İçil was the name of a sanjak (a former administrative unit until 1921) in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Nomenclature

During the

, İçil was a

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

(an administrative unit smaller than

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

and larger than

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

) in south Turkey. It roughly corresponded to

Cilicia Trachaea Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

of the antiquity. İçil literally means "inner territory". Although it borders the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, the

Toros Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a ...

, which are mostly impassable (except for the Sertavul Pass), may be the reason of the name, was first documented in the 12th century by Sejukid Turks. They used the name only for the

Göksu River The Göksu River (), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as the Calycadnus and in the Middle Ages as the Saleph, is a river on the Taşeli, Taşeli Plateau in southern Turkey. Its two sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northern in t ...

valley. But soon it became the name of a wider territory. According to an official map drawn by

Vital Cuinet Vital-Casimir Cuinet, commonly known as Vital Cuinet (December 19, 1833 in Longeville – September 6, 1896 in Constantinople, now Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting th ...

the east border of İçil was Alata River and the west border was an unidentified river just to the east of

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

(may be

Dim River Dim River () is a Turkish river, located in the Alanya district of Antalya province. The source of the Dim River are the river systems in the highlands of Konya Province, with the river itself around 60 kilometres (37 mi) flowing westwards int ...

). The northern border followed the summit line of the mountains.

Kazas

According to

salname A salname (also called ''nevsal'') was an official annal of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. History The first salname was published in 1847. It was prepared by Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha and Hayrullah. It was sponsored by the ...

(annual) of Adana Vilayet, there were six kazas (districts, now called

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

) in the sanjak; namely,

Anamur Anamur is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,430 km2, and its population is 66,846 (2022). It is the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernm ...

Ermenek Ermenek is a town in Karaman Province in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Ermenek District.

Gülnar Gülnar is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,416 km2, and its population is 27,889 (2022). It is south-west of the city of Mersin. Geography The town of Gülnar is inland on a plain high in the Taurus Mo ...

, Karataş,

Mut Mut (; also transliterated as Maut and Mout) was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved greatly over th ...

, and

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

. Anamur was the current Anamur and

Bozyazı Bozyazı is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 642 km2, and its population is 26,812 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coast, west of the city of Mersin. Geography Bozyazı is a remote coastal district with ...

s (districts) of

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

with the addition of Selinti (

Gazipaşa Gazipaşa () is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,111 km2, and its population is 53,702 (2022). It is situated on the Mediterranean coast, 180 km east of the city of Antalya. Gazipaşa is a quiet ru ...

)

nahiye A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

(a smaller unit, now an ilçe in

Antalya Province Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...

); Ermenek, the capital of the sanjak till 1871 Ermenek governor's page
/ref> was the current Ermenek ilçe of

Karaman Province Karaman Province () is a province of south-central Turkey. Its area is 8,678 km2, and its population is 260,838 (2022). According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 30 people/km. The traffic code is 7 ...

; Gülnar was the current Gülnar and Aydıncık ilçes of Mersin Province; Karataş was the current

Erdemli Erdemli is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,279 km2, and its population is 151,928 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin. Geography Erdemli is located between the districts of Mezitli (to the east) a ...

ilçe of Mersin Province; Mut was the current Mut ilçe of Mersin Province and Silifke was the current Silifke ilçe of Mersin Province. Except for Gazipaşa and Ermenek İçil was the west part of the current Mersin Province. As a result of administrative reforms, Ermenek was separated from the sanjak in 1919 and Gazipaşa in 1926.History guide
/ref>

Republican era

During the Republican era, the second ''i'' in ''İçil'' underwent a change and İçil became ''İçel''. In the early years of the Republic, İçel was an il (province) and its capital was Silifke. But in 1933, the İçel İl and Mersin İl (to the east) were merged. İçel was kept as the name of the whole il. But the capital of the province was Mersin. In 2002, the name of İçel was replaced with that of

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

References

{{Authority control History of Mersin Province Sanjaks of Ottoman Anatolia 1921 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire