Çorum, town in north central Turkey, the capital of Çorum province. Situated in the northern part of the central Anatolian Plateau, Çorum is located on an alluvial plain along a branch of the Çorum River. The town is an important agricultural marketplace, particularly for the region's production of chickpeas. Commodity brokers from throughout the country travel to Çorum to purchase chickpeas, an ingredient of many Turkish foods. A highway connects Çorum with Ankara to the southwest and Samsun to the northeast. Çorum has a small hilltop fortress from the Byzantine era (330-1453) and a 13th-century mosque from the period of Seljuk rule. Settlement in the area has been traced back 4000 years. Population 116,810 (1990).
