Location: Şanlıurfa 🌎

Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (pronounced [ʃanˈɫɯɾfa]), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Known in ancient times as Edessa, Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. About 12 km (7 mi) 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. The area was part of a network of the first human settlements where the agricultural revolution took place. Because of its association with Jewish, Christian, and Islamic history, and a legend according to which it was the hometown of Abraham, Urfa is nicknamed the “City of Prophets.”Religion is important in Urfa. The city “has become a center of fundamentalist Islamic beliefs”: 620  and “is considered one of the most devoutly religious cities in Turkey”.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. As a result, many of Urfa’s residents are very poor – according to municipal data, over 50% of the city’s population lives below the poverty line, earning less than $100 per family per month.