Demre

Demre is a town and its surrounding district in the Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, named after the river Demre.

Demre is the Lycian town of Myra, the home of Saint Nicholas of Myra, the historical man later developed into the figure of Santa Claus. The district was known as Kale until it was renamed in 2005. A substantial Christian community of Greeks lived in Demre (Myra) until the 1920s when they were forced to migrate to Greece after the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The abandoned Greek villages in the region are a striking reminder of this exodus. Abandoned Greek houses can still be seen at Demre and the regions of Kalkan, Kaş and Kaya which is a Greek ghost town. A small population of Turkish farmers moved into the region when the Greek Christians were forced to migrate to Greece. The region is popular with tourists today particularly Christian pilgrims who visit the tomb of Saint Nicholas.

Geography

Demre is on the coast of the Teke peninsula, west of the bay of Antalya, with the Taurus Mountains behind. The mountains are forested and the coastal strip is made of good soil brought down by the mountain rivers. The climate is the typical Mediterranean pattern of hot dry summers and warm wet winters.

Antalya

Antalya (Turkish pronunciation: [anˈtalja]) is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province. Located on Anatolia's flourishing southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast with over one million people in its metropolitan area.

The city that is now Antalya was first settled around 200 BC by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, which was soon subdued by the Romans. Roman rule saw Antalya thrive, including the construction of several new monuments, such as Hadrian's Gate, and the proliferation of neighboring cities. The city has changed hands several times, including to the Byzantine Empire in 1207 and an expanding Ottoman Empire in 1391. Ottoman rule brought relative peace and stability for the next five-hundred years. The city was transferred to Italian suzerainty in the aftermath of World War I, but was recaptured by a newly independent Turkey in the War of Independence.

Antalya is Turkey's biggest international sea resort, located on the Turkish Riviera. Large-scale development and governmental funding has promoted tourism. A record 12.5 million tourists passed through the city in 2014.

Antalya (electoral district)

Antalya is an electoral district of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. It elects fourteen 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. Antalya is a gradually growing district, with its seats increasing from 12 to 14 between 1999 and 2011.

General elections

June 2015

2011

Presidential elections

2014

References

Coordinates: 37°50′N 34°45′E / 37.833°N 34.750°E / 37.833; 34.750