Mersin Province (Turkish:Mersin ili), formerlyİçel Province (İçel ili), is aprovince andmetropolitan municipality in southernTurkey, on theMediterranean coast betweenAntalya andAdana. Its area is 16,010 km2,[3] and its population is 1,916,432 (2022).[2] The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province isMersin, which is composed of four municipalities and district governorates:Akdeniz,Mezitli,Toroslar andYenişehir. Next largest isTarsus, the birthplace ofPaul the Apostle. The province is considered to be a part of the geographical, economical and cultural region ofÇukurova, which covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana,Osmaniye andHatay.
The province is named after its biggest city Mersin. Mersin was named after the aromatic plant genusMyrsine (Greek:Μυρσίνη,Turkish:mersin) in the familyPrimulaceae, amyrtle that grows in abundance in the area. The 17th-century Ottoman travelerEvliya Çelebi has recorded in hisSeyahatnâme that there was also a clan named Mersinoğulları in the area.[4]
Ninth biggest province of Turkey by land area, Mersin consists 2,02% ofTurkey.[6] 87% of the land area is mountain, leading up to the rocky heights of the centralTaurus Mountains, the highest peak isMedetsiz (3,584 m) in theBolkar range, and there are a number of important passes over to centralAnatolia. There are many high meadows and small plains between 700 and 1500m.
The coastal strip has many large areas of flatland, formed from soil brought down by rivers and streams running off the mountains. This is fertile land, the largest area being the plain ofTarsus. The largest rivers are theGöksu and theBerdan (GöksuCalycadnus and BerdanCydnus of antiquity), but there are many small streams running into lakes, reservoirs or the Mediterranean sea. Mersin has 321 km of coastline, much of it sandy beach. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean; very hot and rainless in summer, mild and wet in winter. The winter rains can be very heavy and flooding is a problem in many areas, but it never snows on the coast, only in the mountainous areas.
In antiquity, this coast was part ofCilicia, named for aPhoenician orAssyrian prince that had settled here. Trade fromSyria andMesopotamia over the mountains to centralAnatolia passed through here, through theCilician Gates. The geographerStrabo, described the region as being divided into "Rugged Cilicia" (Cilicia Trachea, Κιλικία Τραχεία inGreek) and "Flat Cilicia" (Cilicia Pedias, Κιλικία Πεδιάς). The capital of both sections of Cilicia wasTarsus andMersin was its seaport. TheSeljuks later captured it from theByzantines and it then came under theCrusaders then theSeljuks again and finally theOttomans captured it and it remained part of theOttoman Empire until 1922.
The province of Mersin until 1933 didn't include the western territories of the modern province, which then constituted the separate İçel province, withSilifke as its administrative center. In 1933, the provinces of Mersin and İçel were merged. The new province was named "İçel" and the city ofMersin was made its capital.[11] The province was renamed to "Mersin" on 28 June 2002.[12]
Mersin province is divided into thirteen districts four of which are actually included within the municipality of Mersin city (shown in boldface letters).
About 50% of the population of the province is younger than 24 years of age. 68% were born in Mersin. Theliteracy rate is 89%. About 43% of the male population and about 27% of the female population graduated from middle school.Infant mortality is 0.48%. Urban population growth rate is 2.42%.Population density is 117 as of November 2020.(In the table below, the four second-level municipalities are merged within Mersin proper.)
The city of Mersin is one of busiest cities in Turkey. Due to the economic activity in this part of Turkey generated by theGAP Project Mersin is Turkey's biggest Mediterranean port, and also hosts an oil refinery and afree trade zone; there are a number of factories along the road between Mersin andAdana, manufacturing glass, detergents, fertilizers and many more. With all this activity a modern city has grown with a university and other major amenities.
Mersin does not have the huge volume of tourists enjoyed by neighbouringAntalya or theAegean coast, but Turkish people do come to this coast, especially now that the hotels have air-conditioning, and perhaps more to the mountain country behind where there are healing mineral water springs. In summer the hills are a popular retreat from the high humidity and extreme heat on the coast. West of Mersin includes bays, and little islands. Yacht touring is a tourism income in these areas.
^T. B. M. M. ZABIT CERİDESİ Elli dördüncü inikat(PDF). TBMM. 20 May 1933. p. 198. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved30 December 2022.İçel ve Mersin vilâyetleri birleştirilerek merkezi Mersin olmak üzere 'İçel' vilâyeti teşkil edilmiştir.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Tarih".mersin.gov.tr. Retrieved30 December 2022.
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