[1] By excluding İzmir's metropolitan area, it is one of the prominent districts of the province in terms of population and is largely urbanized at the rate of 53.6%.

Bergama center is situated at a distance of 118 km (73 mi) to the north from the point of departure of the traditional center of İzmir (Konak Square in Konak, İzmir) and lies at a distance of 27 km (17 mi) inland from the nearest seacoast at the town of Dikili to its west.

[6] Currently, known for its cotton, gold, and fine carpets, the city was the ancient Greek and Roman cultural center of Pergamon; its wealth of ancient ruins continues to attract considerable tourist interest today, although its famous Temple has been moved to the Pergamon Museum, in Berlin, Germany.

Located on a promontory north of the Bakırçay river, 26 kilometres (16 miles) inland from the Aegean Sea, Bergama has a population of about 102,000.

Bergama has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),[9] with very hot, dry summers, and cool to mild, moderately wet winters.

As an ancient settlement at the northern edge of the Bakırçay River valley, with tributary streams flowing down from the Madra Mountains, Bergama retains many historic bridges.

By the reign of Hadrian (AD 117–138), development was so extensive that the Selinus was enclosed in two long tunnels where it runs in front of the Red Basilica, allowing a huge sacred precinct or temenos, to be built on top.

It was mentioned only once in the 2nd century by the orator and medicinal writer Aelius Aristides in his "Hieroi Logoi" (Sacred Tales) (III.1), one of the key sources for the knowledge on the science of healing as it was understood at that time.

Recently, Bergama also made headlines in the context of controversies based on environmental concerns over the gold mine in Ovacık village.

Bergama carpets have almost always been woven with wool - an attestation to the pastoral life style of the Yörük clans populating the area at the time.