English: This astronaut photograph highlights the modern urban landscape of the İzmir metropolitan area. Due to its location on the Gulf of İzmir (lower left) and its access to the Aegean Sea, İzmir has been an important Mediterranean Sea port for most of its history. Densely built residential and commercial districts, characterized by gray to reddish gray rooftops, occupy much of the center of the image. Larger structures with bright white rooftops are indicative of commercial/industrial areas near the port (image left). Two large sport complexes, the Atatürk Stadium and Şirinyer Hippodrome (horse racing track) are visible at image upper left and image right. Numerous vegetated parks (green) are located throughout the area.