History of Hatay is as long as the history of humanity. Its settlement became more evident with the transition of mankind from hunting to agriculture.

With the development of agriculture in the region, cities and settlement areas were built, and the highly civilized Turani tribe the Hattis from Central Asia were the first to settle in the region. They were followed by the Hittites, a Turanian tribe from central Asia. The best evidence for this fact is that the statue of Suppiluliuma, the last king of the Hittites, was uncovered in Hatay as a result of excavations made. Since there were thick forests in the region in the past, buildings and residential areas were generally made of wood. Being an extremely rich region, it was also exposed to external invasion and as a result, cities made of wood disappeared, leaving very little historical remains.

Following the death of Alexander the Great, Seleucus (Silig-os: Silig was the name of the son of a Turkish khan referred to in the Orhun monuments, meaning “Pure-Clean”, the equivalent of this name in today’s Turkish is Selçuk), whose mother was Turkish and who also bore the Turkish name, arrived in the region, within the scope of a city located in inner part of a fortress, became the head of the empire and founded the city of Antakya. Then, the region entered into reign of Persians, Sasanians, Byzantine, Abbasids, Tulunids, Ikhshidids, Hamdanids, Seljuqs, Crusaders and Mamluks.

However, during Egypt campaign of Selim I, known as Selim the Grim, the region was annexed to the Ottoman realm.In 1937, it was declared independent and the State of Hatay was established and then it joined the Republic of Turkey in 1939.