Mersin

Mersin
Metropolitan municipality
Mersin Yenişehir shore to west
Mersin Location of Mersin within Turkey
Coordinates: 36°48′N 34°38′E / 36.800°N 34.633°E / 36.800; 34.633Coordinates: 36°48′N 34°38′E / 36.800°N 34.633°E / 36.800; 34.633
Country	Turkey
Region	Mediterranean
Province	Mersin
Government
• Mayor	Burhanettin Kocamaz (MHP)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total	955,106
Time zone	FET (UTC+3)
Postal code	33XXX
Area code(s)	(+90) 324
Licence plate	33
Website	Mersin

Mersin is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is part of an interurban agglomeration – the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area – and lies on the western part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical, and cultural region. The city was named after the aromatic plant Myrsine (in Greek Μυρσίνη) in the family Primulaceae, a myrtle that grows in abundance in the area (Turkish: mersin); the 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi wrote that there was also a clan named Mersinoğulları

Mersin is an important hub of Turkey's economy, and Turkey's largest seaport is located in the city. Mersin's nickname within Turkey is "Pearl of the Mediterranean" (Turkish: Akdeniz'in İncisi) and the city hosted the 2013 Mediterranean Games. Mersin is the provincial capital of the eponymous Mersin Province of Turkey.

As of 2014, the population of the city is 1,071,703.

This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang of the hill of Yumuktepe have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. Fortifications were put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 350 BC and 300 BC.

In subsequent centuries, the city became a part of many states and civilizations including the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids and Lagids. During the Ancient Greek period, the city bore the name Zephyrion (Greek: Ζεφύριον) and was mentioned by numerous ancient authors. Apart from its natural harbor and strategic position along the trade routes of southern Anatolia, the city profited from trade in molybdenum (white lead) from the neighbouring mines of Coreyra. Ancient sources attributed the best molybdenum to the city, which also minted its own coins.