29 Facts About Izmir

Izmir is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name.

Izmir has over 3000 years of recorded urban history and up to 8500 years of history as a human settlement since the Neolithic period.

Politically, Izmir is considered a stronghold of Kemalism and the Republican People's Party .

Izmir's port is Turkey's primary port for exports in terms of the freight handled and its free zone, a Turkish-U.

Izmir hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1971 and the World University Games in 2005.

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In March 2008, Izmir submitted its bid to the BIE for hosting the Universal Expo 2015, but it was won by Milan, Italy.

Region of Izmir was situated on the southern fringes of the Yortan culture in Anatolia's prehistory, knowledge of which is almost entirely drawn from its cemeteries.

Izmir was adopted in English and most foreign languages after Turkey adopted the Latin alphabet in 1928 and urged other countries to use the city's Turkish name.

At the dawn of Izmir's recorded history, Pausanias describes "evident tokens" such as "a port called after the name of Tantalus and a sepulcher of him by no means obscure", corresponding to the city's area and which have been tentatively located to date.

Upper city of Izmir was captured from its Aydinid rulers by the Ottomans for the first time in 1389 during the reign of Bayezid I, who led his armies toward the five Western Anatolian Beyliks in the winter of the same year he had come to the throne.

In 1867, Izmir finally became the center of its own vilayet, still called by neighboring Aydin's name but with its own administrative area covering a large part of Turkey's present-day Aegean Region.

The beginning of the 20th century saw Izmir take on the look of a global metropolis with a cosmopolitan city center.

Today, it is not surprising that many inhabitants of Izmir look back with nostalgia to a cozier, more manageable city, which came to an end in the last few decades.

Catholic Levantines of Izmir, who are mostly of Genoese and to a lesser degree of French and Venetian descent, live mainly in the districts of Bornova and Buca.

Izmir once had a large Greek and Armenian community, but after the great fire of 1922 and the end of the Greco-Turkish War, many of the Christians remaining in the city fled or were transferred to Greece under the terms of the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Izmir has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, which is characterized by prolonged, hot, dry summers, and mild to cool, rainy winters.

Izmir has had three castles historically – Kadifekale, the portuary Ok Kalesi, and Sancakkale, which remained vital to Izmir's security for centuries.

International Izmir Short Film Festival is organized since 1999 and is a member of the European Coordination of Film Festivals.

Izmir's cuisine has largely been affected by its multicultural history, hence the large variety of food originating from the Aegean and Mediterranean regions.

Port of Izmir is Turkey's main port for exports in terms of the freight handled and its free zone is the leader among the twenty in Turkey.

Izmir has traditionally been a stronghold for the CHP, the centre-left Kemalist political party which forms the main opposition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Since the right-wing Justice and Development Party gained power in 2002, the electorate of Izmir has been notable for voting strongly in favour of the CHP in every general and local election.

The majority of the citizens in Izmir have continued to vote for the centre-left political parties, despite large-scale pledges by the AKP promising investment and new infrastructure.

Izmir has its own local media companies: there are 9 TV channels headquartered in Izmir and broadcasting in the Aegean Region, 26 local radio stations and 15 local newspapers.

Izmir'storically, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city was an educational center of the Greek world, with a total of 67 male and 4 female schools.

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Izmir is home to the third U S Space Camp in the world, Space Camp Turkey.

Izmir is served by domestic and international flights through the Adnan Menderes International Airport and by modern rapid transit systems serving the entirety of Izmir's metropolitan area.

Izmir has two historical rail terminals in the city center.

Izmir has a metro network that is constantly being extended with new stations being put in service.