Hatay is a border province of Turkey located at the eastern end of the country’s Mediterranean Region between the mountains of Syria and Amanos Mountains. Surrounded by the Amanos Mountains running from north to southwest, Mount Kel (Keldag), and the Syrian plateaus, the province’s fertile Amik Plain skirts the heights in a long strip on the western side.
A Mediterranean climate prevails in Hatay; the summers are hot and dry and the winters are mild and rainy. There are extensive forests of predominantly juniper, oak, beech, cornelian cherry, poplar, and plane; in addition, there are also many areas of maquis thick with myrtle, laurel, oregano, and lavender.
The province’s chief sources of water are the Asi, Afrin and Karasu rivers. Two dams, the Tahtaköprü Yarseli, store water for irrigation purposes.
Hatay is an inexhaustible treasure-house of history and a centre of civilization. Trie evidence of the earliest setdement extends back as lar as the Epipaleolithic Period 40.000-9.000 BC and can be seen in the caves found in Samandag - Cevlik, Antakya-Senkoy and Yayladag-Ucagizli. From 9000 BC onwards, Hatay was controlled successively by the Akkadians, the Hurrians, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Persians, the
Macedonians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Byzantines, the Seljuks, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans. In 1939, it became a province of the Republic of Turkey.
Transportation
Hatay is easily accessible from all parts of Turkey by car or busses. It is also possible to reach Hatay by sea or railway transport. There is a railway station and a harbour in iskenderun.
Camping and picnic grounds
There are plenty of areas in Hatay that are suitable for camping or just to spend a day outdoors enjoying the beauty of the countryside and its nature: in iskenderun, Belediye Tourist Camping, Karaagac Camping, and Gulcihan Camping; in Samandag, Beskardesler Camping and Batiayaz (Teknepmar) Plateau; in Erzin, Ormanici Park; in Reyhanli, Yenisehir lake; in Belen, Guzelyayla (Sogukoluk), Sarimazi, Nergizlik and Atik; in Dortyol, Kuzuculu and Yayladagi. Fishing and hunting are also possible.
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