Geography

Darbağaz is a part of Ulukışla

Ulukisla

Ulukışla is a town and district of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It covers an area of 1,502 km², and the altitude is 1,427 m...

 district of Niğde Province. It is a mountain town with an average altitude of 1460 metres (4,790 ft). The coordinates are 37°28′N 34°34′E. The highway distance to Ulukışla is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) and to Niğde

Nigde

Niğde is a small city and the capital of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The population is 109,724 per the 2010 statistics...

 is 60 kilometres (37.3 mi). The population is 2010 as of 2010

History

There are no written sources of the deep history of the town. But probably the vicinity was inhabited during Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 era. The earliest settlers of the town were the members of a Turkmen tribe in the 17th century. According to legend, the tribe leader was playing tar

Tar (lute)

The tār is a long-necked, waisted Iranian instrument. It has been adopted by other cultures and Azerbaijan. The word tar itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish...

, a musical instrument and the earliest name of the settlement was tarbaz or tar player. (The legend, if true, may show an Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani people

The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...

 origin of the tribe.) That name may be the source of the modern name which also means narrow pass. Darboğaz was decleared township in 1968.

Economy

The main economic activity is agriculture, especially cherry horticulture. The annual cherry production exceeds 1500 t. Beekeeping and carpet weaving are other economic activities. Being a mountain town the potential for winter tourism is also promising.