Antalya Province

This article is about the Antalya Province; for the provincial capital, see Antalya city.

Antalya is a province in southwest Turkey. The land borders of the province is drawn by the Taurus mountains. It neighbors the Mediterranean sea in the south, İçel on the east, Konya and Karaman in the northeast, Isparta and Burdur in the north and Muğla on the west. The area is often called "Turkish Riviera" along with the Muğla province.

Antalya province includes the historical Roman provinces of Lycia in the west, Pamphylia in the east and Pisidia in the north. Lycia was also the name of the kingdom before the Roman conquest and it had the first example of a democratic constitution in the world which later inspired the American Constitution [http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/americanlit/hamilton-federalist-548.html.

Antalya province is an important tourist destination for foreign and local tourists alike, featuring a shoreline 630 km long with beaches, ports, and ancient cities scattered throughout. The provincial capital is Antalya city with a population of 714,000. The province covers an area of 20,591 km² and has a population of 1,719,751 (2000 census). It is the fastest-growing province in Turkey; the population having grown by 51.9% between 1990 and 2000.

Geography

The Antalya province is located in southwestern Anatolia. It has a total area of 20723 km² and occupies 2.6% of the total territory of Turkey.

The land of the province is 77.8% mountainous, 10.2% is plain and 12% is uneven. Most of the peaks of the Taurus mountains that occupy 3/4 of the provincial land are above 2500-3000 metres. The Teke peninsula on the west includes wide plateaus and river basins. The topographical differences of the province creates different climatic, agricultural, demographic and habitation places. These different places can be categorized into coastal and plateau regions.

The cities and districts of the province:

The coastal disctricts are; Antalya, Gazipaşa, Alanya, Manavgat, Serik, Kemer, Kumluca, Finike, Kale and Kaş. The height of these districts are 0-100 m above sea level.
The inner plateau districts; Gundogmus, Akseki, İbradı, Korkuteli and Elmali. The height of these districts are 900-1000 m above sea level.

Solar Eclipse

On March 29th, 2006 a total solar eclipse passed over Antalya which lasted almost 4 minutes. The centre line passed over the resorts of Side and Manavgat. A solar eclipse is a rare natural event that one can see maybe only once in a lifetime.

The previous total solar eclipse in Turkey occurred on August 11th, 1999, and was observed by hundreds of thousands of local and foreign people.

Website of the TUBITAK National Observatory in Antalya

Ancient Cities and Ruins in the Province

National Parks in this region include:

External links