How is Çorum identity shaped between the Black Sea and Central Anatolia? Belonging seen through region, climate, dialect, food and Ankara ties.
Someone who answers the question "Where are you from?" with "I'm from Çorum" often hears a second question: "Is that the Black Sea region or Central Anatolia?" The question is usually asked out of curiosity, and sometimes met with a smile. But underneath it lies an interesting truth: Çorum really is a city that stands between two regions. Official documents place it in both regions at once, its climate changes from north to south, and a large share of its people live in Ankara. In this article we look at this state of "being in between" in relation to Çorum identity through the data, and discuss what regional identity and attachment to place mean in a person's inner world. Our aim is not to squeeze people from Çorum into a single mould; on the contrary, it is to see how many layers an identity can have.
Çorum Identity and Official Geography: What Does the Information Say?
That Çorum is a city "in between" is not just a feeling; it is reflected in official documents too.
- A province in two regions at once: According to the 2021 Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plan (İRAP) of the Çorum Governorate and AFAD (Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority), the province lies "in the Central Black Sea section of the Black Sea region and the Central Kızılırmak section of the Central Anatolia region".
- Statistical and development region: In the statistical regional classification, Çorum is in the TR83 region together with Samsun, Tokat and Amasya, within the Western Black Sea upper region. The headquarters of the region's development agency, the Central Black Sea Development Agency (OKA), is in Samsun.
- Two climates: According to İRAP, the northern districts (Kargı, Osmancık, İskilip, Laçin, Dodurga, Oğuzlar, Bayat) have a Black Sea transitional climate, while the city centre and Sungurlu, Alaca, Boğazkale, Ortaköy, Mecitözü and Uğurludağ have a Central Anatolian continental climate.
- Dialect: In Karahan's (1996) classification of Anatolian dialects, the Çorum dialects belong to the Western Group. The dialects of the northern districts fall in the same subgroup as Çankırı, Tosya and Boyabat, while the centre and southern districts are in a different subgroup.
- Food and tradition: Çorum leblebi (roasted chickpeas) and İskilip dolması are among the products with a geographical indication. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism states that Hıdırlık, Erzurum Dede, Sıklık Boğazı and Bağlar are the most visited places during Hıdırellez (a spring festival), and that folk dances such as benli, miço, bediriş and sarıkız are part of the province's tradition.
- A deep history: Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986; the Hittite cuneiform tablet archives from Hattusa have been on UNESCO's Memory of the World register since 2001.
The tie with Ankara
One side of identity is bound to place, another to people. According to the Ankara Chamber of Commerce's "Ankara in Figures" study, based on TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) data, in 2025 there were 442,275 people living in Ankara whose civil registration is in Çorum; this is about 7.5% of Ankara's population. Among people in Ankara originating from other provinces, people from Çorum rank first. In the same year Ankara received 4,980 people from Çorum and sent 3,569 to Çorum. The two cities are linked by a road of about 240 kilometres, all of it dual carriageway.
On the other hand, according to TÜİK data cited in OKA's 2021 report, 94.4% of older people in Çorum were born in the province; this makes Çorum the province with the third highest such figure in Turkey. So one side of the city is deeply rooted, while another is scattered across other cities.
The limits of the data
No survey or academic study could be found measuring which region people from Çorum feel they belong to. So there are no data that would allow us to say "people from Çorum feel like this". The psychological assessments in this article are based on official information and general theoretical frameworks on regional identity and place attachment. It would also be wrong to assume that people from Çorum have a single, uniform identity; the differences from district to district and generation to generation are large.
A Sociological Reading: How Is Regional Identity Formed?
The geographer Paasi (1986) argues that regions do not exist of their own accord but are "constructed" step by step. According to him, first boundaries are drawn, then symbols form, then institutions follow, and finally the region becomes established in social consciousness. Regional identity is the interpretation of this process in people's minds.
Seen from this framework, Çorum's situation is striking. At an institutional level, the province belongs to a Black Sea region centred on Samsun. The flow of daily life, however, is largely directed towards Ankara: the place people go to study, work or go to hospital, and where relatives live, is often the capital. Food, dialect and traditions share a common fabric with Central Anatolia. In the northern districts, green slopes and a rainy climate recall the Black Sea.
This multiple orientation means that the question "What kind of place is this?" cannot be given a single answer. Some people from Çorum feel Central Anatolian, some feel they are from the Black Sea, some feel simply "from Çorum". For many, the strongest bond may be to their district or village: first from Osmancık, İskilip or Alaca, then from Çorum.
A Psychological Reading: Çorum Identity and Feeling In Between
Identity assigned from outside and lived from within
Social identity is the sense of self a person draws from the groups they belong to. This identity is fed on one side by the person's own experience and on the other by the labels others attach to them. Remarks such as "You don't really count as Black Sea people" or "That place is basically part of Ankara" can create a small jolt when they clash with a person's own definition. Usually this jolt passes with a smile; but sometimes it brings with it the question "Where am I actually from?".
The two faces of being in between
"Being caught in between" is often described as a shortcoming. Yet in psychology, multiple identities are also seen, in the right conditions, as a source of richness. People familiar with more than one cultural framework may be more flexible in adapting to different settings. For someone from Çorum, working life in Ankara, relatives on the Black Sea and the Central Anatolian table can be not rival but complementary parts. Our article on identity between two cultures looks at similar dynamics in the general psychology of building an identity between two cultures.
