Antakya

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Antakya (Antiokheia, Antakiya, [36°11′N 36°9′E]), located on the eastern side (left bank) of the Orontes River (in Turkish: Asi Nehri) about 20 miles from the sea, is the seat of Hatay Province, Turkey. It has a population of 144,910 (2000 census).

Contents

1 Features
2 Economy
3 History
4 External links

Features

With its rich architectural heritage, Antakya is a member of the Norwich-based European Association of Historic Towns and Regions [link]. Antakya Museum has the second largest collection of Roman mozaics in the world.

Economy

Antakya is still of considerable importance. It remains the centre of a large district, growing in wealth and productiveness with the draining of its central lake, undertaken by a French company.

History

Densely-built Antakya in 1912: the traditional Muslim city shows no trace of its Hellenistic planning. To the east, orchards (green) fill the plain.

''For historic Syrian Antioch, see Antioch on the Orontes.

In 1822 (as in 1872), Antakya was hit by an earthquake. When Ibrahim Pasha established his headquarters in the city in 1835, it had only some 5000 inhabitants. It was hoped that the city might develop thanks to the Euphrates valley railway, which was supposed to link it to the port of Suedia (now Samandağı). But such plans were doomed to come to naught. Instead, the city was struck by repeated outbreaks of cholera. In more recent times, the city did nevertheless develop and rapidly resumed much of its old importance when a railway was built along the lower Orontes valley.

After the WW1 and Turkish Independence War modern Turkey was created. The province of Alexandretta (later renamed "Hatay" by Turkey), including Antakya (Antioch), was incorporated into the French Mandate of Syria, since Sunni and Alawite Arabs constituted the largest ethnic element in the local population.

Turkey agitated for incorporation of the region into its own territory, citing the sizable Turkish minority, which it claimed were being mistreated. In 1938, as a step to ceding the province to Turkey, Turkey and France set up an "independent Republic of Hatay", whose government officials were drawn from the Turkish parliament. The following year, a referendum was orchestrated by the French and Turkish authorities in the newly-created state, with the result endorsing the Turkish annexation. This action by the French was in contravention of the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence of 1936, and contributed to the resignation of the nationalist government in Damascus, and escalated hostilities towards the French occupation of Syria.

External links

	Districts of Hatay
Antakya \| Altınözü \| Belen \| Dörtyol \| Erzin \| Hassa \| İskenderun \| Kırıkhan \| Kumlu \| Reyhanlı \| Samandağı \| Yayladağı

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