Samsun, city and port in northern Turkey, capital of Samsun Province, on the Black Sea. A resort city on the coastal railroad, it is an important tobacco port, and tobacco processing is the principal industry; other manufactures include cigarettes and textiles. The city is the trade center for an area producing grains, wool, hides, and vegetables. Among the city's educational institutions is 19th May University (1975). Founded by the Greeks in 562 BC as Amisus, or Amisos, on the site of a city destroyed by the Phrygians in 1182 BC, it became an important city in Pontus after 300 BC. Passing to Rome, Byzantium, and the Seljuk Turks, it came under the rule of Genoa in the 14th century and was called Simisso. The city was taken by the Ottoman Turks in 1425. In 1869 Samsun suffered a disastrous fire. In 1919 the Turkish general and statesman Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) began his political conquest of Turkey there. Population (1996 estimate) 335,886.
