City (pop., 1997: 1,041,509), south-central Turkey, on the Seyhan River.
An agricultural and industrial centre and one of Turkey's largest cities, it probably overlies a Hittite settlement that dates from с 1400 BC. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 335–334 BC, it was later a Roman military station. It came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in1516. Adana's prosperity has long derived from the fertile valleys behind it and its position as a bridgehead on the trade routes connecting Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula.