Çiçek Islands is an island group in the

Gulf of İzmir The Gulf of İzmir (), formerly known as the Gulf of Smyrna, is a gulf on the Aegean Sea, with its inlet between the Karaburun Peninsula and the mainland area of Foça. It is in length by in breadth, with an excellent anchorage. The city of İz ...

, Turkey, located off the coast of Urla. The island group includes Akça,

İncirli Island İncirli is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Keçiören, Ankara Province, Turkey. Its population is 30,440 (2022). The Yunus Emre Avenue is the main road in the neighbourhood. It is bordered by Etlik Etlik is a neighbourhood in ...

, Pırnarlı Island,

Yassıca Island Yassıca Island (, literally, "flat island") is an island in the Gulf of İzmir, Turkey. Sometimes the island is also called ''Alman Adası'' ("German's Island"). The island is a part of the Urla ilçe (district) of İzmir Province. Its distance ...

, Arap Islets, and Körtaş Islets. Çiçek Islands are considered as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

Geography

The island group includes Akça,

, Pırnarlı Island,

, Arab Islets, and Körtaş Islets. It is located in the

, off the coast of Urla.

Geology

Çiçek Islands were formed during the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

geological period.

Flora and fauna

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the holly oak, also (ambiguously, as many oaks are evergreen) evergreen oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the section (botany), section ''List of Quercus species#Section Ilex, Il ...

'', ''

Quercus coccifera ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak or commonly known as Palestine oak, is an oak shrub or tree in section '' Ilex'' of the genus. It has many synonyms, including ''Quercus calliprinos''. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern ...

'', ''

Pistacia lentiscus ''Pistacia lentiscus'' (also lentisk or mastic) is a dioecious evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus '' Pistacia'' native to the Mediterranean Basin. It grows up to tall and is cultivated for its aromatic resin, mainly on the Greek isl ...

'', ''

Phillyrea latifolia ''Phillyrea'' is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related ...

'', ''

Arbutus unedo ''Arbutus unedo'', commonly known as strawberry tree, also called madrone, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe. The tree is well known for its fruits, the arbutus berr ...

'', and ''

Olea europea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...

'' are the most common plants on the island group. It houses a significant amount of

Caspian gull The Caspian gull (''Larus cachinnans'') is a large gull and a member of the herring and lesser black-backed gull complex. The scientific name is from Latin. ''Larus'' appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird, and ''cachinnans'' ...

s (''Larus cachinnans''). For this reason, it is considered as an

. It also hosts the

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the A ...

(Monachus monachus).

Economy

The islands, which are uninhabited, are important destinations for daily tourism. There are

fish farms Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of aquat ...

off the shores of the islands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicek Islands Archipelagoes of Turkey Islands of İzmir Province Gulf of İzmir Urla District Important Bird Areas of Turkey

Geography

Geology

Flora and fauna

Economy

See also

References