Gebze

Gebze
Town

Gebze centrum view of the sky
Gebze

Location in Turkey

Coordinates: 40°48′N 29°26′E / 40.800°N 29.433°E / 40.800; 29.433Coordinates: 40°48′N 29°26′E / 40.800°N 29.433°E / 40.800; 29.433
Country  Turkey
Region Marmara
Province Kocaeli
Government
 • Mayor Adnan Köşker (AKP)
Area[1]
 • District 584.45 km2 (225.66 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
 • Urban 304,283
 • District 319,307
 • District density 550/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Postal code 41400
Website www.gebze.bel.tr

Gebze (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈɟebze], ancient names: Dakibyza and Libyssa, Λίβυσσα in Ancient Greek) is a district in Kocaeli Province, Turkey. It is situated 30 miles east of Istanbul, on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara. Gebze is the second largest district in Kocaeli after İzmit, the provincial centrum in terms of population. Gebze has experienced rapid growth in recent years, from 159,116 residents in 1990 to 299,047 in 2011.

History

In 183 BC, Hannibal, the Carthaginian leader generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, committed suicide in the ancient port city of Libyssa (present-day Diliskelesi in Gebze) on the Sea of Marmara rather than face capture by the Romans, his greatest enemy.

Geography

The district of Gebze is located in the westernmost portion of Kocaeli Province, with neighbors Tuzla to the west; Pendik, northwest; Şile, north; and Körfez, to the east. The district includes 6 municipalities (Gebze, Darıca, Çayırova, Dilovası, Şekerpınar, and Tavşancıl) and 22 villages (Ahatlı, Balçık, Cumaköy, Çerkeşli, Demirciler, Denizli, Duraklı, Elbizli, Eskihisar, Hatipler, Kadıllı, Kargalı, Köseler, Mollafenari, Muallimköy, Mudarlı, Ovacık, Pelitli, Tavşanlı, Tepecik, Tepemanayır (Tepepanayır), and Yağcılar).

The northern terminus of the proposed Izmit Bay Bridge will fall within this area; the project—having a total length of 4 kilometers (with a 1,688-meter main span)—will bridge the Sea of Marmara from Kababurun to Dilburnu.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Gebze is twinned with:[3]

In November 2014, the Garowe Municipality in northeastern Somalia announced that it was slated to meet with the Gebze Municipality in order to finalize a sister city agreement between Gebze and Garowe.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  2. ↑ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. 1 2 "Somalia: Garowe to clinch Sister City Partnership with Turkey's Gebze". Garowe Online. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gebze.
 
Largest cities or towns in Turkey
TÜİK's address-based calculation from December, 2013.[1]
Rank Name Province Pop. Rank Name Province Pop.

Istanbul

Ankara		 1 Istanbul Istanbul 13,820,334 11 Kayseri Kayseri 880,255
İzmir

Bursa
2 Ankara Ankara 4,474,305 12 Eskişehir Eskişehir 670,544
3 İzmir İzmir 2,828,927 13 Gebze Kocaeli 582,352
4 Bursa Bursa 1,769,752 14 Şanlıurfa Şanlıurfa 551,511
5 Adana Adana 1,645,965 15 Denizli Denizli 540,000
6 Gaziantep Gaziantep 1,465,019 16 Samsun Samsun 523,192
7 Konya Konya 1,138,609 17 Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş 458,628
8 Antalya Antalya 1,027,551 18 Adapazarı Sakarya 449,290
9 Diyarbakır Diyarbakır 906,013 19 Malatya Malatya 425,000
10 Mersin Mersin 898,813 20 Erzurum Erzurum 381,104
  1. ↑ "December 2013 address-based calculation of the Turkish Statistical Institute as presented by citypopulation.de".
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