Mersin Province
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Mersin Province Mersin ili |
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|---|---|
| Province of Turkey | |
 Location of Mersin Province in Turkey |
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| Country | Turkey |
| Region | Mediterranean |
| Subregion | Adana |
| Government | |
| • Electoral district | Mersin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 15,853 km2 (6,121 sq mi) |
| Population (2010-12-31) | |
| • Total | 1,647,899 |
| • Density | 100/km2 (270/sq mi) |
| Area code(s) | 0324 |
| Vehicle registration | 33 |
The Mersin Province (Turkish: Mersin ili) is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region, that covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay.
As of 1933, there were two separate provinces, namely İçel and Mersin, on the territory of today's Mersin Province when the Mersin Province was abolished and merged with the İçel Province but the seat of the latter was moved from Silifke to Mersin. In 2002, the province's name was changed from İçel to Mersin but the province retained the license plate number of 33, İçel having been the 33rd in the alphabetical order of Turkish province names.
87% of the land area is mountain, leading up to the rocky heights of the central Taurus Mountains, the highest peak is Medetsiz (3,584 m) in the Bolkar range, and there are a number of important passes over to central Anatolia. There are many high meadows and small plains between 700 and 1500m.
The coastal strip has many large areas of flatland, formed from soil brought down by rivers and streams running off the mountains. This is fertile land, the largest area being the plain of Tarsus. The largest rivers are the Göksu and the Berdan (aka Tarsus, Cydnus of antiquity), but there are many small streams running into lakes, reservoirs or the Mediterranean sea. Mersin has 321 km of coastline, much of it sandy beach. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean; very hot and very humid in summer, warm and wet in winter; the winter rains can be very heavy and flooding is a problem in many areas, but it never snows on the coast, although there is snow in the high mountain areas.
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