Zonguldak () is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of about 100 thousand people in the Black Sea region of

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 ...

. It is the seat of

Zonguldak Province Zonguldak Province () is a province along the western Black Sea coast region of Turkey. Its area is 3,342 km2, and its population is 588,510 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Düzce to the southwest, Bolu to the south, Karabük to the sou ...

and Zonguldak District.İl Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. It was established in 1849 as a port town for the nearby coal mines in Ereğli. The current mayor is Tahsin Erdem, representing the CHP.

Etymology

There are several different theories concerning the origin of the city's name: * That it comes from ''Zone Geul-Dagh'', the name given to the area by French and Belgian mining companies from French "zone" and a French spelling of Turkish Göldağı ('Lake Mountain'), the highest mountain in the vicinity of the Devrek district. * That the name came from Turkish which means "swamp", or . * That the name may derive from the name of the nearby ancient settlement of Sandaraca or Sandarake (in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Σανδαράκη). * That the name may have come from "jungle" (which the French entrepreneurs called the area due to its uneven wooded geography) plus Turkish 'mountain'. In a 1920 report, the British Foreign Office spelled Zonguldak ''Zunguldak''.

History

The port city of Zonguldak suffered a heavy bombardment by the Russians during World War I, according to the caption of a

Lubok A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki''; ) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. ''Lubki'' prints were used as decoration in houses and inns. Early exampl ...

popular print. As of 1920, the port was under the control of the Heraclea Coal Company. The northern part of the bay featured a man-made harbor, for

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

use. At that time, they had two cranes which distributed

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

to exporting vessels.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Zonguldak has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa''), though it was, until recently, considered to have an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb''), with its warmest month being well below the 22 °C threshold. In recent decades

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and the city's

urban heat island Urban areas usually experience the urban heat island (UHI) effect; that is, they are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds ar ...

has warmed the city enough to change its classification. Summers are warm, the average temperature is around 22.5 °C in July and August. Winters are cool, the average temperature is around 6 °C in January and February. Precipitation is frequent, while it is generally heaviest in autumn and early winter, lightest (although still frequent) in spring. Snow is sporadic in winter, but is heavy once it occurs. The water temperature is cool to mild and fluctuates between 8 °C and 20 °C throughout the year.

Health

It was determined that coal-related lung diseases are more common than normal. During the quarantine period in Turkey, Zonguldak was also quarantined in addition to the metropolitan cities.

Economy

Jobs in

coal in Turkey Coal supplies a quarter of Energy in Turkey, Turkey's primary energy, and the country is one of the largest consumers in the world. The heavily Fossil fuel subsidies#Turkey, subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the Electricity sec ...

are being lost and in 2020 the

EBRD The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...

proposed a

just transition Just transition is a concept that emerged in the 1980s through efforts by U.S. trade unions to protect workers' rights and livelihoods as economies shift to sustainable production, primarily protecting workers affected by environmental regulati ...

. However a 2021 study said the city was unprepared for coal-phase out. In 2024 a local journalist alleged that hundreds of

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

were being employed in illegal coal mines, and in 2024 a court case re the death of an Afghan was ongoing.

Transportation

The city is the terminus of a railway line to Irmak, with the terminating station Zonguldak Railway Station built in 1937.

International relations

Zonguldak is twinned with: *

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Notable people

* Enrico Braggiotti - Turkish-born Monegasque banker * Ergün Penbe - Turkish former footballer *

Murat Boz Murat Boz (born 7 March 1980) is a Turkish people, Turkish singer, songwriter and actor. Boz began his solo career by releasing his first single, "Aşkı Bulamam Ben", in 2006. In the following year his first studio album titled ''Maximum (Mura ...

- Turkish singer-songwriter and actor * Nilgün Efes - Turkish entrepreneur and journalist