Turkey / Cities and Towns / City in southern Turkey with 180,000
inhabitants (2003 estimate), near the mouth of the Orontes
River, 40 km from the Mediterranean Sea and 20 km northwest of
the Syrian border. It is the capital of the Hatay Province with
1.3 million inhabitants (2004 estimate). The economy of Antakya
is mainly based upon the agriculture of the region, producing
mainly wheat, cotton, grapes, rice, olives, vegetables and
fruit, especially melons. The industries in Antakya include
cotton ginning, smaller processing plants, the production of
silk, soap, leather goods (especially shoes) and knives.
Anktakya is well-connected with other urban centres by road.
Iskenderun is 60 km north, Adana 250 km northwest and Aleppo,
Syria 110 km east. Antioch (Antakia) was an extremely important
city during Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times, both with
its economy and in its political importance. It was divided into
three urban zones. In addition to Antioch, there was Daphne,
laid out as a wealthy residential a