İzmit (also known as Kocaeli; previously known as Ismid or Isnikmid) is a city in the northwestern part of Anatolia, Turkey. It is located by the Gulf of İzmit, about 100 km east of İstanbul. It is the capital of Kocaeli Province. The city has a population of 195,699 (2000 census), compared with a pre-earthquake estimate of 210,000. Map of Turkey of CIA World factbook, bit smaller, with Izmit indicated with a red arrow File links The following pages link to this file: Izmit Categories: CIA World Factbook images ... Map of Turkey of CIA World factbook, bit smaller, with Izmit indicated with a red arrow File links The following pages link to this file: Izmit Categories: CIA World Factbook images ... Asia Minor lies east of the Bosporus, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. ... Shows the Location of the Province Istanbul The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) (a Turkish contraction of Greek εις την πολιν into the city, the former Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... Kocaeli is a province of Turkey. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Ä°zmit Earthquake with a magnitude of 7. ...

İzmit is an important industrial centre, with a large oil refinery, and major paper and cement industries. Ford Motor Company has a plant here in a joint venture with Otosan, assembling the Transit/Tourneo and Transit/Tourneo Connect vans. It is also a transportation hub, being located on the main road and rail lines between İstanbul and Ankara, and having a major port. The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo), NYSE: F is a multinational corporation that manufactures automobiles. ... Otosan stands for Otomobil Sanayi which is Turkish and means Automobile Industry ... The Ford Transit is a van produced by the European division of the Ford Motor Company. ... The Ford Transit Connect is a light-to-medium duty commerical vehicle developed by Ford of Europe, available with either panel van or MPV bodywork. ... Ankara from the Atakule Tower, looking N-NE. Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the countrys second largest city after Ä°stanbul. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ...

There is also tourism in the city and its region. There is a 16th-century mosque by Sinan. There are remains of the ancient walls and a Byzantine fortress. The thermal spa at nearby Yalova is well-known. Selimiye Mosque, built by Sinan in 1575. ...

In antiquity, the city was called Astacus or Olbia (founded 712 B.C.). After being destroyed it was rebuilt in 264 BC as Nicomedia, and it became the capital of the eastern Roman Empire until the founding of Constantinople. For a Greek place of this name, see Astakos Species Astacus astacus Astacus leptodactylus Astacus pachypus Astacus is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three species: Astacus astacus (Linnaeus, 1758), the noble crayfish, European crayfish, or broad-fingered crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823), the Danube... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 269 BC 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC 265 BC - 264 BC - 263 BC 262 BC... Nicomedes I of Bithynia founded the city of Nicomedia (modern Ä°zmit), at the head of the Gulf of Astacus (which opens on the Propontis), in 264 BC The city has ever since been one of the chief towns in this part of Asia Minor. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine... Map of Constantinople. ...

Constantine the Great died at a royal villa nearby. Hannibal committed suicide in a castle at nearby Libyssa (Gebze). The historian Arrian was born there. Constantine. ... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, 1510, Capitoline Museums, Rome Hannibal (from Punic, literally Baal is merciful to me, 247 BC – 183 BC) was a politician, statesman and considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. ... Gebze (classical name: Libyssa) is an industrial town in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. ... Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c 92-c 175), known in English as Arrian, was a Roman historian. ...

The earthquake of August 17, 1999 (magnitude 7.4) devastated the region, killing more than 17,000. The Ä°zmit Earthquake with a magnitude of 7. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ...

Sights in and around Izmit

• Agora of Izmit
• Citadel of Izmit
• Temple of Augustus of Izmit
• Izmit Bay Bridge

The Izmit Bay Bridge is a planned suspension bridge located at the eastern end of the Sea of Marmara, approximately 50 kilometers from Istanbul, Turkey. ...

External link(s)

• Official website of the Greater Municipality of Izmit (in Turkish)
• Informative site