Gaziantep, previously and as still used informally; Antep), is the capital city of Gaziantep Province in Turkey. The city has two central districts under its administration, Şahinbey and Şehitkamil, and the metropolitan area has a a total population of 1,931,836 (2015) and an area of 2,138 km².
Known by the ancient Greeks and the Romans as Doliche or Dolichenus (Turkish: Dülük), and by the Arabs, Seljuks, and Ottomans as ʿAintab or Aïntab, officially named Gaziantep since February 8, 1921, the city today is the sixth largest in Turkey and the largest city in Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region.
History
Antiquity
Gaziantep is the probable site of the Hellenistic city of Antiochia ad Taurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). The ruins of the Doliche (Turkish: Dülük) lie a few kilometers to the north of the city center and they are located in the natural setting of a forest arranged into a recreational area also including picnic and camping facilities.
Gaziantep is one of the most developed provinces of the region and is also one of the oldest, its history reaching as far back as the Hittites. Being the center of pistachio cultivation in Turkey and with its extensive olive groves and vineyards, Gaziantep is one of the important agricultural and industrial centres of Turkey.
In the center of the city stands the Gaziantep Fortress and the Ravanda citadel as reminders of past. The Archaeological Museum, with its important collections from Neolithic and the Hittite ages as well as the Roman and Commagene times, attracts many visitors. A recent addition to the Museum's riches is the Roman mozaics discovered in Zeugma. The surroundings of the city are also full of valuable Hittite remains. The Hasan Süzer House, which has been restored to its original state, now houses the Ethnographical Museum. Yesemek Sculpture Workshop, 30 kilometers south of the town of Islahiye, is one of the world's first of this kind. Some of the other historical remains are the Zeugma (called also Belkıs in Turkish), and Kargamış ruins by the town of Nizip and slightly more to the north, Rumkale.
Ottoman period
In the Ottoman period, Aintab was in the eyalet of Aleppo (vilayet after 1864).
