It is the seat of Izmir Province, which has an area of 7350 km2. The city of Izmir is composed of ten metropolitan districts (Balçova, Bornova, Buca, ÇiÄŸli, Gaziemir, Güzelbahçe, Karşıyaka, Konak, Menemen, and Narlıdere,), each with its own distinct features and temperament. The total area of the nine districts is 855 km2 (330 sq mi) and together these districts constitute the area of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality headed by the Mayor of Izmir. The total population of the metropolitan municipality was 2,649,582 by the end of 2007. Of these, 2,606,294 were living in central Izmir, consisting of the nine district centres of the metropolitan municipality.
Izmir has almost 3,500 years of urban past, and possibly that much more of advanced human settlement. Its port, privatized in 2007, is Turkey's first port for exports in terms of the freight handled and its free zone, a Turkish-U.S. joint-venture established in 1990, is the leader among the twenty in Turkey. Its workforce, and particularly its rising class of young professionals, concentrated either in the city or in its immediate vicinity (such as in Manisa), and under either larger companies or SMEs, affirm their name in an increasingly wider global scale and intensity. Izmir is widely regarded as one of the most progressive Turkish cities in terms of its values, lifestyle, dynamism and gender roles. It is a stronghold of the Republican People's Party, although it lost a lot of ground to the ruling AKP party in the 2007 election.
