Hatay Province (, ) is a
province in southern
Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. The administrative capital is
Antakya (Antioch), and the other major city in the province is the port city of
Iskenderun (Alexandretta). It is bordered by
Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of
Adana and
Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of
Çukurova (Cilicia), a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of
Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, and Hatay. There are border crossing points with Syria in the district of
Yayladagi and at Cilvegözü in the district of
Reyhanli. Sovereignty over the province remains disputed with neighbouring Syria, which claims that the province was separated from itself against the stipulations of the
French Mandate of Syria in the years following Syria's independence from the
Ottoman Empire after
World War I. Although the two countries have remained generally peaceful in their dispute over the territory, Syria has never formally renounced its rights to it. Its provincial capital is the city of Hatay.
