Gateway to the Mediterranean
An Environmental History of Late Ottoman Izmir

This exploration of Ottoman Izmir is the first book-length study of a Mediterranean port city through an environmental historical lens.

Onur İnal (Author)

9781009607261, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 October 2025

250 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.476 kg

'For over a decade, Onur İnal has played a key role in consolidating the field of Ottoman environmental history. We are now fortunate to have his vivid “Gateway to the Mediterranean”, which traces how the port city of Izmir and its hinterland were transformed in the late nineteenth century … It richly and lucidly captures the transformation of Izmir and its hinterland. It will be of interest to environmental historians and those thinking more broadly about the relationship between port cities and their hinterlands around the world.' Samuel Dolbee, International Review of Social History

This in-depth exploration of Ottoman Izmir is the first book to study a Mediterranean port city through an environmental historical lens. Onur İnal documents the development of this major Eastern Mediterranean port-city from small coastal town, to transport hub, to a gateway linking the river valleys of Western Anatolia to worldwide markets. Key to this evolution, he argues, was the relationship between a city and countryside which not only shared a common past, but fundamentally reshaped each other during the years of the late Ottoman Empire. Introducing a cast of both human and non-human historical actors, including camels, horses and micro-organisms, İnal demonstrates the transformative impact of their interaction on the city and its hinterlands. By proposing the 'gateway city' model, this rich analysis provides an alternative way to understand the creation of an integrated economic and ecological space in Western Anatolia.

Acknowledgments
Notes on Spelling and Pronunciation
Notes on Dates and Place Names
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Complexity
2. Nature on the Move
3. Animal Power
4. Tracks of Change
5. Golden Promise
6. Fiber of Fortune
7. Flavors of the Sun
8. The Gateway
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: The environment [RN]