Marmara Region

Marmara Region

The Marmara Region (Turkish: Marmara Bölgesi), with a surface area of 67.000 km², is the smallest but most densely populated of the seven geographical regions of Turkey. It represents approximately 8.6% of the Turkish national territory and about 30% of its population.

This region was officially put in existence after the Geography Congress of 1941 in Ankara and is geographically divided into four regional parts.

Its name derives from the Sea of Marmara, which itself is named for the island of Marmara.

Provinces

Marmara Region

• Balıkesir Province
• Bilecik Province
• Bursa Province
• Çanakkale Province
• Edirne Province
• İstanbul Province
• Kırklareli Province
• Kocaeli Province
• Sakarya Province
• Tekirdağ Province
• Yalova Province

Geography

The Yıldız Mountains and Uludağ are in the Marmara Region. Islands in the Aegean Sea are Gökçeada and Bozcaada, and in the Sea of Marmara are Marmara Island, Avşa, Paşalimanı, İmralı and the Princes Islands of Istanbul.

Climate

İzmit
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     95   10 3     77   10 3     71   13 5     56   18 9     45   23 13     50   28 17     43   29 19     53   29 19     51   26 16     92   21 13     89   16 8     107   12 5 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Turkish State Meteorology
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.8   49 38     3   51 38     2.8   56 41     2.2   65 48     1.8   74 55     1.9   82 62     1.7   85 67     2.1   85 67     2   78 61     3.6   69 55     3.5   60 47     4.2   53 42 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

The Marmara region has a hybrid mediterranean climate/humid subtropical climate on the Aegean Sea coast and the south Marmara Sea coast, an oceanic climate on the Black Sea coast and a humid continental climate in the interior. Summers are warm to hot, humid and moderately dry whereas winters are cold and wet and sometimes snowy.

History

Although the first inhabitents of the Marmara region were various Indo-European tribes, the area is best known for being a focus of intense ancient Greek settlement. The famed city of Troy, center of the Iliad, was located in the region. It was also involved in the Persian wars, with various parts beinmg split between the Persian Empire and the Delian League. Marmara was later conquered by the Roman Empire. After emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity, Marmara quickly became a center of the Christian faith. Its most important city, Constantinople, was a stronghold of the Christian Byzantine Empire even after Muslims began to predominate in neighboring regions. It therefore remained predominately Christian until Muslim Turks invaded Anatolia in the late eleventh century. Afterwords, it was a territory of various Turkish and Christian empires, until it was finally conquered by Islam by the Ottoman empire, which gave Constantinople its present name, Istambul.

See also

• Provinces of Turkey

External links

• (Turkish) Golyaka Village, Bursa