Tunceli Province

Tunceli Province (Northern Kurdish: parêzgeha Dêrsimê, Zazaki: Dêsim, Turkish: Tunceli ili), formerly Dersim Province, is located in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It has a majority Alevi Zaza Kurdish population with a minority Sunni Turkish population. The province was originally named Dersim Province (Dersim vilayeti), then demoted to a district (Dersim kazası) and incorporated into Elâzığ Province in 1926. It was finally changed to Tunceli Province on January 4, 1936 by the "Law on Administration of the Tunceli Province" (Tunceli Vilayetinin İdaresi Hakkında Kanun), no. 2884 of 25 December 1935, but some still call the region by its original name. The name of the provincial capital, Kalan, was then officially changed to Tunceli to match the province's name.

The adjacent provinces are Erzincan to the north and west, Elazığ to the south, and Bingöl to the east. The province covers an area of 7,774 km² (3,002 sq mi) and has a population of 76,699. It has the lowest population density of any province in Turkey, just 9.8 inhabitants/km². Tunceli is the only province of Turkey with an Alevi majority.