Çiğli is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 139 km², and its population is 214,065 (2022). It covers the northwestern part of the agglomeration of İzmir, around the mouth of the river Gediz, across the Gulf of İzmir from the main city. The Gediz

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

is an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

but is under threat from urbanization. IAOIZ, the İzmir Atatürk Organized Industrial Zone, is a significant economic hub and there is a major air force base.

History

''Çiğ'' means ''dew'' in Turkish, a reference to the

marshes of the River Gediz which used to cover the entire area. It is a relatively recent settlement created largely by migration from other parts of Turkey, starting with Turkish refugees of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Turks from the surrounding region took refuge in the marshes during the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) There have been several Greco-Turkish Wars: * Orlov revolt (1770) Greeks' first major, organized Revolt against the Ottoman Empire with the support of Russia *Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), against the Ottoman Empire * First Greco-Turkish ...

, and were joined by ethnic Turks from the Greek province of Western Thrace after the war. The population was further increased by survivors of two earthquakes in eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Economic migration from eastern Anatolia has continued at a steady pace since then and even the mayor was born in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

Geography

Çiğli was built on the

marshes where the river Gediz flows into the Gulf of İzmir. It lies between

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

, another metropolitan district, to the south and the west, and İzmir's external dependent district of Menemen to the north. The western boundary is formed by the current delta of the River Gediz where the land is under the constant pressure of further urbanization. The future of the delta is among priority issues in Turkey's agenda of the protection of the environment. Many citizens would like to see full protection for the delta assured to preserve its unique fauna and flora along

bird migration Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Animal migration, Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and ...

routes. The delta is an IBA (

) registered with

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

Government

Çiğli gained village status after the fall of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and became a municipality in 1956. It was attached to İzmir's metropolitan area in 1981, first as a dependency of the district of

, and in 1992 it became a distinct entity with its own administrative structures.

Neighbourhoods

There are 26

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Çiğli District: * Ahmet Efendi * Ataşehir * Atatürk * Aydınlıkevler * Balatcık * Çağdaş * Cumhuriyet * Egekent * Esentepe * Evka 2 * Evka 5 * Evka 6 * Güzeltepe * Harmandalı Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk * İnönü * İzkent * Kaklıç * Köyiçi * Küçükçiğli * Maltepe * Prf. Dr.Ahmet Taner Kışlalı * Sasalımerkez * Şirintepe * Uğur Mumcu * Yakakent * Yenimahalle

Economy

The İzmir Atatürk Organized Industrial Zone (IAOIZ) has 485 factories employing 30,000 people.

Culture and community

Sasali Natural Life Park Cigli Izmir Turkey

Ekol Sanat Galerisi is a small privately owned art gallery with regular exhibitions.

Landmarks

The İzmir Bird Paradise (''Kuş Cenneti'') has recorded 205 species of birds, including 63 species that are resident year-round, 54 species of summer migratory birds, 43 species of winter migratory birds, and 30 transient species. 56 species of birds have bred in the park. The sanctuary, which covers 80 square kilometres, was registered as "the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

for water birds and for their breeding" by the Turkish Ministry of Forestry in 1982. İzmir Wildlife Park (''İzmir Doğal Yaşam Parkı'') is a large open-air zoo established in 2008.

Transport

Çiğli Air Base Çiğli Air Base () is a military airport near Çiğli, a metropolitan district of the city of İzmir in İzmir Province, Turkey. It served as İzmir's airport until the opening of the Adnan Menderes Airport, situated south of the metropolitan ...

is now used only by the military but served as İzmir's airport until the new Adnan Menderes Airport opened. Çiğli railway station is served by

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

and by the new commuter rail line

İZBAN İZBAN, previously known as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area. Averaging a daily ridership of 185,000 passengers, it is the busiest commuter rail system in Turkey, slightly ahead of the Marmaray commuter ...

. Also Çiğli Tram has opened in 27 January, 2024.

Education

İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University was established in 2010. There was a medical campus of Gediz University, which closed during the

2016 Turkish purges Since 2016, the Government of Turkey, government of Turkey has conducted a series of purges, enabled by a Martial law and state of emergency in Turkey, state of emergency in reaction to the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, failed coup attempt on 15 Ju ...

Religious sites

There are 20 mosques including the Küçük Çiğli Cami, Egekent Cami, Esentepe Cami and İzzet Erişen Cami.

Sport

Karşıyaka S.K. run teams in several sports at the nearby Karşıyaka Arena.

References

External links

Metropolitan Municipality of Greater İzmir

Çiğli
by İzmir Chamber of Commerce {{DEFAULTSORT:Cigli Populated places in İzmir Province Districts of İzmir Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey