| Samsun | |
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| A view from Samsun's city center | |
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Samsun
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Region | Black Sea |
| Province | Samsun |
| Boroughs | |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz (AKP) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Urban | 531,997 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 55 |
| Area code(s) | (+90) 362 |
| Licence plate | 55 |
| Website | www.samsun.bel.tr |
Samsun is a city of about half a million people on the north coast of Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Samsun Province and a major Black Sea port.
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The present name of the city may come from its former Greek name of Amisos by a shortening of Eis Amisos (meaning to Amisos) + ounta (Greek suffix for place names) to Sampsunda (Σαμψούντα) and then Samsun[1] (pronounced [sɑmsun]).
The early Greek historian Hecataeus wrote that Amisos was formerly called Enete, the place mentioned in Homer's Iliad.
During the Ottoman Empire the present name was written in Ottoman Turkish: صامسون
Paleolithic artifacts found in the Tekkeköy Caves can be seen in Samsun Archaeology Museum.[2]
The earliest layer excavated of the höyük of Dündartepe revealed a Chalcolithic settlement. Early Bronze Age and Hittite settlements were also found there[3] and at Tekkeköy.
Samsun (then known as Amisos, alternative spelling Amisus) was settled between the years of 760 - 750 BC by people from Miletus,[4] who established a flourishing trade relationship with the ancient peoples of Anatolia. Samsun's ideal combination of fertile ground and shallow waters attracted numerous traders.
In the 3rd century BC, Samsun came under the expanded rule of the Kingdom of Pontus.[5] The Kingdom of Pontus had been part of the empire of Alexander the Great. However, the empire was fractured soon after Alexander's death in the 4th century BC. At its height, the kingdom controlled the north of central Anatolia and mercantile towns on the northern Black Sea shores.
The Romans took over in 47 BC, and were replaced by the Byzantines after the fall of Rome.
In 1200 Samsun was captured by the Seljuks, to be later taken over by the İlhanlılar.
Samsun was incorporated into the network of Genoese trading posts and was taken by the Ottomans in the beginning of the 15th century. Before leaving, the Genoese razed the town.
In the later Ottoman period the land around the town mainly produced tobacco. The town was connected to the railway system in the second half of the 19th century, and tobacco trade boomed.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish liberation movement in Samsun on May 19, 1919, the date which traditionally marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence.
The city is both an Eastern Orthodox and a Roman Catholic titular see.
Samsun is a long city which extends along the coast between two river deltas which jut into the Black Sea. It is located at the end of an ancient route from Cappadocia: the Amisos of antiquity lay on the headland northwest of the modern city. To Samsun's west, lies the Kızılırmak ("Red River", the Halys of antiquity), one of the longest rivers in Anatolia and its fertile delta. To the east, lie the Yeşilırmak ("Green River", the Iris of antiquity) and its delta.
The River Mert reaches the sea at the city, Yeşilırmak east of the city and Kızılırmak west of the city.
Samsun has a typical Black Sea climate with high and evenly distributed rainfall the year round. Summers are warm and humid, and the average maximum temperature is around 27 °C (81 °F) in August. Winters are cool and damp, and the lowest average minimum temperature is around 3 °C (37 °F) in January.
Precipitation is heaviest in late autumn and early winter. Snow is quite common between the months of December and March but this usually varies considerably from year to year, and the snowcover and temperatures below the freezing point rarely last more than a few days.
The water temperature, like on the rest of the Black Sea coast of Turkey, fluctuates between 8° and 20 °C (68 °F) throughout the year.
| Climate data for Samsun | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 10 (50) |
11 (52) |
12 (54) |
15 (59) |
19 (66) |
23 (73) |
27 (81) |
27 (81) |
24 (75) |
21 (70) |
17 (63) |
13 (55) |
18 (64.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3 (37) |
3 (37) |
4 (39) |
7 (45) |
12 (54) |
16 (61) |
18 (64) |
18 (64) |
16 (61) |
13 (55) |
9 (48) |
6 (43) |
10.4 (50.8) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 74 (2.91) |
66 (2.6) |
69 (2.72) |
58 (2.28) |
46 (1.81) |
38 (1.5) |
38 (1.5) |
33 (1.3) |
61 (2.4) |
81 (3.19) |
89 (3.5) |
86 (3.39) |
739 (29.09) |
| % humidity | 68 | 72 | 77 | 80 | 82 | 78 | 74 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 74.3 |
| Avg. rainy days | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 92 |
| Sunshine hours | 93 | 84 | 124 | 150 | 217 | 270 | 310 | 279 | 210 | 155 | 120 | 93 | 2,105 |
| Source no. 1: BBC Weather [1] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Weatherbase [2] | |||||||||||||
Archaeological Sites: 41 Urban Sites: 4 Natural Sites: 7 Historical Sites: 1
Other Sites
Archaeological and Natural Sites: 3 Total: 56 Cultural (at Single Construction Scale) and Natural Heritages: 369 TOTAL: 424
Tumuli, in one of which can be seen a skeleton dated between 300BC and 30BC, are a short walk up the hill from Baruthane tram station. Alternatively they can be reached by car or by teleferique.
Highway: the coach station is outside the city centre, but most bus companies provide a free transfer there if you have a ticket.
Coach station Tel: (+90-362) 238 17 06
Railway: Passenger and freight trains run to Sivas via Amasya. The train station is in the city center.
Train station Tel : (+90-362) 233 22 93
Light Rail: Modern trams run between the train station and Ondokuz Mayıs University. Work is in progress extending the line east along the coast and it may reach as far as Samsun-Çarşamba Airport in future.
Dolmuş: The routes are numbered 1 to 4 and each route has different color minibuses.
Air: Samsun-Çarşamba Airport is 23 km east of the city center. It is possible to reach the airport by Havas service buses: they depart from the coach park close to Kultur Sarayi in the city center. [6]
Airport Tel : (+90-362) 844 88 30 - 844 88 24 - 844 88 25
Samsun has a mixed economy.[7]
There is a light industrial zone between the city and the airport. The main manufactured products are medical devices and products, furniture, tobacco products (although tobacco farming is now limited by the government), chemicals and automobile spare parts.
Road and rail freight connections with central Anatolia can be used to send inland both the agricultural produce of the surrounding well rained upon and fertile land, and also imports from overseas. However a pipeline is used to import natural gas undersea from Russia and distribute it to Ankara.
The port (Tel: (+90) 362 4451605) fronting the city centre handles freight, including RORO ferries to Novorossiysk, whereas fishing boats land their catches in a separate harbour slightly further east. A ship building yard is under construction at the eastern city limit and is expected to start operating in 2011.
Local government, services (such as legal and medical) to the surrounding region, and higher education are also a large part of the city economy.
There are two universities in Samsun: Ondokuz Mayıs University and Canik Başarı University.
The city's football club is Samsunspor, which plays its games at the Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium. Samsunspor was the winner of the last Balkans Cup final, the 1993-1994 season, defeating PAS Giannina of Greece. The first leg took place in Greece, where Samsunspor won 3–0. The second leg took place in Turkey, where Samsunspor sealed the championship with a 2–0 win (5–0 agg.)[9]
Samsun is twinned with:
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