Geography

Sebil is a part of Çamlıyayla

Çamliyayla

Çamlıyayla is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The district has a population of 10.558 out of which 3335 lives in the town of Çamlıyayla.Çamlıyayla is a small district high in the Taurus Mountains...

 district which in turn is a part of Mersin Province. Distance between Sebil and Çamlıyayla is 6 km (3.7 mi). Sebil is located on southern slopes of Toros Mountains at 37°08′N 34°34′E. The average altitude is about 1100 metres (3,608.9 ft). The country about Sebil is chiefly formed of conglomerate

Conglomerate (geology)

A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...

 and limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. Just west of the town there is a canyon

Canyon

A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

, approximatelly 400 metres (1,312.3 ft) deep. The canyon had been formed by the rivulet Cehennem Deresi which is a tributary of Berdan River

Berdan River

The Berdan River, also called the Tarsus River , is a river in Mersin Province, south Turkey. The historical city of Tarsus is by the river.- Geography :...

. The population of the town is 2403 as of 2010

History

Five centuries ago the nomadic Oghuz Turks

Oghuz Turks

The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

 (also called Yörük

Yörük

The Yorouks, also Yuruks or Yörüks are immigrants, ultimately of Thracian descent,some of whom are still nomadic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia and partly Balkan peninsula...

) used this location as their summer camps (so called yayla) . They called the location Sebil meaning free (i.e., no rent for the camp). In later years observing the winter was not harsh, eventually they chose the area as their permanent settlement.
Sebil was declared a township in 1972.

Economy

Sebil produces fresh fruits and vegetables. A secondary economic acrivity is animal husbandry

Animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....

. Domestic tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

in the canyon also seems promising with challenging tracking courses and game animals in the dense forest.