Aydın Province () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and

metropolitan municipality A metropolitan municipality is a municipality established to serve a metropolitan area. Canada In generic terms and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government with partial or complete consol ...

of southwestern

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 ...

, located in the

Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

. Its area is 8,116 km², and its population is 1,148,241 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

. Other towns in the province include the summer seaside resorts of

Didim Didim is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Aydın Province, Turkey. Its area is 424 km2, and its population is 97,000 (2022). It is a popular seaside holiday resort on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of western Turkey, from t ...

and Kuşadası.

Geography

Neighboring provinces are

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

to the north east,

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

to the north,

Denizli Denizli is a city in Aegean Region, Aegean Turkey, and seat of the province of Denizli Province, Denizli. The city forms the urban part of the districts Merkezefendi and Pamukkale, Denizli, Pamukkale, with a population of 691 783 in 2024. Denizl ...

to the east,

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the district of Menteşe, Muğla, Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of ...

to the south. The central and western parts of the province are fertile plains watered by the largest river in the Aegean region the

Büyük Menderes River The Büyük Menderes River ("Great Meander", historically the Maeander or Meander, from Ancient Greek: Μαίανδρος, ''Maíandros''; ), is a river in southwestern Turkey. It rises in west central Turkey near Dinar before flowing west thr ...

, with the Aydın Mountains to the north and the Menteşe Mountains to the south. The western end of the province is the Aegean coast with Lake Bafa a major feature of the Menderes delta area. The climate is typical of the Aegean region, very hot in summer. The Germencik region contains a number of hot springs.

Districts

Aydın province is divided into 17

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Flora

Much of the countryside is a mix of fig, olive and citrus trees, especially figs.

Economy

The major sources of income are agriculture and tourism.

Tourism

The coastal towns of

and Kuşadası in particular are tourist resorts. Kuşadası is near to the Dilek Peninsula - Büyük Menderes Delta National Park, while Didim has a temple of Apollo, beaches, and the ancient ruins of

Miletos Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and e ...

nearby. The province contains archeological sites, including the ancient Carian cities of Alinda and Alabanda.

Agriculture

Aydın is Turkey's leading producer of

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

and exports dried figs worldwide. The very name by which the fruit was called in the world markets was "Smyrna figs" until recently, due to the preponderance of figs exported from

over other species of the genus. But İzmir got the name by being the center for the wholesale trade and exports, while in fact the fruit was traditionally cultivated in Aydın. The term used within Turkey is "Aydın figs" (). Turkey's yearly production of roughly 50,000 tons of dried figs, is almost all from Aydın, Within Aydın province, the best figs are reputed to be grown in Germencik. Aydın produces olives from the varieties of Memecik, Manzanilla, and Gemlik, as well as chestnuts, cotton, citrus fruits, water melons and other fruits. Orange and tangerine cultivation has increased in Aydın in recent years.

Industry

Aydın has some light industry Adnan Menderes University was built in the city of Aydın in 1990s and has branches throughout the province.

Places of interest

The city of Aydın has a number of antique ruins and Ottoman period mosques. The province's countryside and scenery include a stretch of the Aegean coast and a number of historic sites including: *

coastal resort with large temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and nearby **

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

ruins of an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city *** Ilyas Bey Complex, a cultural heritage of Turkey built in 1403 * Kuşadası coastal resort, near to the Dilek Peninsula - Büyük Menderes Delta National Park * Kirazli - a traditional Turkish village with old stone houses * Alinda - ancient ruins * Harpasa - ancient city in Nazilli and Arpaz Castle, also known as Arpaz Beyler Mansion. * Alabanda - ancient ruins * Magnesia ad Maeandrum - ancient ruins, on the Ortaklar- Söke road in Germencik * Nysa - another ruined Carian city, in Sultanhisar * Aphrodisias - more ancient ruins, including tombs, friezes and sculpture, in Karacasu *

Priene Priene (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called the Büyük Menderes Rive ...

- another ruin, near Söke * Mycale Mountains

Culture

Aydın is the home of the Zeybek folk art. This involves a special type of war dance which is performed in a ring to resemble birds. The Zeybek is performed to sounds of the Kiteli and other Turkish folk instruments. The folk songs of Aydın are famously short, indeed a popular saying in the Aegean region to get someone to stop talking, is ''Keep it short, make it an Aydın tune''. The cuisine features the typical Turkish pastries, Aegean cuisine (vegetable dishes with olive oil), köfte and

kebab Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, sometimes with vegetables an ...

Transport

Roads

İzmir to

motorway, Motorway O-31, was built in the 1990s and is the city's main thoroughfare. An extension of this motorway to

is currently under construction, with longer-term plans to extend it to

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

Railway

There is a passenger train service passing through Aydın, connecting the city to İzmir and

. This passenger train runs five trains per day.Rail-Turkey TR - İzmir Denizli treni
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