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Yusufeli (, Berdagrak; ახალთი, Akhalti) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located on the bank of Çoruh River 104 km south-west of the city of Artvin, on the road to Erzurum. It is the seat of Yusufeli District. İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Its population is 7,306 (2021).
The town of Yusufeli sits in a valley where the Çoruh River is joined by the Barhal. To its north are the Kaçkar Mountains running east to west, with villages in other valleys between the mountains. The micro climate allows the cultivation of olives, grapes, and citrus fruits, the driving forces of the economy in addition to tourism. The town can be reached by air via Erzurum Airport, away from Yusufeli or by road from Artvin, Erzurum and Trabzon (via İspir in Erzurum Province).
There is a widely criticised plan to Yusufeli Dam, which would submerge 15,000 homes. The Yusufeli dam project Friends of the Earth: Campaigns: Corporates: AMEC and Spie pull out of Yusufeli Dam Balfour Beatty withdraws support for the Ilisu Dam
Because of the rocky geography it was difficult for people from all villages to reach the city center, so a local district was established centred on Ögdem, but this was still inaccessible so Kılıçkaya (Ersis) became the center of county. Ersis means "a place where no boys live", so-called because so many sons of the district were lost in the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 and First World War. In the year 1912 the county name became Yusuf İli, i.e. "province of Yusuf" so the name Kiskim should not be confused with the name Keskin which was a county of Ankara at that time.
There are a number of historical Georgians churches in the valleys of Yusufeli, including the ruins of the Otkhta Eklesia (Dört Kilise) in a village off the road to İspir ( Map).
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