Edremit is a municipality and

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Balıkesir Province Balıkesir Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its area is 14,583 km ...

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 ...

. Its area is 682 km², and its population is 167,901 (2022). It is situated at the tip of the gulf with the same name ( Gulf of Edremit), with its town centre a few kilometres inland, and is an important centre of trade, along with the other towns that are situated on the same gulf (namely Ayvalık, Gömeç, Burhaniye and Havran). It is also one of the largest district centres of Balıkesir Province. The district of Edremit, especially around Kazdağı, is largely covered with forests. The mayor of Edremit municipality is Selman Hasan Arslan.

History

The modern city of Edremit is named after the ancient Greek city of Adramyttion () or Adramytteion (Ἀδραμύττειον), a city of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

on the coast of Aeolis which is near the modern city of Burhaniye. Tahtacı Turkmen, descendants of the army of Shah Ismail I, settled in the mountains near Edremit after their defeat in the

Battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran (; ) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia from Safavid Iran. It marked ...

in 1514. By 1819, Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn recorded that Edremit was only populated by "a few Greek fishermen". In 1912, the town had 6200 inhabitants, 1200 of which were

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. At this time, the district had 19 Greek schools and roughly 600 pupils. In May 1914, thousands of Muslim refugees who had fled from the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

arrived in the town of Edremit and proceeded to ransack the shops and homes of the town's Greek community. According to Arnold J. Toynbee, the Ottoman government armed and organised the refugees. Many Greek refugees found refuge in the town church before fleeing to the harbour where they were then granted passage to the nearby Greek island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. Turks continued to massacre or expel Greeks in the following months in surrounding villages as part of the wider Greek genocide throughout

. Amidst the Greek Summer Offensive of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, Edremit was seized by the Army of Asia Minor on 19 June 1920 and a Turkish

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

counterattack near the town was repelled. It remained under Greek control until their withdrawal in late August 1922, following which the entire region was recaptured by the Turks and all remaining Greeks fled or were killed by the Turkish army.

Composition

There are 47 neighbourhoods in Edremit District: * Akçay * Altınkum * Altınoluk * Arıtaşı * Atatürk * Avcılar * Beyoba * Bostancı * Çamcı * Camivasat * Çamlıbel * Cennetayağı * Çıkrıkçı * Cumhuriyet * Darsofa * Dereli * Doyuran * Eroğlan * Gazicelal * Gaziilyas * Güre * Güre-Cumhuriyet * Hacıarslanlar * Hacıtuğrul * Hamidiye * Hekimzade * İbrahimce * İkizçay * İskele * Kadıköy * Kapıcıbaşı * Kavlaklar * Kızılkeçili * Mehmetalanı * Narlı * Ortaoba * Pınarbaşı * Şahindere * Sarıkız * Soğanyemez * Tahtakuşlar * Turhanbey * Tuzcumurat * Yaşyer * Yaylaönü * Yolören * Zeytinli

Climate

Edremit has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csa''), with hot, dry summers, and cool, wet winters.

Notable people

* Germanos Karavangelis (1866–1935), Metropolitan Bishop of

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

and later Amaseia * Benjamin I of Constantinople (1871–1946), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople * Panos Dukakis (1896–1979), father of American politician Michael Dukakis * Sabahattin Ali (1907–1948), author and journalist *

Hülya Avşar Hülya Avşar (born 10 October 1963) is a Turkish-Kurdish actress, singer, businesswoman and former beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for numerous films and hit revenge series "Kadın İsterse". Her international roles include Safiye ...

(b. 1963), actress * Caner Erkin (b. 1988), professional footballer

Twin towns — sister cities

Edremit is twinned with: * Amaliada,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

since 2000 * Kamp-Lintfort,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

since 2009 * Erdenet,

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

since 2010 * Nicolosi,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

since 2010 Sister/Twin Cities of Balıkesir Province
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References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Pictures of the town of Edremit

Edremit Nerede Haritası
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edremit (District), Balikesir Seaside resorts in Turkey Aegean Sea port cities and towns in Turkey Populated places in Balıkesir Province Districts of Balıkesir Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Places of the Greek genocide