Neighbouring provinces are Giresun to the west, Gümüşhane to the southwest, Bayburt to the southeast and Rize to the east.
==Okrožja==*Alaçam*Asarcık*Ayvacık*Bafra*Çarşamba*Havza*Kavak*Ladik*Ondokuz Mayıs*Salıpazarı*Samsun*Tekkeköy*Terme*Vezirköprü*Yakakent==Zgodovina==Mustafa Kemal Atatürk je tu 19. maja 1919 začel turško vojno za neodvisnost.