Sakarya (Turkish:Sakarya ili) is aprovince andmetropolitan municipality inTurkey, located on the coast of theBlack Sea. Its area is 4,824 km2 (1,863 sq mi),[2] and its population is 1,110,735 (2024).[1] TheSakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in theMarmara Region. The adjacent provinces areKocaeli to the west,Bilecik to the south,Bolu to the southeast andDüzce to the east. The capital of Sakarya isAdapazarı. Its climate ismaritime in the north andhumid subtropical in the south and changes by the distance to the Black Sea.Sakarya is on theAnkara-Istanbul highway and is also connected by rail. Sakarya is serviced byIstanbul'sSabiha Gökçen International Airport. The mayor of Sakarya is Yusuf Alemdar as of 2024 (AKP).[3] The city of Sakarya, one of the most important cities in Turkey for its rapid growth and development,[how?] is known for its natural surroundings and culture. Home to severalresort towns, Sakarya has access to the sea, beaches, lakes, rivers, highlands, thermal springs, traditional Ottoman lifestyle districts such as Taraklı and Geyve and noteworthy historical relics from the Byzantine and the Ottoman eras.The Turks conquered the city of Sakarya in the 13th century. There was intensive immigration from theCaucasus and theBalkans in the 18th and the 19th centuries. The last massive immigration was in 1989 fromBulgaria. The pronvince's location at a transportation crossroads has made spurred development in the manufacturing sector, and it still has inward migration from other parts of Turkey.
Historical Hanımeli Mansion inTarakliSakarya Museum
It was founded in 1400 by 400Armenian immigrant families who escaped fromTimur's oppression inSivas and was named "Donigaşen" after the name of their leaders. Today's inhabitants areManavs. The present dayMuslims are descended fromArmenians andGreeks who gradually converted toIslam.Adapazarı's known name inTurkish at that time was Adacık and Ada. The source of the information that the region was conquered byOrhan Gazi and opened to settlement is also unknown.[4][5][6][7] Adapazarı was the village of Ada in 1573, a sub-district in 1646, a village in Akyazı in 1658, and administrative district of a qadi in 1692 and again a sub-district in 1742. The residency area had the status of a district between 1837 and 1954 during the Ottoman and the Republican eras. Adapazarı was a district of Kocaeli for many years but separated from it and took the name of Sakarya on June 22, 1954 by Law 6419. Adapazarı took the name of Sakarya since it was the centre of the districts of Akyazı, Geyve, Hendek and Karasu. On December 1, 1954, the first governor, Nazım Üner, began active duty with ceremonies.
Adapazarı was experiencing a rapid growth and great development in the centre of Akova, but the city had to face massive destruction during the greatMarmara earthquake, on August 17, 1999.
