- published: 16 Sep 2014
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Karabük is a town and the capital district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the city is 108 167. The district covers an area of 760 km2 (293 sq mi), and the town lies at an elevation of 354 m (1,161 ft).
Karabük was built in the 1930s as the seat of the iron and steel industry of Turkey. Karabük lies in a location near Filyos River formed by the merge of Araç and Soğanlı rivers.
There are no known records of the origin of its name; in Turkish kara means "black" or "land" and bük means "bush" or "blackberry bush" ("bramble"). So Karabük means "blackbush".
Karabük is situated on an important trade route between Amasra on the coast and central Anatolia. The history of the city goes back to the early years of the Turkish Republic, when it was a small sub-village formed by 13 houses in the Öğlebeli village of Safranbolu. There was also a small train station on the Ankara–Zonguldak route. The town started to develop with the industrialization of the country. One of the first steel factories of the Republic was built here in 1939, after which it grew rapidly and incorporated Öğlebeli village as a quarter. Karabük became a municipality and then a township in the Safranbolu district in 1941. It became a district center in 1953 and a provincial center in 1995.
Karabük Province (Turkish: Karabük ili ) is a landlocked province in the northern part of Anatolia (northern central Turkey), located about 200 km (124 mi) north of Ankara, 115 km (71 mi) away from Zonguldak and 113 km (70 mi) away from Kastamonu. In 2010 it had a population of 227,610. The main city is Karabük which is located about 100 km (62 mi) south of the Black Sea coast.
Karabük Province is one of the newest provinces of Turkey. Until 1995 it was a district of Zonguldak, when it became an il (provincial center) in its own right. Established in 1995, it comprises Karabük, Eflani, Safranbolu and Yenice districts which were formerly part of Zonguldak Province and Eskipazar and Ovacık districts which were previously part of Çankırı Province.
Karabük is located on the highway between Bartın and Ankara, which was in ancient times an important route between Amasra on the coast and central Anatolia. The railway between Ankara and Zonguldak passes through Karabük.
Safranbolu, a historically important city, which is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is located in Karabük Province.