Mardin Province

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Mardin Province
Mardin ili
Province of Turkey
Location of Mardin Province in Turkey
Location of Mardin Province in Turkey
Country Turkey
Region Southeastern Anatolia
Electoral district Mardin
 • Total 8,891 km2 (3,433 sq mi)
Population (2010-12-31)[1]
 • Total 744,606
 • Density 84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Area code(s) 0482
Vehicle registration 47

Mardin Province (Turkish: Mardin ili, Arabic: محافظة ماردين‎) is a province of Turkey with a population of 744,606.[2] The population was 835,173 in 2000.[3] 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 by Turkish, Arab and Assyrian/Syriac people.


Mardin comes from the Syriac word (ܡܪܕܐ) and means "fortresses".[4][5]

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,[citation needed] 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.[6]

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.


Mardin districts
View from Mardin to the Mesopotamian plains.

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


  2. ^ Statistical Institute
  3. ^ Population of Mardin province
  4. ^ Lipiński, Edward (2000). The Aramaeans: their ancient history, culture, religion. Peeters Publishers. p. 146. ISBN 978-90-429-0859-8. 
  5. ^ Payne Smith's A Compendious Syriac Ditcionary,
  6. ^ Local election results, 2004

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 37°21′47″N 40°54′31″E﻿ / ﻿37.36306°N 40.90861°E﻿ / 37.36306; 40.90861