{{other uses}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2008}} {{Infobox Turkey place | type = metro district | name = Malkara | image_skyline = | image_caption = | image_map = Tekirdağ location Malkara.svg | map_caption = Map showing Malkara District in Tekirdağ Province | coordinates = {{coord|40|53|36|N|26|54|15|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | province = Tekirdağ | leader_party = CHP | leader_name = Nergiz Karaağaçlı Öztürk | leader_name1 = | area_total_km2 = 1243 | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/> | population_total = 50988 | population_as_of = 2022 | postal_code = 59300 | area_code = 0282 | website = {{url|https://www.malkara.bel.tr/}} }} '''Malkara''' ({{langx|el|Μάλγαρα, Malgara}}) is a municipality and district of Tekirdağ Province, Turkey.<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706215822/https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx |date=2015-07-06 }}, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.</ref> Its area is 1,243&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (the largest in Tekirdağ Province),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref> and its population is 50,988 (2022).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=19 September 2023|publisher=TÜİK|language=en|format=XLS}}</ref> It is located at 55&nbsp;km west of Tekirdağ and 190&nbsp;km from Istanbul. The mayor is Nergiz Karaağaçlı Öztürk (CHP).

==Climate== Malkara experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: ''Csa''),<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Table 1 Overview of the Köppen-Geiger climate classes including the defining criteria. |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02549-6/tables/1 |journal=Nature: Scientific Data |language=en}}</ref> with hot, dry summers, and chilly, rainy, somewhat snowy winters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kar Örtülü Gün Sayısı |url=https://www.mgm.gov.tr/FILES/resmi-istatistikler/parametreAnalizi/2022-ortalama-kar-ortulu.pdf |website=MGM}}</ref>

{{Weather box | width = auto | collapsed = yes | metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Malkara (1991–2020) | Jan high C = 7.6 | Feb high C = 9.1 | Mar high C = 12.4 | Apr high C = 17.5 | May high C = 23.1 | Jun high C = 27.9 | Jul high C = 30.4 | Aug high C = 30.8 | Sep high C = 26.2 | Oct high C = 20.0 | Nov high C = 14.3 | Dec high C = 9.1 | year high C = 19.1 | Jan mean C = 3.8 | Feb mean C = 4.8 | Mar mean C = 7.6 | Apr mean C = 12.0 | May mean C = 17.2 | Jun mean C = 21.7 | Jul mean C = 24.1 | Aug mean C = 24.3 | Sep mean C = 20.0 | Oct mean C = 14.8 | Nov mean C = 9.9 | Dec mean C = 5.4 | year mean C = 13.8 | Jan low C = 0.6 | Feb low C = 1.3 | Mar low C = 3.6 | Apr low C = 7.2 | May low C = 11.9 | Jun low C = 16.0 | Jul low C = 18.2 | Aug low C = 18.5 | Sep low C = 14.8 | Oct low C = 10.7 | Nov low C = 6.3 | Dec low C = 2.3 | year low C = 9.3 | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 74.73 | Feb precipitation mm = 72.53 | Mar precipitation mm = 72.05 | Apr precipitation mm = 47.68 | May precipitation mm = 46.41 | Jun precipitation mm = 49.35 | Jul precipitation mm = 25.48 | Aug precipitation mm = 12.69 | Sep precipitation mm = 46.42 | Oct precipitation mm = 76.56 | Nov precipitation mm = 82.38 | Dec precipitation mm = 100.85 | year precipitation mm = 707.13

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 8.0 | Feb precipitation days = 7.9 | Mar precipitation days = 7.5 | Apr precipitation days = 6.4 | May precipitation days = 5.7 | Jun precipitation days = 5.2 | Jul precipitation days = 2.8 | Aug precipitation days = 2.2 | Sep precipitation days = 4.1 | Oct precipitation days = 5.5 | Nov precipitation days = 6.3 | Dec precipitation days = 9.2 | year precipitation days = 70.8

| Jan humidity = 81.3 | Feb humidity = 78.9 | Mar humidity = 75.6 | Apr humidity = 70.9 | May humidity = 68.6 | Jun humidity = 65.2 | Jul humidity = 61.5 | Aug humidity = 61.5 | Sep humidity = 66.3 | Oct humidity = 74.7 | Nov humidity = 79.3 | Dec humidity = 81.4 | year humidity = 72.1 | source = NOAA<ref name="WMONormals">{{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Malkara_17634.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Malkara |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = January 16, 2024}}</ref> }}

