The Port of Mersin (Turkish: Mersin Limanı), aka Mersin International Port (MIP), is a major port located on the north-eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea at Mersin in southern Turkey. It is the country's largest port. Owned by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), its operating right is transferred on May 11, 2007 to PSA – Akfen consortium for a period of 36 years.
The port's rail connection brings heavy freight train traffic to Mersin, via the Adana-Mersin Main Line. The railway infrastructure within the Port of Mersin is one of the best in Turkey with Derince. There are 4 railway ramps. Containers can be handled without any need of shunting. 5 of the berths has railway connection, where loading/unloading to/from vessels can be done directly.
The port has bulk cargo, container, Ro-Ro and oil terminals.
Mersin is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is part of an interurban agglomeration – the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area – and lies on the western part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical, and cultural region. According to the 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi, the city was named after the Mersinoğulları clan; another theory is that its name originates from the myrtle (Turkish: mersin) which grows abundantly in the region.
Mersin is an important hub of Turkey's economy, and Turkey's largest seaport is located in the city. Mersin's nickname within Turkey is "Pearl of the Mediterranean" (Turkish: Akdeniz'in İncisi) and the city hosted the 2013 Mediterranean Games. Mersin is the provincial capital of the eponymous Mersin Province of Turkey.
As of 2014, the population of the city is 1,071,703.
This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang of the hill of Yumuktepe have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. Fortifications were put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 350 BC and 300 BC.
Mersin is an electoral district of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. It elects eleven members of parliament (deputies) to represent the province of the same name for a four-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system.
Population reviews of each electoral district are conducted before each general election, which can lead to certain districts being granted a smaller or greater number of parliamentary seats. Mersin elected 12 members until the most recent election in 2011, when the number of seats was dropped to eleven.
Coordinates: 36°45′N 34°00′E / 36.750°N 34.000°E / 36.750; 34.000