İnsanlar tarih boyunca, yerleşmelerin kuruluşyerlerini seçerken seçici davranmışlar, kolay yaşayabilecekleri alanlarıtercih etmişlerdir. Özellikle ılıman iklim şartlarına sahip, su kaynaklarının ve verimli tarım topraklarının bulunduğu kolay ulaşılabilen alanlara yerleşmişlerdir. Türkiye’de bulunan köylerin kuruluşyerlerini büyük oranda coğrafi arazi potansiyelleri belirlemiştir. Köyler kurulduklarıyerin farklıcoğrafi özelliklerine göre bir takım avantaj ve dezavantajlara sahip olmaktadır. Türkiye’de vadi içerisinde kurulmuşolan köylerin sahip olduğu bazıcoğrafi avantajlar, nüfusu bu alanlara çekmiştir. Özellikle vadi içerisindeki köylerde ulaşım imkânlarının iyi olması, içme ve sulama suyu kaynaklarının bulunması, iklim şartlarının elverişli, verimli tarım topraklarının varlığı, bu alanlarda zirai faaliyetlerin yoğunlaşmasına sebep olmuştur. Bütün bu elverişli şartlardan ötürü vadi içerisindeki köyler eskiden beri yerleşmenin ve nüfuslanmanın yoğunlaştığıalanlar haline gelmiştir. Bu makalede, yerleşmenin ve nüfuslanmanın eskiden beri yoğun olduğu alanlardan biri olan Silifke’de Göksu Vadisi’nde, yer alan köy yerleşmelerinin beşeri coğrafya özellikleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma sahasında Bükdeğirmeni, Ekşiler, Evkafçiftliği, İmambekirli, Karahacılı, Karakaya, Kargıcak, Keben, Ortaören ve Senir olmak üzere 10 köy yerleşmesi bulunmaktadır. Araştırma sahasındaki köylerin toplam yüzölçümü 205,24 km2olup, ilçenin toplam yüzölçümünün 2 945,5 km2 % 7’sine tekabül etmektedir. Vadi içerisinde yer alan 10 köyün 2008 yılı toplam nüfusu 3 583’tür. İlçe genelinde bulunan toplam nüfusun % 3,2’si, kırsal nüfusun ise % 5,8’i Göksu Vadisi’nde yer alan köylerde yaşamaktadır. Araştırma sahasındaki köy yerleşmelerinin beşeri coğrafya özelliklerini ortaya koymak için nüfus miktarları, nüfus artışhızları, göçler, nüfusun cinsiyet yapısı, nüfusun medeni durumu, hane halkıbüyüklüğü, nüfusun eğitim durumu, nüfusun sağlık durumu, nüfus yoğunlukları aritmetik, fizyolojik, tarımsal nüfus yoğunlukları incelenmiş, bulunan değerler Silifke ilçe değerleriyle karşılaştırılarak; araştırma sahasının ilçe nüfusundaki yeri ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır. Bunun yanında köylerin mesken tipleri ve köylere bağlımahalle sayılarıaraştırılarak, yerleşme özellikleri ortaya çıkartılmaya çalışılmıştır.

