The name Nig˘de first occurs in written sources in the form na-hi-ti-ia in a Luwian inscription of king Saruanis from Andaval as was pointed out by Ignace Gelb (Hittite Hieroglyphs II [1935] pp. 17–18).

Then came Assyrians and Phrygians, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Alexander the Great, Romans, who built the city of Tyana with its palaces and waterworks.

In 2016, archaeologists discovered in Kınık Mound, an archeological site located in Yeşilyurt village of Altunhisar district at Niğde province, a temple dating back to the late Persian era.

[3] Niğde benefits from its rich agriculture, its apples are particularly famous, and its location between the wealthy regions of Konya and Adana on the Mediterranean coast.

Niğde is Turkey's biggest potato growing region and has the most apple trees (although newer plantings in other provinces are achieving greater production).

Sites of historical importance in Niğde include many churches, mosques and underground cities (safe-havens cut deep down into the soft volcanic rock).