Finike

{{Infobox Turkey place

| type = metro district

| name = Finike

| image_skyline = Port de Finike.JPG

| image_caption = Port of Finike

| image_map = Antalya location Finike.svg

| map_caption = Map showing Finike District in Antalya Province

| coordinates = {{coord|36|18|N|30|09|E|region:TR|display=inline,title}}

| province = Antalya

| leader_party = CHP

| leader_name = Mustafa Geyikçi

| leader_name1 =

| area_total_km2 = 768

| elevation_m = 3

| population_footnotes =

| population_total = 49720

| population_as_of = 2022

| postal_code = 07740

| area_code = 0242

| website = {{url|http://www.finike.bel.tr/}}

}}

Finike ({{IPA|tr|feˈnice|lang}}), the ancient Phoenix or Phoinix ({{langx|grc|Φοῖνιξ}}),{{Cite DARE|27793}} also formerly Phineka,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mqg9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA520|title=A Gazetteer of the World: Or, Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge|volume=4|page=520|year=1859|access-date=January 12, 2015}} is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey.[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 8 June 2023. Its area is 768 km²,{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=22 May 2023}} and its population is 49,720 (2022).{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=22 May 2023|publisher=TÜİK|language=en|format=XLS}} It lies on the Mediterranean coast of Antalya Province in Turkey, to the west of the city of Antalya, along the Turkish Riviera. It is located on the southern shore of the Teke peninsula, and the coast here is a popular tourist destination. However, Finike is best known for its oranges, the symbol of the town.

History

For centuries Finike, then named Phoenix or Phoinix ({{lang|grc|Φοῖνιξ}}) was a port town of ancient Lycia, near the mountain of the same name.{{Cite Barrington|65}}{{Cite DARE|27793}} It was a trading port and the main port of Limyra, the capital city of Lycia. Phoenix was said to have been founded by Phoenicians in the 5th century BC, and thus named after its founders.

The area has been inhabited for much longer than that; archaeologists have found evidence near the town of Elmalı showing that the Teke peninsula has been settled since 3000 BC (although on the coast nothing has been uncovered dating before 2000 BC).

Trade along the coast was established first by the Persians, who relinquished Lycia to the armies of Alexander the Great. However, the coast was always vulnerable to forces from Syria, Egypt and Rhodes until it was brought within the empire of the Ancient Romans and the succeeding Byzantines. Even then the Byzantines were threatened by the Arabian armies coming from the Arabian Peninsula. The Battle of the Masts between the Arab and Byzantine fleet took place near Finike in 654. Eventually the area was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the 13th century. These were succeeded by the Ottoman Empire from 1426.

The town was inhabited by Greeks prior to the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey.{{cite book|author=Nicholas Doumanis|title=Before the Nation: Muslim-Christian Coexistence and Its Destruction in Late-Ottoman Anatolia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aKtgGZYim-gC&pg=PA39|date=22 November 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-954704-3|pages=39–}}

Composition

There are 26 neighbourhoods in Finike District:[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023.

Akçaalan
Alacadağ
Arif
Asarönü
Boldağ
Çamlıbel
Dağbağ
Ernez
Eski
Gökbük
Gökçeyaka
Hasyurt
İskele
Kale
Karşıyaka
Kızılca
Kum
Sahilkent
Saklısu
Salur
Turunçova
Yalnız
Yazır
Yeni
Yeşilköy
Yeşilyurt
Yuvalı

Climate

Finike has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),{{Cite journal |title=Table 1 Overview of the Köppen-Geiger climate classes including the defining criteria. |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02549-6/tables/1 |journal=Nature: Scientific Data |language=en}} with very hot, muggy, virtually rainless summers, and mild winters with heavy rain.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| collapsed = yes

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Finike (1991–2020)

