The Gulf of Alexandretta forms the easternmost bay or inlet of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies beside the southern coast of Turkey, near its border with Syria. In antiquity, the adjacent Nur Mountains were usually thought to separate the regions of Cilicia and Syria, although Herodotus at one point places the division further south at Ras al-Bassit (the classical Posidium).
Pollution
There is a lot of heavy industry around Iskenderun Bay, including five cement factories, ten steel factories, and three coal-fired power stations: İsken Sugözü, Atlas and Emba Hunutlu. The mountains around the bay trap air pollution,[8] but because smokestack details are sent to the government unpublished, it is difficult to apportion responsibility for deaths and illnesses caused by air pollution in the area.[9] The water too is polluted by land-based, shipping and fish farming activities.[10]
^Gulf of Alexandretta can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-754985" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".