Akdeniz, Mersin

Akdeniz is a municipality and district governorate in Greater Mersin, Turkey. Mersin is one of the 30 Metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Now in Mersin there are four second-level municipalities in addition to Greater Mersin (büyükşehir) municipality.

History

Mersin was declared metropolitan centre in 1993. In the first phase the city was divided into three parts. The municipality of Akdeniz was established in 1993 as a secondary level municipality and the corresponding district governorate was established in 2008.

Location

Akdeniz compose the centre and east of Greater Mersin at about 36°48′N 34°38′E / 36.800°N 34.633°E / 36.800; 34.633. Among the other second level municipalities Toroslar is in the north and Yenişehir is in the west of Akdeniz. The south is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the west is bounded by Müftü River.

Population

According to 2011 figures the population of Akdeniz was 275,206 as of 2012. (138,631 male and 136,575 female citizens.) Approximately, % 33 of Mersin citizens live in Akdeniz.

Mersin

Mersin is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is part of an interurban agglomeration – the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area – and lies on the western part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical, and cultural region. According to the 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi, the city was named after the Mersinoğulları clan; another theory is that its name originates from the myrtle (Turkish: mersin) which grows abundantly in the region.

Mersin is an important hub of Turkey's economy, and Turkey's largest seaport is located in the city. Mersin's nickname within Turkey is "Pearl of the Mediterranean" (Turkish: Akdeniz'in İncisi) and the city hosted the 2013 Mediterranean Games. Mersin is the provincial capital of the eponymous Mersin Province of Turkey.

As of 2014, the population of the city is 1,071,703.

History

This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang of the hill of Yumuktepe 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.

Mersin (electoral district)

Mersin is an electoral district of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. It elects eleven members of parliament (deputies) to represent the province of the same name for a four-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system.

Members

Population reviews of each electoral district are conducted before each general election, which can lead to certain districts being granted a smaller or greater number of parliamentary seats. Mersin elected 12 members until the most recent election in 2011, when the number of seats was dropped to eleven.

General elections

June 2015

2011

Presidential elections

2014

References

Coordinates: 36°45′N 34°00′E / 36.750°N 34.000°E / 36.750; 34.000