| Jan high C = 16.3

| Feb high C = 16.7

| Mar high C = 19.0

| Apr high C = 22.2

| May high C = 26.4

| Jun high C = 31.3

| Jul high C = 34.5

| Aug high C = 34.8

| Sep high C = 31.7

| Oct high C = 27.3

| Nov high C = 22.2

| Dec high C = 17.9

| year high C = 25.1

| Jan mean C = 11.5

| Feb mean C = 12.0

| Mar mean C = 14.1

| Apr mean C = 17.1

| May mean C = 21.2

| Jun mean C = 25.8

| Jul mean C = 28.8

| Aug mean C = 29.1

| Sep mean C = 25.8

| Oct mean C = 21.5

| Nov mean C = 16.7

| Dec mean C = 13.0

| year mean C = 19.8

| Jan low C = 7.8

| Feb low C = 7.9

| Mar low C = 9.4

| Apr low C = 12.1

| May low C = 16.0

| Jun low C = 20.0

| Jul low C = 22.9

| Aug low C = 23.3

| Sep low C = 20.1

| Oct low C = 16.5

| Nov low C = 12.4

| Dec low C = 9.4

| year low C = 14.9

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 208.92

| Feb precipitation mm = 144.17

| Mar precipitation mm = 79.48

| Apr precipitation mm = 47.91

| May precipitation mm = 21.37

| Jun precipitation mm = 8.75

| Jul precipitation mm = 1.91

| Aug precipitation mm = 1.86

| Sep precipitation mm = 14.49

| Oct precipitation mm = 71.36

| Nov precipitation mm = 129.08

| Dec precipitation mm = 236.32

| year precipitation mm = 965.62

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 10.7

| Feb precipitation days = 8.3

| Mar precipitation days = 6.3

| Apr precipitation days = 4.1

| May precipitation days = 2.7

| Jun precipitation days = 1.3

| Jul precipitation days = 1.5

| Aug precipitation days = 1.5

| Sep precipitation days = 1.9

| Oct precipitation days = 4.4

| Nov precipitation days = 6.1

| Dec precipitation days = 10.3

| year precipitation days = 59.1

| Jan humidity = 67.7

| Feb humidity = 66.8

| Mar humidity = 66.5

| Apr humidity = 67.1

| May humidity = 67.3

| Jun humidity = 62.3

| Jul humidity = 59.6

| Aug humidity = 60.3

| Sep humidity = 61.1

| Oct humidity = 63.4

| Nov humidity = 64.7

| Dec humidity = 68.0

| year humidity = 64.6

| Jan sun = 142.3

| Feb sun = 158.1

| Mar sun = 212.8

| Apr sun = 247.9

| May sun = 297.7

| Jun sun = 339.2

| Jul sun = 362.8

| Aug sun = 336.6

| Sep sun = 286.7

| Oct sun = 242.3

| Nov sun = 176.6

| Dec sun = 135.2

| year sun = 2920.8

| source = NOAA{{cite web

|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Finike_17375.csv

|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Finike

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = January 15, 2024}}

}}

Demographics

File:Cape Adrasan and the Riviera of Finike by Piri Reis.jpg]]

The district has a population of 49,720 (2022). The town itself has 21,765 inhabitants.{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/antalya/finike/977__finike/|title=Finike|website=citypopulation.de|access-date=13 June 2023}}

Finike today

File:Finike hafen.jpg

The local economy depends on agriculture, particularly oranges and other citrus fruits. This is supplemented by income from tourism in the summertime, although because of the lucrative orange production and the distance from Antalya, Finike has not seen the large-scale tourism boom that has so radically changed the other coastal districts of Antalya. Finike is a quiet district where people buzz around on mopeds going about their daily lives. Indeed, many of the visitors that Finike does attract are retired people in search of relaxation. That's mostly because of the construction policy of 1980. That policy made the land more suitable for investment in agriculture rather than in hotels, luxury apartments and other tourist attractions.

A type of pale limestone is quarried at Limyra, and sold as a decorative building material. It is cream colored with a homogeneous structure. Moreover, it is extremely light and that makes it ideal for building walking alleys and streets where only light vehicles pass by. The geologist classify the Limura limestone as with medium density.[http://cheap-holidaystoturkey.com Turkey Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111060105/http://cheap-holidaystoturkey.com/ |date=2012-01-11 }}

The port of Finike is now a yacht marina, and has a small fishing fleet. The coast is rich in marine life, including sea turtles, and fish, including local specialities red porgy (Sparidae) and grouper (Epinephelus); other fish found along the coast include leerfish (Carangidae) and the more widespread Mediterranean varieties such as bluefish, sea bream, sea bass, with swordfish, sardines and others found further out to sea. However, the coast suffers from overfishing, and many varieties, including the porgy, are in decline.

The beaches of Finike are an important nesting ground for Caretta caretta sea turtles, and the rocky parts of the coast are used by the rare Mediterranean monk seal.

Places of interest

The ruins of Limyra are to be seen three miles east of the Finike, they consist of a theatre, tombs, Sarcophagi, bas-reliefs, Greek and Lycian inscriptions, etc.
The ancient city of Arycanda, in a narrow valley off the road to Elmalı.
The ruins of Trysa with a carved frieze depicting Theseus, on the road to Kaş.
The small village of Turuncova, hidden in a small valley of Taurus Mountains, has preserved its traditional lifestyle and culture.
The cave of Suluin.
Wreck of a Phoenician merchant ship from about 1200 BC in Cape Gelidonya

There are doubtless many more places of antiquity that need to be restored.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20100309204929/http://finikecumhuriyetcpl.k12.tr/ Finike CPL]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060424114249/http://www.antalyacity.info/finike.php Information On Finike]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110105062128/http://www.seturmarinas.com/finike_eng.aspx Setur Finike Yacht Marina]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071018145618/http://finike.web.tr/ a local information website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080130142531/http://www.finike-meb.gov.tr/ Finike MEM]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080122080214/http://www.finike-hem.gov.tr/ Finike HEM]