Sivas [key], city (1990 pop. 219,122), capital of Sivas prov., central Turkey, on the Kizil Irmak. An important trade and manufacturing center, it has cement, textile, and rug factories. Iron ore is mined nearby. Known as Sebaste, Sebastia, or Cabira in ancient times, it was an important city of Asia Minor under the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Seljuk Turks. Part of the Seljuk empire of Rum in the late 12th cent., Sivas fell to the Mongols and later (15th cent.) to the Ottoman Turks. In 1919, Kemal Atatürk held an important nationalist congress there.
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