Asia. Islands off Caria. Cos. Tetradrachm, magistrate Nestoridas circa 350-345, AR 15.14 g

Caria (/ˈkɛəriə/; from Greek: Καρία, Karia; Turkish: Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia.^[1] The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian mainlanders and they called themselves Caria because of the name of their king.^[2] He reports the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in seafaring and were akin to the Mysians and the Lydians.^[2] The Carians spoke Carian, a native Anatolian language closely related to Luwian. Also closely associated with the Carians were the Leleges, which could be an earlier name for Carians.

Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns is based entirely on ancient sources.^[3] The multiple names of towns and geomorphic features, such as bays and headlands, reveal an ethnic layering consistent with the known colonization.