Izmir
Port and naval base in Turkey; population (2003 est) 2,398,200. It is Turkey's second-largest seaport and its third-largest city; its exports include tobacco, cotton, carpets, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Products include steel, electronics, textiles, tobacco, cement, petrochemicals, and plastics. The largest annual trade fair in the Middle East is held here. It is the headquarters of North Atlantic Treaty Organization SE Command, and a base for the Turkish fleet.
History
The city was settled during the Bronze Age (3000
BC), was colonized (
c.1000
BC) by Ionians, and destroyed by the Lydians in 627
BC. It was rebuilt on a different site in the early 4th century
BC by Antigonus I, and became one of the largest and most prosperous cities of Asia Minor, vying with Ephesus and Pergamum as the region's first city. It was destroyed by
Tamerlane 1402 and became Turkish 1424. It was developed in the 16th century as an international trading centre, much of its trade gained at the expense of Venice. It was occupied by the Greeks 1919 but retaken by the Turks 1922; in the same year it was largely destroyed by fire.
| The city suffered greatly from severe earthquakes in 1928 and 1939. |
