Location and Topography

The Kangal Dog is found in the high rolling plains country of central Turkey. The approximate geographic center of the region is Sivas City. The Kangal Dog has historically been associated with the town of Kangala district town within Sivas Province.
While much of the landscape is rolling plains, the region is cut by the KulmaÁ Mountains and the Tecer Mountains running approximately NE/SW.
The Uzun Yayla southwest of Kangal is a major Kangal Dog and sheep producing area. The Kizilirmak River runs through the province. A karst topography dominates the northern part of the province.
This photograph of a magnificent Kangal Dog with his shepherd also illustrates the typical topography of the region - arid, mesa-like country similar to parts of the American West.
Although Sivas Province is the center of Kangal Dog breeding, good examples of the breed can also be found in parts of the neighboring provinces of Kayseri, Yozgat, Tokat, Erzincan, and Malatya, where they border on Sivas Province. The precise regional boundaries for the Kangal Dog cannot be defined, but the demarcation between true Kangal Dogs and other dogs is usually abrupt.
It is obvious that purebred Kangal Dogs are exported to other areas of Turkey. Many are sent to Istanbul in response to a Kangalmania craze currently sweeping Turkey. Just as a Great Pyrenees sheepdog can be exported from the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France to Paris or the United States, so, too, can purebred Kangals be exported from the Sivas-Kangal region to Istanbul and America. This does not alter the fact that the Kangal Dog originates in the Sivas-Kangal region.