Caria ( /ˈkɛriə/; from Luwian: Karuwa, "steep country"; Ancient Greek: Καρία, Karia) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there. The eponymous inhabitants of Caria were known as Carians, and they had arrived in Caria before the Greeks. They were described by Herodotos as being of Minoan descent, while the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in seafaring and were akin to the Mysians and the Lydians. The Carians did speak an Anatolian language, which does not necessarily reflect their geographic origin, as Anatolian once may have been widespread. Also closely associated with the Carians were the Leleges, which could be an earlier name for Carians or for a people who had preceded them in the region and continued to exist as part of their society in a reputedly second-class status.
Read more about Caria: Municipalities of Caria, Pre-Hellenic States and People, Sovereign State Hosting The Greeks, Lydian Province, Persian Satrapy, Macedonian Kingdom, Roman Province, Dissolution Under The Byzantine Empire and Passage To Turkish Rule