The Georgraphical Characteristics of Villages in Lake Erçek Basin

The geographical characterisitic of rural villages in lake erçek basin is investigated in this study. as an interior (kapalı havza) lake, erçek covers 1526 km squares. as one geograpical area lake erçek basin administarted by number of different district political systems. these districts are van-central district, özalp district, saray district and gürpınar district. study area consists 50 villages. 26 of these villages are included in van-central district. 22 of these villages included in özalp district. one village is included in saray district and one villege is included in gürpınar district. this study includes name of each village, geographical settings, population of each village, and economical activities of vıllages. it is found that the main economical actities of villagers in lake erçek basin is agriculture and livestock. because of the economiz reasons, migration from the basin occurs in the basin. however, economic conditions have been improving in recent years. the common problems in the region are migration, health problems, educational opportunities can be listed as common problems in the lake erçek basin.