Kemer 7.01

Kemer is a seaside resort and district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 40km west of the city of Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera.Kemer is on the Gulf of Antalya, 53km of sea coast with the skirts of the western Taurus Mountains behind. The coast has the typical Mediterranean hot, dry weather and warm sea. Until the early 1980s this was a quiet rural district but today the town of Kemer and coastal villages in the district play a very important part in tourism in Turkey.HistoryKemer was the ancient Greek city Idyros, member of the Lycian League, which after the Ottoman era was called Eski Köy until a 23km long stone wall was built in 1916 - 1917 to channel the mountain stream water and protect the town from flooding, which until then had been a persistent problem. The name Kemer refers to those walls.Until the 1960s there was no road connection and the district was accessible only by boat. Then a road was built and from the 1980s onwards this was followed by a great investment in infrastructure, planned by the state and funded by the World Bank, aimed at developing a large tourist industry.DemographicsThe district has a population of 36,010 according to the 2010 census. The town itself has 20,785 inhabitants. Kemer has 4 municipalities (Beldibi, Çamyuva, Göynük, Tekirova) and 4 villages.The population of the towns and villages (municipality names are embolded) are shown in the table below: