Mardin Province

Mardin Province
Mardin ili
Province of 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: Parêzgeha Mêrdînê, Arabic: محافظة ماردين‎) 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 (Classical 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 local Assyrians/Syriacs, while very reduced due to the massacres of the Assyrian Genocide, 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
View from Mardin to the Mesopotamian plains.

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

References

  1. ↑ Turkish Statistical Institute, MS Excel document – Population of province/district centers and towns/villages and population growth rate by provinces
  2. ↑ Watts, Nicole F. (2010). Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey (Studies in Modernity and National Identity). Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-295-99050-7.
  3. ↑ Lipiński, Edward (2000). The Aramaeans: their ancient history, culture, religion. Peeters Publishers. p. 146. ISBN 978-90-429-0859-8.
  4. ↑ Payne Smith's A Compendious Syriac Ditcionary, Dukhrana.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mardin Province.

Coordinates: 37°21′47″N 40°54′31″E / 37.36306°N 40.90861°E