Şanlıurfa, pronounced, often simply known as Urfa in daily language, in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323 inhabitants (2009 estimate) in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. It is a city with a mixed Turkish, Kurdish and Arab population. Urfa is situated on a plain about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. Urfa's climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters
