Mersin lies on the western side of Çukurova, a geographical, economic and cultural region of Turkey. It is an important hub for Turkey's economy, with Turkey's largest seaport being located here. The city hosted the 2013 Mediterranean Games.
As urbanisation continues eastward, a larger metropolitan region combining Mersin with Tarsus and Adana (the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area) is in the making with more than 3.3 million inhabitants.
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Etymology
The city was named after the aromatic plant genus Myrsine (Turkish: Mersin, Greek: Μυρσίνη) in the family Primulaceae, a myrtle that grows in abundance in the area. The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi also recorded in his Seyahatnâme that there was a clan named the Mersinoğulları (Sons of Mersin) living in the area.[3] In the 19th century Mersin was also referred to as Mersina.
History
Prehistory
This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang of the hill of Yumuktepe[4] have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. Fortifications were put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 350 BC and 300 BC.
Classical era
Over the centuries, the city was ruled by many states and civilisations including the
Lagids. During the Ancient Greek period, the city bore the name Zephyrion (Greek: Ζεφύριον[5]) and was mentioned by numerous ancient authors. Apart from its natural harbour and strategic position along the trade routes of southern Anatolia, the city profited from trade in molybdenum (white lead) from the neighbouring mines of Coreyra. Ancient sources attributed the best molybdenum to the city, which also minted its own coins.[citation needed
]
The area later became a part of the
Latinised to Zephyrium, was renamed as Hadrianopolis in honour of the Roman emperor Hadrian.[citation needed] After the death of the emperor Theodosius I in 395 and the subsequent permanent division of the Roman Empire, Mersin fell into what became the Byzantine Empire.[citation needed
House of Lampron. From 1362 to 1513 the region was captured and governed by the Ramadanid Emirate, first as a protectorate of the Mamluk Sultanate, then as an independent state for roughly a century and then as a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire from 1513 until 1518 when it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire and turned into an imperial province.[citation needed
]
Ottoman Empire
Main article:
Vilayet of Adana
This section needs expansion with: the city's history between 16th and 19th century. You can help by adding to it. (November 2020)
During the American Civil War, the region became a major supplier of cotton to make up for the high demand due to shortage. Railroads were extended to Mersin in 1866 from where cotton was exported by sea, and the city developed into a major trade centre.[8]
In 1909, Mersin's port hosted 645
sesame seeds, cotton, cottonseed, cakes and cereals, and livestock. Cotton was exported to Europe, grain to Turkey and livestock to Egypt. Coal was the main import into Mersin at this time. Messageries Maritimes was the largest shipping line to use the port at Mersin.[9]
In 1918, the
Turkish Army in 1921 at the end of the Franco-Turkish War. In 1924, Mersin was made a province, and in 1933 Mersin and İçel provinces were merged to form the (greater Mersin) İçel Province. The capital of the province was Mersin. In 2002 the name of the province was changed to Mersin Province.[10]
As of 1920, Mersin had five piers at its port, with one privately owned by a railroad company serving Mersin, Tarsus, and Adana.[11]
Modern Mersin
Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast,it has the longest seashore in Turkey as well as in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Metropolitan Municipality has rescued long stretches of the seafront with walkways, parks and statues, and there are still palm trees on the roadsides
Since the start of the Syrian War in 2011 Mersin has acquired a large population of Syrian refugees .
On 6 February 2023 Mersin was shaken by the twin
Turkey-Syria earthquakes
. Citizens made homeless in cities further to the east also flocked to Mersin in search of shelter.
In the western suburb of Viranşehir (Ruined City) the remains of the ancient city of Soli/Pompeiiopolis stand close to the sea. Only two colonnades dating from the 2nd or 3rd century are obvious although the outline of the agora and of a mole from the harbour can just about be made out.[13]
The Chasms of Heaven and Hell are located in the rural region of Silifke, a district in Mersin.[14] The chasms are two sinkholes that were naturally formed from underground waters melting the layer of limestone above.[14] The heaven sinkhole has a small monastery located in the corner of the entrance.[14] The deepest point of the sinkhole is 135 meters deep.[14] The hell sinkhole is 128 meters deep.[14] In mythology, there is a story of Zeus temporarily trapping Typhon in the sinkhole.[14]
The city has a total of three modern shopping malls, from which the Forum Mersin is the largest one. Mersin Marina can also be considered a shopping center with over 40 shops, apart from its main function as a marina. In the old city center you will find further shopping opportunities and bazaar-like shopping areas.
Geography
Köppen map of Mersin Province and surrounding regions:[15]
Unlike the mountainous rugged terrain of the whole province Mersin is located at the western edge of the Çukurova plain. Earthquake risk of the city is relatively low especially compared to other regions of Turkey, but due to its closeness to several other fault lines in Anatolia, the city center, which was built on an alluvial deposit is considered to be a risk region.[16][17]
Climate
Mersin has a
subtropical climate
with hot, humid summers and mild, wet winters. Mersin has its highest rainfall in winter. The driest months are in summer with hardly any rainfall at all. The highest temperature of Mersin was recorded on 3 September 2020 at 41.5 °C (106.7 °F).
Climate data for Mersin (1991–2020, extremes 1940–2020)
The population of the city was 1,040,507 according to 2022 estimates.[1] This figure refers to the urban part of the four districts Akdeniz, Mezitli, Toroslar and Yenişehir, that had a total population of 1,077,054 at the end of 2022.[20] As of a 2021 estimation, the population of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area was 3,300,000 inhabitants, making it the 4th most populous area of Turkey.[citation needed]