==History== In antiquity, Malkara was known as Syracellae. In the Byzantine period, the city was known in Greek as Megale Karya (Μεγάλη Καρύα), whence the Ottoman name Magalkara.<ref>{{cite book | title = Tabula Imperii Byzantini | volume = 12 | page = 523 | publisher = Austrian Academy of Sciences Press | year = <!-- 2008 --> | author = <!-- Andreas Külzer --> }}</ref>

Once the area had been brought under Ottoman control it was settled with Turks from Anatolia and a Turkish town emerged which thrived supplying the Ottoman cavalry regiments. Malkara was then used as a place of exile for those out of favor in the Ottoman court including:

* Hacı Evhat – personal tutor to Suleiman the Magnificent, who exiled Evhat in 1524 when he did not like the lessons * Koca Sinan Pasha – statesman and Grand Vizier, exiled for four years here after the failure of his campaign against Persia in 1580 * Melek Ahmed Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1650–51 * Boynuyaralı Mehmed Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1656 * Bekri Mustafa Pasha – Grand Vizier, 1688–89

The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi described Malkara as a tidy, hard-working town of 150 houses of tiled roofs noted for production of honey, cheese, and leather.

At the end of the 18th century Malkara was the scene of an uprising by the Janissary troops in protest against plans by Sultan Selim III to replace them with a new model army.

Malkara was occupied by Russian troops in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, again by the Russians in The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and by the Bulgarians for 8.5 months during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. In the aftermath of the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, Malkara was reoccupied by Ottoman troops.

During World War II, the Greek part of Thrace was occupied by German and Bulgarian troops, and when Turkey was preparing for a possible entry into the war against the Axis powers, refugees from Greece were briefly housed in Malkara for their safety.

==Malkara today== Malkara is a small market town serving the countryside around it, which is mostly devoted to growing sunflowers for seeds and oil.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} There are also one or two coal mines.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Many of the people of Malkara originate in the Balkans{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} and are liberal- and secular-minded.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Composition== There are 77 neighbourhoods in Malkara District:<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706215822/https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx |date=2015-07-06 }}, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.</ref> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * Ahievren * Ahmetpaşa * Aksakal * Alaybey * Allıışık * Bağpınarı * Balabancık * Ballı * Ballısüle * Batkın * Bayramtepe * Camiatik * Çavuş Köy * Çimendere * Çınaraltı * Çınarlıdere * Danişment * Davuteli * Deliller * Demircili * Dereköy * Deveci * Develi * Doğan Köy * Dolu * Elmalı * Emirali * Esendik * Evrenbey * Gazibey * Gönence * Gözsüz * Güneşli * Hacıevlat * Hacısungur * Halıç * Hasköy * Hemit * Hereke * İbribey * İbrice * İshakça * Izgar * Kadiköy * Kalaycı * Karacagür * Karacahalil * Karaiğdemir * Karamurat * Kavakçeşme * Kermeyan * Kiremitlik * Kırıkali * Kozyürük * Küçükhıdır * Kürtüllü * Kuyucu * Mestanlar * Müstecep * Pirinççeşme * Sağlamtaş * Şahin * Sarıpolat * Sarıyar * Sarnıçköy * Sırtbey * Tekke Köy * Teteköy * Vakıfiğdemir * Yayla Köy * Yaylagöne * Yeni * Yenice * Yenidibek * Yılanlı * Yörücek * Yörük {{div col end}}

==Places of interest== The village of Yenidibek with its reservoir and ruined Byzantine castle is a popular picnic spot.

==Notable people== *Orhan Öztrak (1914–1995), politician

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Districts of Turkey|provname=Tekirdağ|image=Tekirdag}} {{Malkara District}}

Category:Malkara Category:Populated places in Tekirdağ Province Category:Former Greek communities in Turkey Category:Districts of Tekirdağ Province Category:Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey