Ondokuzmayıs

Ondokuzmayıs

19 Mayıs or Ondokuzmayıs, or its former name Engiz, which is still common among the public, or its former official name Ballıca, is a district of Samsun province. The district is located on the Samsun - Sinop highway, 37 km west of Samsun and 17 km east of Bafra. Bafra is located in the west of the district, Atakum and the Black Sea are in the east, the Black Sea is in the north, and Atakum and Bafra are in the south. According to TÜİK's Address Based Population Registration System report dated December 31, 2022, the population of the district is 26,898 people. With this population, 19 Mayıs is the tenth most populated district of Samsun and the 511th most populated district of Turkey. With a surface area of 234 km², the district is the smallest district of Samsun in terms of surface area after İlkadım and Yakakent. 19 Mayıs, which became a district in 1987, took its name from Mustafa Kemal Pasha's arrival in Anatolia from Samsun on 19 May 1919 and the start of the Turkish War of Independence. 19 Mayıs is one of the three districts in Turkey that takes its name from history, along with Balıkesir's Altıeylül and Kahramanmaraş's Onikişubat districts, and unlike these districts, it is the only district that has a number in the writing of its name. There was a port town called Naustathmos in the Kumcağız neighborhood, located close to the current center of the district, during the Roman period. In Flavius Arrianus' book Periplus Ponti Euxini, written in 130-131, it is briefly stated that from this town there is a distance of ninety stadiums (17 km) from the Halys River to Naustathmus, which is a swamp. It was mentioned as. The name Naustathmos was probably used from 30 BC to 640 AD. The town is mentioned as Nautagmus in the Tabula Peutingeriana. This settlement was located in the Bithynia and Pontus provinces of the Roman Empire at that time. The geography where the district is located was part of the Armenian Theme during the Byzantine Empire. The district, which joined the Turkish lands in the 13th century, was within the borders of the Pervâneoğulları Principality at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. After the dissolution of this principality, it remained under the rule of the Canik principalities until the mid-15th century. The district was included in the territory of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-15th century and was included in the Canik Sanjak of the Rum Province. In the 19th century, it was connected to Trabzon Province. With the Organization of Provinces Regulation in 1864, the provinces were abolished and replaced with provinces, and it was located within the borders of the Bafra district of the Canik Sanjak of the Trabzon Province. 19 Mayıs, which remained within the borders of Canik province (its name was changed to Samsun in 1924) after the declaration of the Republic, was a town connected to Bafra and Samsun. The district, which was known as Engiz after it came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century until 1961, was named Ballıca that year and became a township (district) on the grounds that Engiz was Greek. On February 28, 1970, Ballıca was given municipal status. In the first local elections held in Ballıca in 1973, the CHP candidate became the first elected mayor of Ballıca with 57.12% of the votes. Ballıca was elevated to district status with the name 19 Mayıs with the "Law on the Establishment of 103 Districts" numbered 3392, published in the Official Gazette on July 4, 1987. Thus, 19 May became the ninth district of Samsun, along with Asarcık, Salıpazarı and Tekkeköy, which became districts with the same decision. Within the scope of the law, 22 villages from Bafra and 13 villages from the central district of Samsun were connected to 19 May. In the following years, some villages were reconnected to Bafra and the newly established Atakum districts.