İzmir

İzmir
İzmir
Location within Turkey
İzmir
Location within Europe
Coordinates: 38°25′28″N 27°07′56″E / 38.42444°N 27.13222°E / 38.42444; 27.13222
Country Turkey
RegionAegean
Provinceİzmir
Earliest known settlementc. 6500 BC (Yeşilova Mound in Bornova district)
Foundedc. 11th century BC (as ancient Smyrna)
Government
 • TypeMayor-council government
 • MayorCemil Tugay (CHP)
 • Municipal Council
184 members
Area
 • Urban
919 km2 (355 sq mi)
 • Metro
2,259 km2 (872 sq mi)
Elevation
2 m (6.6 ft)
Population
 • Urban
3,025,000
 • Urban density4,761/km2 (12,330/sq mi)
 • Metro
4,493,242
Demonym(s)English: Izmirian
Turkish: İzmirli
GDP
 • City 1,614 trillion
US$ 86 billion (2023)
 • Per capita₺ 361,046
US$ 15,369 (2023)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code
35xxx
Area code(+90) 232
Licence plate35
Websitewww.izmir.bel.tr
www.izmir.gov.tr

İzmir is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. As of 2025 end of year estimate, İzmir Province has a total population of 4,504,184 while İzmir city is home to around 3.5 million inhabitants. It extends along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir and inland to the north across the Gediz River Delta; to the east along an alluvial plain created by several small streams; and to slightly more rugged terrain in the south. İzmir's climate is Mediterranean.

İzmir has more than 3,000 years of recorded urban history, and up to 8,500 years of history as a human settlement since the Neolithic period. In classical antiquity, the city was known as Smyrna – a name which remained in use in English and various other languages until around 1930, when government efforts led the original Greek name to be forcefully phased out internationally in favor of its Turkish counterpart İzmir.

Lying on an advantageous location at the head of a gulf running down in a deep indentation, midway along the western Anatolian coast, İzmir has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the Mediterranean Sea for much of its history. Until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, İzmir had a very large Greek population. Present-day İzmir is an important port, and is home to multiple universities. It hosts the annual İzmir International Fair.