[1] Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale to the west, İzmir to the southwest, Manisa to the south, Kütahya to the southeast, and Bursa to the east.

Balıkesir province is famous for its olives, thermal spas, and clean beaches, making it an important tourist destination.

The Kaz mountains are also threatened with the expansion of gold mining using cyanide which puts the villagers' lives, the agricultural economy, and tourism at risk.

[3]Balıkesir is home to a number of natural attractions, including Kuş Cenneti (bird sanctuary) National Park; the bays of Erdek, Bandırma, and Edremit; Ayvalık's coastal beaches; Şeytan Sofrası, Marmara Islands, Alibey (Cunda) Island; the Erdek and Gönen open-air museums; Pamukçu-Bengi, Balya Dağ, Hisar, Hisarköy (Asarköy), Karağaç (Uyuz), Kepekler hot springs, Dutluca Village mineral springs, and Zeytinli Ada hot springs and mineral water springs.

Edremit, Burhaniye, Gömeç and Ayvalık are the districts which are popular for their beaches, located in the Aegean coast of the Balıkesir; Marmara Island, Erdek, Gönen and Bandırma are the districts that are located on the Marmara coast of Balıkesir.

Around the Gulf of Edremit in Balıkesir province are some of the coastlines where encircled by clear waters and sandy beaches and silvery green olive groves.

[citation needed] Şeytan Sofrası (Devil's Table), so called because it is set on a tableshaped hill formed from lava, offers a panoramic view over the 22 islands in Ayvalık Bay.

Balıkesir and its districts, besides the wealth of thermal resources, have healing waters with reputed physical and chemical compositions.

Some of these thermal resources located in; Pamukçu, Kiraz, Edremit-Güre, Edremit-Bostancı, Edremit-Derman, Gönen, Gönen-Ekşidere, Manyas-Kızık Köy, Susurluk-Kepekler, Balya-Dağ, Bigadiç-Hisarköy, Sındırgı-Hisaralan, Sındırgı-Emendere and Dursunbey-Aşağımusalar Village.

One of the most known is Selman Akbulut the Turkish mathematician, specializing in research in topology, and geometry and which is a student of Robion Kirby.

The biggest industrial enterprises are Arı-Turyağ, Limak-Set Çimento, BEST, Mar-Tük, İşbir, Kula, Tellioğlu, Bu Piliç and Yarış Kabin which are among the first thousand factories in Turkey as of 2008.

Wheat, sunflowers, sugar beets, and other vegetables in a front tomato and bean plantations have dense products.

It is also a destination for both domestic and foreign tourists, who use it as a base to explore the near countryside, especially nearby Mount Ida (Kaz Dağı).

The largest global borax deposits known, many still untapped, are in Central and Western Turkey, including the provinces of Eskişehir, Kütahya and Balıkesir.

Turkey produces about half of the global yearly demand with the known deposits which possesses 72% of the world.

Balıkesirspor is the football team played in the Süper Lig after achieving promotion having finished as runners-up of the TFF First League in 2013–14.

Hıdrellez is a kind of Newroz or Spring New Years.The Liberation Day from the enemy occupation of Balıkesir is on the 6th of September 1922, which every year is celebrated as a local holiday.

The TülüTabaklar show which is an important event unique to the city, is when people dressed up as the TülüTabaklar who were local heroes that resisted the enemies for 14 months during the Turkish War of Independence, as they were tanners and would dress up in goat or sheepskin with horsetails, chimney soot, bells and staff in order to present a frightening appearance.

[17][18] The Remembrance Day of Local Combat is called Kuvayi Milliye Haftası in Turkish which is organized between 16–23 May.

The great success with 41 Balıkesirer people met at Alaca Mescit and they have managed the region such as a state and gained a military victory in 1922.

Traditional folk dancers in Balikesir Balıkesir's local cheese, called Kelle Peyniri, is known in European countries and exported France, Germany and Britain.

Many old Turkmen dishes (like keşkek, güveç, tirit, mantı, kaymaklı) are composed of Balıkesir cuisine.

Akpınar, Mendili Oyaladım, Karyolamın Demiri are some ballads sing by women surround Balikesir city.

Balıkesir's local dance came to first in Nice folk festival joined 21 countries at 1958 be of value by European academical folklore authorities.