Caramania

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Karamania (or Caramania) was an exonym used by Europeans for the southern (Mediterranean) coast of Anatolia, then part of the Ottoman Empire (current Turkey). It can also refer to the general south central Anatolian region, whose name is reflected on the modern town of Karaman. It is also the namesake of the larger Karaman Province of Turkey, the historical Karaman Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, the medieval Turkish Karamanids dynasty and state from the region, and the Karamanlides, a Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christian group originally from the area.

==Francis Beaufort and the Term Karamania== In 1811–12, Francis Beaufort, then the captain of in the British Navy, was tasked with mapping the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia. In 1817, he published a book about his services, titled Brief description of the south coast of Asia-Minor and of the remains of antiquity. With plans, views, & collected during a survey of that coast, under the orders of the Lords commissioners of the Admiralty, in the years 1811-1812. In the preface of the book he called the southern coasts of Anatolia as Karamania but he added that although the name was a common name among the Europeans, neither the people nor the government of the Ottoman Empire used this name.