[Göbekli Tepe]], 12,000 years ago, and the prehistoric quarries and workshops at Göbekli Tepe are among the oldest in the world.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|2–3, 8}} On the southern edge of the rocky plateau, there are also traces of quarries dating back to ancient Roman times.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/> {{rp|8–9}} Many old quarries in the area were also dug underground, forming artificial caves.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|5}} The oldest of this type is the massive 4-story Basda quarry, although its precise age is unknown.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|9}}

A number of active limestone quarries exist today in the Urfa area.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|7–8}} Much of the quarrying is done just west of the city, around the Evren Industrial Estate.
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<ref name="Gürpinar et al 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Gürpinar |first1=Okay |last2=Yalçin |first2=M. Namık |last3=Gözübol |first3=Ali Malik |last4=Tuğrul |first4=Atiye |last5=Dalgiç |first5=Süleyman |last6=Kürkanç |first6=Mustafa |last7=Hoşgömerz |first7=Hakan |last8=Altinok |first8=Yıldız |last9=Özer |first9=Naşide |last10=Özler |first10=Murat |last11=Bulkan-Veşıladali |first11=Özlem |last12=Ündül |first12=Ömer |last13=Zarıf |first13=İ. Halil |last14=Şenyuva |first14=Tahsin |title=Birecik (Şanlıurfa) Yöresinin Temel Jeolojik Özellikleri ve Jeolojik Miras Envanteri |journal=TUBA Kültür Envanteri Dergisi |date=2004 |volume=2 |pages=157–68 |doi=10.22520/tubaked.2004-2.0007 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tubaked/issue/57282/810186 |access-date=18 February 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|163}}
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Şanlıurfa province's total limestone reserves amount to 62.2 million tons, and its industry has an annual processing capacity of 31,680 tons.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|8}} Many of the stone blocks quarried from the Urfa area are sent to [[Mardin]] and [[Midyat]] for processing.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|5}}

Before the introduction of [[reinforced concrete]] structures, Urfa limestone was the main building material used for "major" construction projects in the area.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} Many historical structures in the city were built with this limestone: the castle and city walls, the Ulu Cami, the Halil ür-Rahman and Rızvaniye mosques, and the Gümrük Hanı, as well as many of the old 18th- and 19th-century houses in the old town.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|1–2, 5}} It is also used in many contemporary buildings, such as the Mevlana mosque complex.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|7}} Especially since the start of the GAP in the 1980s, regional demand for Urfa limestone as a construction material has been increasing, particularly since it is cheaper than reinforced concrete.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} It is also commonly used in combination with other building materials, such as [[aerated concrete]] and [[pumice]] blocks.<ref name="Öztürk Tel and Sarıışık 2020"/>{{rp|13}} In addition to being used as a building block, Urfa limestone is also used for cladding on the outside of walls, as well as decorative finishing on indoor walls.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}} Its use is mostly regional; it is not used much outside the area.<ref name="Turgut et al 2008"/>{{rp|485}}

===Industrial zones===
====Organized Industrial Zone====
The Organized Industrial Zone (Turkish: Organize Sanayi Bölgesi) is located 17&nbsp;km west of central Urfa on the highway to Gaziantep.<ref name="OSB 1">{{cite web |title=Organize Sanayi Bölgesi I. Kısım |url=https://www-investsanliurfa-com.translate.goog/sanliurfa/organize-sanayi-bolgesi-i-kisim--42?_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |website=investsanliurfa.com |publisher=Yatirim Destek Ofısı Şanlıurfa |date=2018 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> Construction started in 1991.<ref name="OSB 1"/> The site consists of three areas covering over 1,700 [[hectare]]s as of 2018.<ref name="OSB 1"/> It is home to about 250 companies and employs about 13,000 people.<ref name="OSB 1"/>

====Evren Industrial Estate====
The Evren Industrial Estate (Turkish: Evren Sanayi Sitesi) is a Small Industrial Site located about 7&nbsp;km west of central Urfa on the highway to Gaziantep.<ref name="KSS'ler">{{cite web |title=KSS'ler |url=https://www-investsanliurfa-com.translate.goog/sanliurfa/kssler--46?_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |website=investsanliurfa.com |publisher=Yatirim Destek Ofısı Şanlıurfa |date=2018 |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref> It covers about 140 hectares and is home to about 1500 businesses.<ref name="KSS'ler"/> It became operational in 1994.<ref name="KSS'ler"/> Urfa's limestone quarries are also clustered around here.<ref name="Gürpinar et al 2004"/>{{rp|163}}