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Hazelnut fields, widely spread in the Black Sea coasts of Turkey, have been located within 30 km from the coast towards inland. In the western Black Sea, it starts from Zonguldak (east of İstanbul) and extends to the east over the entire Black Sea like a green strip lying between the sea and the mountains almost until the Georgian boundary. 4.000.000 people are directly or indirectly related to hazelnut which has been produced on an area of 550-600 thousand hectares in Turkey, which is a fact that boosts the socio-economic importance of hazelnut. Turkey has a distinguished place among the other hazelnut producers in the world, thanks to its high quality, and maintains its leading position in production and exportation. It has been mentioned in historical documents that hazelnut was produced 2300 years ago in the Black Sea coast on the north of Turkey and it is known that hazelnut has been exported from Turkey to other countries for the last 6 centuries. Turkey, which is one of the few countries in the world with favourable weather conditions for hazelnut production, accounts for 75% of the global production and 70-75% of the exportation.
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