There are two tea factories, the Black Sea Copper Works, a Thermal Power Plant, the Hopa port and the Hopa Vocational School. The economy is based on trade, fishing and agriculture, mostly tea, nuts (especially Hazelnuts) and kiwifruit.

Between 20, cancer cases sharply increased in the Black Sea region, especially in Hopa, with 47.9% of all deaths during this time being due to cancer.

There is currently a high rate of cancer in Hopa, attributed to fall-out from the Chernobyl disaster, across the Black Sea from here. The Sarp border gate was opened on 31 August 1988 with the 'International Road Transport Agreement' between Soviet Union and Turkey and gave a big boost to Hopa in trade and tourism. Hopa was returned as part of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk in 1918 and formally joined Turkey on 14 March 1921. The area was captured by Russia following the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and many people of Hopa moved westwards away from the Russian-controlled zone. Lala Mustafa Pasha made it part of the Childir Eyalet formed in 1578. Ottoman Sultan Selim I brought it into the Ottoman Empire during his campaign against the Crimea that took place in 1490вЂ“1512. With the collapse of the Seljuks, the Artvin area came under the control of the Ildeniz, one of the Anatolian Turkish beyliks The Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan conquered the area in 1064. The area was part of the kingdom of Colchis but was always vulnerable to invasions, first the Scythians from across the Caucasus, then the Muslim armies led by Habib, son of Caliph Uthman who controlled the area from 853В AD to 1023 when it was conquered by the Byzantines from the Sac Emirate allied to the Abbasids. The climate is mild and wet, although only July and August are warm enough to be called summer. The highest point is Mt Yavuz Sultan Selim at 1513m.

The land climbs sharply from 10m above sea level in the coastal areas up into the Sultan Selim Mountains, the hillsides are well watered and green with alder, chestnuts, hornbeams and other deciduous trees. Hopa is on the Black Sea Coast 65В km from Artvin and 18В km from the Sarp border crossing (into Sarpi) on the Georgian border.

Hoppa mania drone