Mardin Province

Template:Infobox Province TR 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.

History

Mardin comes from the Syriac word (ܡܪܕܐ) and means "fortresses".

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

File:Mardin districts.png

Mardin districts

File:View from Mardin to the Mesopotamian plains.jpg

View from Mardin to the Mesopotamian plains.

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

• Mardin (Central district, after 2014 it will be named Artuklu)
• Dargeçit
• Derik
• Kızıltepe
• Mazıdağı
• Midyat
• Nusaybin
• Ömerli
• Savur
• Yeşilli

External links

• Mardin Weather Forecast Information
• Pictures of the capital of this province
• Articles about the Syriacs and photos of Midyat
• Mardin photos
• Tourism information is available in English at the Southeastern Anatolian Promotion Project site.
• Mardin Travel Guide

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