|— Region of Turkey —|
|• Total||72,845 km2 (28,126 sq mi)|
|• Density||300/km2 ( 780/sq mi)|
The Marmara Region (Turkish: Marmara Bölgesi), with a surface area of 67.000 km², is the smallest but most densely populated of the seven geographical regions of Turkey. It represents approximately 8.6% of the Turkish national territory and about 30% of its population.
This region was officially put in existence after the Geography Congress of 1941 in Ankara and is geographically divided into four regional parts.
- Balıkesir Province
- Bilecik Province
- Bursa Province
- Çanakkale Province
- Edirne Province
- İstanbul Province
- Kırklareli Province
- Kocaeli Province
- Sakarya Province
- Tekirdağ Province
- Yalova Province
The Yıldız Mountains and Uludağ are in the Marmara Region. Islands in the Aegean Sea are Gökçeada and Bozcaada, and in the Sea of Marmara are Marmara Island, Avşa, Paşalimanı, İmralı and the Princes Islands of Istanbul.
|Climate chart (explanation)|
The Marmara region has a hybrid mediterranean climate/humid subtropical climate on the Aegean Sea coast and the south Marmara Sea coast, an oceanic climate on the Black Sea coast and a humid continental climate in the interior. Summers are warm to hot, humid and moderately dry whereas winters are cold and wet and sometimes snowy.
Although the first inhabitants of the Marmara region were various Indo-European tribes, the area is best known for being a focus of intense settlement by the inhabitants of ancient Greece. The famed city of Troy, center of the Iliad, was located in the region. It was also involved in the Persian wars, with various parts being split between the Persian Empire and the Delian League. The region was later conquered by the Roman Empire. After Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity, the region quickly became a center of the Christian faith. Its most important city, Constantinople, was a stronghold of the Christian Byzantine Empire even after Muslims took power in neighboring regions. The region remained predominately Christian until Muslim Turks invaded Anatolia in the late eleventh century. Afterwards, it was a territory of various Turkish and European principalities, until Constantinople was finally conquered by the Ottoman empire in 1453.
The region was also a major theatre of the First World War from 1914-1918, as the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers. The Allies in 1915 attempted to capture the Dardanelles straight by staging landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula, but the attacks failed and the troops, mostly ANZAC divisions, were forced to evacuate in January 1916.
- (Turkish) Golyaka Village, Bursa