436... 49... 453,654... 8,196... 41 E 30 - 38 N 44...

Mus... Mus has the second largest plain in Eastern Anatolia, after Igdir. It has a rarely found natural setting, being in the highest region of Türkiye. Hidden between the mountains, this plain has a natural beauty, with lakes and greenery between high mountains. The province dates back to the 6th century AD, and now it shelters the remains of a couple of citadels and the Aslanhane Caravanserai. There are also impressive mosques from the Seljuk period, like the Alaeddin Pasa, Haci seref and Ulu Mosques. The town of Malazgirt is an important and famous name in Turkish history. Mus, a little out of the way for most tourists' routes, was founded in the sixth century. Many of the city's monuments, including the remains of a citadel and the Aslanhane Caravanserai, are in poor condition. The Seljuk mosques of Alaaddin Pasha and Haci Seref, however, are certainly worth a detour. As is well known the earth experienced four ice in the last 1.8 million years which greatly influenced the world of living things, fleeing unfavourable conditions in the north, took refuge in the Iberian peninsula, Southeast Asia, and in Anatolia which then offered very favourable survival conditions. Some of these species returned north during periods between the ice ages, while some evolved to adapt to the new conditions of their environment. Others remained in Anatoli by taking refuge in various biotopes and underwent further differentiation. In fact, several species of plants and animals of northern origin are now found in Anatolia. Between the ice ages Anatolia served as habitat for species originating in the south and in the east. For these reasons, Anatolia has historically been and is currently a habitat of species which originally came from the north, the east and the south. It therefore is of supreme importance in the understanding and analysis of the flora and fauna of Europe, Western Asia and parts of Africa. We might indeed claim that studies of European and Asian flora and fauna would be incomplete if they did not take into account the biological diversity offered by Anatolia, where the coexistence of a rich variety of living things can be observed. Additionally, during many historical perriods, Anatolia served as a passageway between the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. A variety of flora and fauna owe their geographical spread to this passageway. For this reason, Anatolia gains importance in the analysis of zoo-geographical developments. The topography of the Anatolian peninsula exhibits significant variety where ecological factors change greatly over very short distances.

For this reason, living things have evolved and differentiated richly and have created a wealth of species and sub-species. A number of such species and subspecies have proven to be of economic value to humanity and some will doubtless be of use in the future. In today's Anatolia there exists a rainy, humid and mild climate in the North, especially north of the Black Sea mountain range; a type of Siberian climate with cold and dry winters in the East; a hot and dry, desert-like climate in the Southeast; a climate with hot and dry summers and cold and snowy winters in the interior regions; and a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and rainy winters in the West and Southwest. There are also several micro-climatic zones within these regions, depending on altitude and protectedness. Such differences may be manifested over very short distances. For instance in the Igdir plain in the East the climate is close to the Mediterranean, while the climate of the adjoining Agri Dagi and its plateau is a variant of the Siberian.