Mersin Province

Mersin Province , formerly İçel Province , is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of Akdeniz, Mezitli, Toroslar and Yenişehir metropolitan municipalities, followed by Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. The province is considered to be a part of the geographical, economical and cultural region of Çukurova, which covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay.

The province is named after its biggest city Mersin. Mersin was named after the aromatic plant genus Myrsine in the family Primulaceae, a myrtle that grows in abundance in the area. The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi has recorded in his Seyahatnâme that there was also a clan named Mersinoğulları in the area.

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