Ayvalik District is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Balikesir.
It's alternatively called by the town's formerly indigenous Greek population, although the use of the name Ayvalik's widespread for centuries among both the Turks and the Greeks.
Today, Ayvalik and the numerous islets encircling the bay area are popular holiday resorts. The most important and the biggest of these islets is Cunda Island that's connected to Lale Island, and thence to the mainland, by a bridge built in the late 1960s. This's the first and currently the oldest surviving bridge in Turkey that connects lands separated by a strait.
In September 1998, an international music academy was established in Ayvalik where students receive master-instructed classes for violin, viola and cello. It brings together students from all over the world and gives them a precious opportunity to work with distinguished masters of their branch.
USA-based Harvard University and Turkey's Koc University have established a joint project in Cunda Island of Ayvalik and run a Harvard-Koc University Intensive Ottoman & Turkish Summer School every summer.
Ayvalik's two of the longest sandy beaches of Turkey which extend as far as the Dikili district of Izmir nearly 30 km. in the south. These're the Sarýmsakli and Altinova beaches.
In recent years Ayvalik's also become an important point of attraction for scuba divers with its underwater fauna.
Ayvalik and its environs are famous for the highly appreciated quality of olive oil production.
Today, the population of Ayvalik's close to 30,000, which significantly increases during the summer due to tourism. Ayvalik's also close to Bergama which is another important attraction for tourists with its ruins, dating back to antiquity.