[is-ken-duh-roon] 
| 1. | Formerly, Alexandretta. a seaport in S Turkey, on the Gulf of Iskenderun. 79,291. |
| 2. | Gulf of, an inlet of the Mediterranean, off the S coast of Turkey. 45 mi. (72 km) long; 28 mi. (45 km) wide. |
| Al·ex·an·dret·ta (āl'ĭg-zān-drět'ə) See Iskenderun. |
Alexandretta
seaport and chief city of Iskenderun ilce (district), Hatay il (province), southern Turkey, located on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Iskenderun. It lies on or near the site of Alexandria ad Issum, founded to commemorate Alexander the Great's victory over Darius III at Issus (333 BC). The port was an outlet for the medieval and early modern overland trade from Iran, India, and eastern Asia, before the development of alternate shipping routes around the Cape of Good Hope and later through the Suez Canal. Traditionally, it was the port for the Ottoman province of Aleppo, now in Syria, and in 1918-37 it served as the capital of the autonomous sancak (subdivision of an Ottoman province) of Alexandretta under French mandate
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