South Coast (Eastern Mediterranean)
Situation and characteristics
The provincial capital of Adana, Turkey's fourth largest city (after Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir) and one of its most prosperous economic centers, lies in the southeast of the country in the
Cilician Plain (known today as the Çukurova or "Hole Plain", and in antiquity as Aleion Pedion) below the southern slopes of the Taurus. It is built on both banks of the Seyhan (the ancient Saros), which is spanned by a number of bridges, some of them ancient, and a railroad bridge.
The town draws its subsistence from the fertile plain which extends in the form of a delta towards the Mediterranean. Its situation near the "Cilician Gate", from time immemorial the principal pass through the Taurus, and also on the Baghdad railroad, were the chief stimuli to its economic development, as a result of which Adana has in recent years enjoyed an upswing in its economy (university since 1971) and a considerable increase in population. The principal sources of employment are food-canning and preserving factories, spinning- and weaving mills, engineering plants, cement works and rail workshops. The corn and cotton trades are also important (Cotton Exchange). As well as being very hot the climate is humid and unhealthy (malaria).
History
Human settlement in Adana reaches far back into pre-Christian times. The Hittite town of Ataniya may have been situated on Velican Tepe, a hill about 12km/7.5mi outside the town. Under the Seleucids the town was known as Antiocheia on the Saros. In Roman times Adana, then called by its present name, was overshadowed by the regional capital Tarsus. Its real development began under Ottoman rule and, even more markedly, under the Turkish Republic.
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