Güneysu

For the village, see Güneysu, Pazaryolu.

Güneysu is a town in Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, inland from the city of Rize. It is the seat of Güneysu District.^[2] Its population is 8,722 (2021).^[1]

Güneysu
Municipality
Güneysu Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 40°58′41″N 40°36′49″E
Country	Turkey
Province	Rize
District	Güneysu
Government
• Mayor	Rıfat Özer (AKP)
Population  (2021)[1]	8,722
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Climate	Cfa
Website	guneysu.bel.tr

Rize location Güneysu

History

Güneysu was formerly named in Greek Potamya^[3] (Ποταμιὰ, "river village"^[4]) and the name persists in local usage to this day, as Güneysu stands on a plain watered by the Potamya river, a tributary of the Taşlıdere (or Askoroz) river (the ancient and Byzantine Ἄσκουρος ποταμός^[5]).

Geography

Asmalıırmak village-Güneysu

This is a hilly district of rivers and valleys, inland from the Black Sea coast, with peaks inland as high as 2000 m. The climate is wet, hence the number of valleys that have been cut through by mountain streams. Thus, floods and landslides are a constant threat even today. The coastal vegetation is broad-leaved but the higher land is pine forest, with Alpine plants in the high meadows up in the Kaçkar Mountains.

Güneysu is an impoverished rural district losing much of its population as they migrate to jobs elsewhere (some of Turkey's biggest construction firms have their roots here for example). The main source of income is growing tea and in recent years kiwifruit. Other crops are mainly grown in family gardens for personal use. The only industry is tea processing, and Güneysu is a centre of this for the Rize province.

Climate

Güneysu has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa).

Climate data for Güneysu
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Daily mean °C (°F)	5.6 (42.1)	6.1 (43.0)	7.6 (45.7)	11.5 (52.7)	15.4 (59.7)	19.3 (66.7)	22.0 (71.6)	22.2 (72.0)	19.4 (66.9)	15.3 (59.5)	11.4 (52.5)	7.8 (46.0)	13.6 (56.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	176 (6.9)	137 (5.4)	119 (4.7)	81 (3.2)	82 (3.2)	115 (4.5)	95 (3.7)	125 (4.9)	162 (6.4)	210 (8.3)	189 (7.4)	195 (7.7)	1,686 (66.3)
Source: Climate-Data.org[6]

People from Güneysu

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — Turkish politician, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey (2003–2014) and currently the 12th President of Turkey (2014–present); family hails from Güneysu.
• Halil Mutlu — Turkish American physician and political lobbyist; cousin of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.