Mardin Province

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Mardin Province
Mardin ili
Province of Turkey
Location of Mardin Province in Turkey
Location of Mardin Province in Turkey
Country Turkey
Region Southeast Anatolia
Subregion Mardin
Government
 • Electoral district Mardin
Area
 • Total 8,891 km2 (3,433 sq mi)
Population (2010-12-31)[1]
 • Total 744,606
 • Density 84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Area code(s) 0482
Vehicle registration 47

Mardin Province (Turkish: Mardin ili, Kurdish: Mêrdîn), is a province of Turkey with a population of 744,606. The population was 835,173 in 2000. The capital of the Mardin Province is Mardin (Syriac: ܡܶܪܕܺܝܢ‎ "Mardin" in related Semitic language Arabic: ماردين, Mardīn). Located near the traditional boundary of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, it has a diverse population, composed of Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian people (who once made up the majority), with Kurds forming the majority of the province's population.[2]

History

Mardin comes from the Syriac word (ܡܪܕܐ) and means "fortresses".[3][4]

The first known civilization were the Subarian-Hurrians who were then succeeded in 3000BCE by the Hurrians. The Elamites gained control around 2230 BCE. and were followed by the Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Romans and Byzantines.[5]

The local Assyrians/Syriacs, while very reduced due to the massacres of the Assyrian Genocide and conflicts between the Kurds and Turks, hold on to two of the oldest monasteries in the world, Dayro d-Mor Hananyo (Turkish Deyrülzafaran, English Saffron Monastery) and Deyrulumur Monastery. The Christian community is concentrated on the Tur Abdin plateau and in the town of Midyat, with a smaller community (approximately 100) in the provincial capital.

Politically, the area in the early 2000s has witnessed competition between the governing Justice and Development Party and the mainly Kurdish-based Democratic People's Party, later revamped as Peace and Democracy Party.

Unemployment and poverty are serious problems, and there has been considerable out migration to western and southern Turkey, although the reduction in political violence (mainly related to the PKK-led insurgency), coupled with infrastructure improvements such as a new civil airport at the provincial capital and improvements to the Ankara-Baghdad highway are helping ameliorate matters.

Districts

Mardin districts

Mardin province is divided into 10 districts (capital district in 'bold):

Gallery

  • Islamic monuments in Mardin Province

  • Minaret of the grand mosque of Mardin (12th century) and the view of the Mesopotamian plains.

  • Kasimiye madrasa (14th century)

  • Zinciriye Madrasa (14th century)

  • View of Savur and the grand mosque in the center

  • Abdullatif mosque (14th century)

References

  1. ↑ Turkish Statistical Institute, MS Excel document – Population of province/district centers and towns/villages and population growth rate by provinces
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Payne Smith's A Compendious Syriac Ditcionary, Dukhrana.com
  5. ↑ http://www.tatlidede.com.tr/en/mardin.php

External links

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