İzmir, often spelled Izmir in English, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara; and the second largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea after Athens.
As of the last 31/12/2019 estimation, the city of İzmir had a population of 2,965,900, while İzmir Province had a total population of 4,367,251. Its built-up area was home to 3,209,179 inhabitants extending on 9 out of 11 urban districts plus Menemen and Menderes largely conurbated. 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 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.