page_title: Konak, İzmir
section_title: Location and administration
hierarchical_section_title: Konak, İzmir / Location and administration
caption_attribution_description: English: Colorful stairs in Konak neighborhood
context_page_description: Konak is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the most densely populated of the eleven main urban districts of İzmir, and has historically acted as the administrative and economic core of the city. Situated in an area that roughly corresponds to the geographic center of İzmir, Konak extends for 11.4 kilometres along the southern coastline of the Gulf of İzmir. A long panhandle that the district area draws in the direction of the southwest, on the other hand, also covers a large rural area, mostly covered with mountains and forests, and two isolated villages. Konak district area neighbors the district areas of Bornova to the east, Balçova to the west and Buca and Gaziemir to the south, all of which are also among İzmir's metropolitan districts. Konak center is connected to other districts of İzmir and beyond by a dense network of roads and railroads, as well as by a subway line currently being largely extended and by ferry services to Karşıyaka. Konak is a very active hub of industry, trade, commerce and services, with the number of companies exceeding sixty thousand and its exports nearing two billion US Dollars in 2006.
context_section_description: The name "Konak" was previously used for İzmir's historic core neighborhood, as well as for its key central square (Konak Square – Konak Meydanı). For example, Karşıyaka along the opposing northern shore did not always consider itself as an integral part of İzmir, or in any case, had marking specificities and points of rivalry.
  Administrative history of Konak started in 1983–1984 when the steps towards the constitution of a Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir, itself divided into districts, were taken. In 1987, the territory of former district of central İzmir of was renamed the district of Konak (with the exception of its former dependency of Buca, which was turned into a separate district), and the name İzmir implies the entire metropolitan area since then. The municipality of Konak came into effect in full terms in July 1988.
  Konak district area starts at the tip of the Gulf of İzmir and follows the southern shoreline, covering such prominent neighborhoods of İzmir as, respectively from east to west, Alsancak with its international freight and passenger port, Konak Square proper and Kemeraltı and Çankaya bazaar areas and Kültürpark, where İzmir International Fair is held, immediately behind it, Karataş, the former Jewish neighborhood marked by Asansör building, and Göztepe, famous for its football team, among others, further along the coast towards the west, as well as the hillside zone behind these, notably the quarters of Eşrefpaşa and Hatay.
  For both the metropolitan area and İzmir Province in general, Konak still represents the administrative nerve center, with the governorship, the offices of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, the commercial areas, and other important administrative and private headquarters being situated within the boundaries of Konak.
  The name konak itself means, inter alia, government house or official residence in Turkish and refers in the case of Konak, İzmir, to the residence built for the governor between 1869–1972 at the spot and as a replacement of the mansion of Katipzade, a family of notables who controlled the city and the region between 1750–1820. The new building was intended to emphasize the prestige acquired by a growing international trade center and its design and furnishings were consequently luxurious. The building marked the move for the seat of the vilayet of Aydın to İzmir, initiated in 1865.
  In recent years, there is a move toward decentralization and shift also to other districts of İzmir by official and private headquarters, notably with the building of a new and huge Hall of Justice in Bornova.
caption: Colorful set of stairs in Karataş
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