It is bordered by the provinces of Kars and Ağrı to the east, Muş and Bingöl to the south, Erzincan and Bayburt to the west, Rize and Artvin to the north and Ardahan to the northeast.

Greater Erzurum Area: 1,612 sq km, Population: 370,000 (2022) Rest of Erzurum Province Known as Karanitis (Ancient Greek: Καρανῖτις/Καρηνῖτις),[6] Arzen, Erzen, and (Armenian:Էրզրում նահանգ, Կարին ) Karin or Garin, most of the province was incorporated into the Roman Empire in the 4th century (after the first split of Kingdom of Armenia in 387 between Romans and Iran), and a small mountain city called Karin (Armenian: Կարին) or Carana (Ancient Greek: Κάρανα)[6] was fortified.

Between the seventh and eighth centuries, Arabs and Byzantines alternately held the region in their power, local Armenian rulers played a significant role in these events.

Threatened and later devastated and looted by the Seljuk Turks in 1049, the old city of Erzen was conquered, but Theodosiopolis survived the invasion until it was captured some time later.

From the year 1101 onward it is documented that the ruling dynasty of the Saltukids held the town and much of the surrounding area in their power.

After the fall of the Seljuk Sultanate of Anatolia (Rum) in the early 14th century, it became an administrative province of the Ilkhanate, and after their fall, became part of the Çoban beylik, Black Sheep Turkmen, Mongols led by Timur Lenk, the White Sheep Turkmen and the rising Iranian Safavids captured the town in 1502 from the Aq Qoyunlu.

The poet Alexander Pushkin accompanied the Russian commander-in-chief, Ivan Paskevich, during that expedition and penned a brief account of the campaign.

[11] The province was the site of the major fighting during Caucasus Campaign of World War I between Russian and Ottoman forces including the key confrontation of the campaign, Battle of Erzurum which resulted in capture of Erzurum by Russian army[12] under the command of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich on 16 February 1916.

[13] The third UM span over the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Rize, Trabzon, Kars Gümüşhane, Erzincan and Ağrı.

Industries largely consist of manufacturing of forestry, agriculture, husbandry, chemistry, textile and mining products.

There are 81 active industrial plants in the province, most of them located at the central district of Erzurum, and are small and medium enterprises.

Due to their relatively small sizes, these industries mainly serve local markets causing lower capacity usage, low productivity and unemployment.

A large organized industrial park concentrating on processing meat is being built with the hope of reviving this sector.

Magnesite, fire clay, gypsum, manganese, diatomite, marble, rock salt and perlite are also present.

The gross domestic product GDP of Erzurum is US$1.16 billion, constituting less than 1% of the total and ranking 40th among Turkish provinces (1997 values).

Tourist activities, which include skiing, rafting, and mountaineering, also provide a substantial proportion of the province's income.