Zonguldak
(2002 est. city pop 119,000). The city of Zonguldak is the capital of the province (estimated population in 2002 of 684,000) of the same name. It is located on the Black Sea coast of northwestern Turkey in the country's main coal district. The city has been inhabited since 1200 BCE. The Lydians came into power in 6 BCE, followed by the Persians around 546 BCE.
Alexander of Macedon defeated the Persians in 334 BCE. Zipoetes ruled the kingdom of Bitinia around Zonguldak from 326 BCE until the Roman conquest in 74 BCE. When the Roman empire was divided into two in 395 CE, Zonguldak fell into the eastern half. Following their victory at Manzikert, the Seljuks temporarily occupied the area, but it reverted to Byzantine rule in 1086. When the fourth Crusaders conquered Constantinople in 1204, Zonguldak became part of the Nicaean kingdom until the Byzantines reconquered it and gave it to the Genoese. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (1432–1481) conquered the whole area in 1461, and Zonguldak has been under Turkish rule ever since.
The city lost its economic importance during Ottoman rule and remained a small village until the discovery of coal in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1939 after the official openings of the steel and iron plant in Karabük and the electricity-generating plant in Çatalağzı, the province of Zonguldak regained its importance. The city of Zonguldak has one of the largest ports in Turkey and houses the Technical School of Mining.
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