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Mardin Province

Mardin Province ({{lang- (İn Aramic: ܡܶܪܕܺܝܢ :[(fortresses)]Merdīn, İn Arabic: مردين}}) is a province of Turkey with a population of 779,850.{fact source needed} The population was 835,173 in 2000^[1]. The capital of the Mardin Province is Mardin. Located near the traditional boundary of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, it has a diverse population with a Arabic majority in provinces Mardin, Midyat, Yeşilli, Savur, Ömerli and significant minorities of Kurds, Syriacs and Turks. And with a Kurdish majority in provinces Kızıltepe, Nusaybin, Derik, Mazıdağı, Dargeçit and significant minorities of Arabs, Syriacs and Turks.

The local Syriac Christian community, while much reduced due to the results of the Syriac Genocide, supports 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 is competitive between the governing moderate-Islamist Justice and Development Party and Kurdish nationalist Democratic People's Party, and the True Path Party has some strength, especially in rural parts of the province.^[2] The area was the scene of bitter fighting between the Turkish Army and the Kurdistan Workers' Party for much of the 1970s and 1980s.

Unemployment and poverty are serious problems, and there has been considerable out migration to western and southern Turkey, although the reduction in political violence, 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 is an Aramaic word (ܡܶܪܕܺܝܢ) and means "fortresses".

Districts

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

• Dargeçit
• Derik
• Kızıltepe
• Mardin
• Mazıdağı
• Midyat
• Nusaybin
• Ömerli
• Savur
• Yeşilli

References

External links

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

Coordinates: 37°21′47″N, 40°54′31″E