Çanakkale Province (Turkish: Çanakkale ili) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the town of Çanakkale.
Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The European part is formed by the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) peninsula, while the Asian part is largely coterminous with the historic region of Troad in Anatolia. They are separated by the Dardanelles strait, connecting the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea.
The archaeological site of Troy is found in Çanakkale province.
In the early Turkish Republic, Çanakkale became into existence with the abolition of Biga's and Gelibolu's flags and the Canak villages, locating between Biga and Gallipoli, declearatin of province. According to a population census in 1927, Çanakkale had just 8,500 inhabitants, except its neighbouring villages. It is recorded that Çanakkale which was also called as "Hellespontos" and "Dardanelles" in ancient times, has accommodated to a lot of civilizations for about 3000 years. Even the Archaic Troy (Troia) city, where was governed by Lydians and destroyed by the devastating eathquake in 2500 BC, has ruins in today. In 336 BC, Persian Empire which became the crucial power in Anatolia and was conducted by Alexander the Great that aimed to extend ancient Greek all over the world, was defeated. Also with the ruin of the Anatolian beylik of Karesi, the most part territory of Canakkale was conquered in the Ottoman era, with the assistance of the castles in remuneration for helping to Byzantine Empire, locating Gelibolu. Afterwards, the Canakkale strait was given to the Ottoman Empire.