Göle is a small city and surrounding district in Ardahan Province of Turkey. The city was formerly known as Merdenik, Merdinik or Ardahan-ı Küçük .Göle is a rural district, eighty per cent of the area comprising mountain and forest, with the remainder grazing land and meadow; the local economy depends on this grazing. Göle is famous for its yellow kaşar cheese. Some crops are grown, including grains and potatoes. With the high Allahuekber mountains to the south Göle is exposed to the north; winters are eight months long and extremely cold, summer is one month of dry weather.HistoryThe name comes from Kola - the name of a historical province in Georgia. The name of the ancient kingdom of Colchis may be derived from name of this place. Part of the Ottoman Empire from 1561, Göle was occupied by the Russian Empire from 1878 until the end of the First World War, when it was part of the militarily administered Kars Oblast. The district included villages inhabited by various ethnic groups, including 40 Kurdish and 7 Turkish villages with a significant minority of Armenians, and Caucasus Greeks. It finally became part of the Republic of Turkey on September 30, 1920 after the Armenian occupation between 1919-1920.