With its surface area of 141.000 km2, the Black Sea Region covers 18% of the surface area of the country. The Black Sea Region has taken its name and characteristics from its neighbouring sea and this region extends towards the border of Georgia in the east and the eastern edge of the Savanna of Adapazari in the west. The cities of Artvin, Rize, Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Giresun, Ordu, Samsun, Amasya, Sinop, Kasta monu, Zonguldak, Bartın and Bolu are totally located within the boundaries of the region. Excluding the district of Artova that is located within the borders of the Central Anatolian region, nearly the entire province of Tokat is located within the Black Sea Region. Half the province of Çorum is located in the Central Anatolian region and the other half is located in the Black Sea Region. The region is divided into three sections as eastern, central and western sections in respect of geographical characteristics. The means of subsistence is the cultivation of land for most of the people of the Black Sea Region. The most important characteristic of the regional agriculture is the substitution of wheat that is the principal grain in the other regions by corn in the coastal sections of this region. As a matter of fact, more than one-third of the corn production in Turkey is executed in the Black Sea Region. Wheat is mostly cultivated in the savannas located beyond the coastal mountains. Barley is another important cereal product in the region. Rice is planted in the deltas of Kizilirmak and Yeşilirmak Rivers and in Boyabat section of Gokirmak valley and Tosya section of Devrez Valley. In respect of the legume family, bean takes the first place in the production and the sugar beet takes the first place in the plantation of cash crops. Potato, onion, sunflower and hemp can be considered among the other products produced in the region. Tea plant that is cultivated and grown in only the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey is one of the most important products of the region.
The principal fruit of the Black Sea Region and particularly the eastern section is hazelnut. The coastal line of the Black Sea Region is covered with hazelnut trees. Hazelnut groves that are rate in the sections of Rize are much thicker in the section of Trebizond. These groves are thickest in the cities of Giresun and Ordu. Apple is highly produced in the region and the fruits such as kiwi fruit and avocado pear, etc. have been cultivated in the region in the recent years.
The principal industrial plants of the Black Sea Region are the iron-steel plants in Karabuk and Eregli, Çatalagzi Thermic Power Plant, the anthracite basins within the environs of Zonguldak, and Murgul copper production facilities. There are also some factories that produce sugar, paper, sulphuric acid, vegetable oil, tea, hazelnut cracking and hazelnut products, fish paste and cigarettes in various sections of the region.