Place attachment
Scannell and Gifford (2010) define place attachment as a three-dimensional structure: person (who is attached to the place), process (feelings, memories and behaviours) and place (physical and social characteristics). For Çorum, this model makes it possible to think about two different groups together: older people who have grown old in the province of their birth and have a deep sense of rootedness in the city, and people from Çorum living in Ankara or other cities who carry home with them through memories, food and visits.
In research, attachment to place is often associated with wellbeing: it provides a sense of security, continuity and meaning. But when the bond is too rigid, for example when a person never feels they belong where they live, or expects home to stay unchanged, disappointment and alienation can follow.
Identity changing across generations
Çorum identity is also experienced differently from generation to generation. For grandparents who have grown old in the village or district where they were born, identity is tightly bound to the land, neighbourliness and traditions. For the middle generation who went to the big city to study or work, home is a place both longed for and at times felt to have been left behind. For young people born in the big city, Çorum is often a place visited in the holidays and known through stories.
This difference can cause small tensions within the family. Older people may feel the young have "lost touch with their roots"; young people may perceive their elders' expectations as "being stuck in the past". Yet each generation rebuilds identity within its own living conditions. Seeing this difference not as a loss but as a transformation makes communication between generations easier.
Small-city identity
Growing up in a medium-sized city like Çorum comes with a social fabric in which "everyone knows everyone". This fabric gives security; but for some young people it can also feel constricting. A young person who moves to a big city may experience both the freedom of anonymity and the absence of familiar faces. You can find more on this tension between small and big cities in our article small city, big city.
Let us imagine a young person in their twenties who grew up in Ankara and whose family comes from Mecitözü. Their friends call them "the one from Ankara"; their relatives in the village greet them with "Here comes our Ankara one". They themselves notice that they feel most "at home" in the village they visit in the summer months, at their grandmother's table. For this young person, identity is less a place than a network of relationships, a smell, a tone of voice. This example is a reminder that identity cannot be reduced to a point on a map.
Identity is not a borderline; it is the sum of the stories a person carries.
Suggestions for Strengthening Identity and Belonging in Daily Life
- Do not get stuck on a single answer. Answering the question "Black Sea or Central Anatolia?" with "From a city that carries traces of both" is not evasion; it may be the plain truth.
- Pass on the stories. Telling young people about older relatives' memories, recipes and traditions such as Hıdırellez keeps identity alive and strengthens the bond between generations.
- Get to know the local heritage. Living in, or coming from, a city with a heritage as deep-rooted as Hattusa can give a person a sense of continuity. Visiting museums and historic sites with children combines belonging with play.
- Approach stereotypes with humour, but with limits. Joking can be a way of building bonds; but when it turns into language that belittles you or others, you have every right to say so kindly.
- Put down roots where you live too. Your bond with home should not get in the way of forming relationships in the city where you live. Belonging to a neighbourhood or a community complements the bond with home.
- Allow children their multiple identities. Your child growing up in the big city may feel both from Ankara and from Çorum. This is not a contradiction but a richness.
Our article on the need to belong also offers complementary reading on the place of belonging in mental health.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
Questions of identity and belonging are a normal part of life and usually find their own answers. In some situations, however, these questions can noticeably affect a person's wellbeing:
- If you have been unable to feel any sense of belonging where you live for a long time and this is turning into loneliness
- If longing for home has started constantly making your present life seem worthless
- If there has been unhappiness, lack of motivation and sleep problems for weeks after a move, migration or return
- If ongoing conflicts are happening within the family over differences of home, identity or lifestyle
- If experiences of exclusion or humiliation have deeply affected your self-worth
If hopelessness or thoughts of harming yourself arise, do not wait; in an emergency, call 112 (emergency services).
How Are Identity and Belonging Addressed in Therapy?
In therapy, questions of identity are addressed within the person's life story. The aim is not to make the person "choose" an identity, but to help them understand the different belongings they carry and live at peace with them.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on noticing thoughts such as "I don't belong anywhere" or "I'll never be accepted here" and comparing them with the person's real experiences. Behavioural goals aimed at gradually strengthening social ties can also be set.
A schema therapy perspective helps in understanding how themes of belonging and exclusion connect with childhood experiences. For example, someone who moved often as a child, or was excluded for being "different", may be more prone as an adult to feeling a stranger in new settings.
Individual therapy offers a space to talk about these themes in a safe environment. Sessions can be held face to face in Çorum, or online for those living in Ankara and other cities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Çorum in the Black Sea region or Central Anatolia?
According to the Governorate's Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plan, the province lies both in the Central Black Sea section of the Black Sea region and in the Central Kızılırmak section of the Central Anatolia region. As a statistical region it is in TR83, together with Samsun, Tokat and Amasya.
Is Çorum identity uniform?
No. There are differences in climate, dialect and daily life between the northern and southern districts; and people living in Çorum and people from Çorum living in Ankara or other cities experience identity in different ways. There is also no research measuring which region people from Çorum feel they belong to.
Does feeling caught in between affect mental health?
This feeling is not a problem in itself; for many people, multiple belonging is a source of richness. But when a person cannot feel they belong anywhere and this turns into loneliness, mood can be negatively affected.
How can I help my child, who is growing up in a big city, to love our home town?
Instead of forcing it, offer experiences: holiday visits, older relatives' stories, regional dishes prepared together and trips to historic places. Allowing the child to form their own bond at their own pace creates the most lasting sense of belonging.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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