The part of Göksu valley, forming the study area within the boundaries of Silifke, is on the northwest of the district center. The area of the research that begins with Mut-on the west-extends over the center of Silifke. The mountains encircle Göksu Valley both on the west and east in the research area. The most significant mountains of these are Hisar Mountain and Gedik Mountain. These mountains bound to Middle Toros Mountains are corroded by Göksu River and become canyon valleys. There are ten villages in the research area. These are Bükdeğirmeni, Ekşiler, Evkafçiftliği, İmambekirli, Karahacılı, Karakaya, Kargıcak, Keben, Ortaören and Senir. Furthermore, there are 17 neighborhoods and settlements that bound to these villages. The villages in the valley form 13,5% of all villages and the neighborhoods form the 11,3% of all the neighborhoods in the district. The total area of the villages in the research field is 205,24 km2 and it constitutes 7% 2 945,5 km2 of the total area of the district. The villages in the research field were built on a line along Göksu Valley and seven of them on the South and three of them are on the North of the mountains that border the valley. So, exposure is the important factor of determining the places where the villages founded. Agricultural activities have started in the villages that founded in Göksu Valley where transportation facilities are good, drinking and irrigation water resources are abundant, the climate is milder than the surrounding areas and the land is productive and this has increased the settlement rate and the concentration of the population. Total population of 10 villages located in the valley was 3 583 in 2008. 3,2% of the total population and 5,8% of the rural population in Silifke lives in Göksu Valley. The population didn’t show a balanced distribution in the research field. While Keben 714 and Senir 549 are the most populous villages, Ortaören 132 and Ekşiler 134 are the least populous villages in the research field. The population of the villages in the research field tends to increase. While the total population in the villages was 3 497 in 2007, this number increased to 3 583 in 2008. The population in the valley increased by 2,5% compared to the previous year. However, the increase did not take place at the same rate in any village. While the population decreases in Evkafçiftliği 7,4% and Keben 4,4% , it increases in Kargıcak 20,9% and Bükdeğirmeni 10,6% at high rates. Migration that arises mostly economic reasons in the research field is also due to the desire to live in better conditions, education, natural disasters and compulsory situations. As the area between Ekşiler and Karakaya was expropriated with the beginning of studies and projects started in Kayraktepe under the name of HES in the 1980s. The people had lived in this area had to emigrate the district centre or other villages. In addition to this, flooding of Göksu River in 2004 caused migration due to the cancellation of residence permit of some homes. Distribution of population according to sex is balanced in research field. In total population 1789 49,9% of the people are male, 1794 50,1% of them are female in the valley. 1000 women correspond to 997 men in the research area. This rate is 1006‰ in Silifke. There are 2 796 people that are 15 years old and over in the research field. 69,8% of the population at the age of marriage is married, 19,4% of them is not married, 9,4% of widowed and 1,4% of them was divorced. While 66,4% of the population in Silifke is married, 25% had never married, 5,8% of is widowed, 2,8% of was divorced. There are 774 homes in the villages in Göksu Valley. The number of the houses in the valley is equal to 4,2% of the all houses which are in the rural area of the district. Largeness of the families in the research area changes family to family. For example: The largeness of the family is 5,7 in Bükdeğirmeni, whereas 38, in Ekşiler. While 87,2% of the population is literate, 9,8% is illiterate. Education status of 3% of the people is unknown. Totaly, the number of the women who is illiterate is more than the number of the men in all villages in the research area. Kargıcak, Keben and Senir are the only villages that have elemetary schools among the other 10 villages in the research area. While education is normal in the elementary school in Kargıcak and Keben, Senir Elementary Schools give education in multigrade classes. Totaly, 419 students are studying and 18 teachers are working in these schools and these schools have 24 classrooms. The most important health foundation is Keben Village Clinic. There is a medical officer, a nurse and 3 midwives in the Village Clinic. However, there isn’t any doctor. Although the most important problem is lack of doctor, 534 first step examination were did in the Village Clinic in 2008. 17,5 people correspond to per km in the villages in the research field. However, this consistency isn’t at same rate in any villages. While 59,5 people correspond to per km in Bükdeğirmeni, 6,3 people correspond to per km in Evkafçiftliği. Physiological population density is 87,5 people to per km in the research field. As topography is slopped and damaged in the research field, agricultural areas are small and pieced. This situation increased the physiological population density. Agricultural population density is 24,7 people/per km in the villages of valley. Although there are 10 villages in the research area, there are 17 neighborhoods and settlements. This situation brings out that the villages show poor settlement features. Transhumance that is one of the most significant activity of the hamlets has a considerable role in the research area. Especially, Hakça Plateau and Gelin Plateau were in demand for settlement