Istanbul

Istanbul
İstanbul
Location of Istanbul
OpenStreetMap
Map
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Istanbul
Location within Turkey
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Istanbul
Location within Europe
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Turkey, with Istanbul pinpointed at the northwest along a thin strip of land bounded by water
Istanbul
Location within Asia
Coordinates: 41°00′49″N 28°57′18″E / 41.01361°N 28.95500°E / 41.01361; 28.95500
Country Turkey
RegionMarmara
ProvinceIstanbul
Provincial seatCağaloğlu, Fatih
Districts39
Government
 • TypeMayor–council government
 • BodyMunicipal Council of Istanbul
 • MayorEkrem İmamoğlu (CHP)
Area
 • Urban
2,576.85 km2 (994.93 sq mi)
 • Metro
5,343.22 km2 (2,063.03 sq mi)
Highest elevation537 m (1,762 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2023)[3]
15,655,924
 • Rank1st
 • Urban
15,305,657
 • Urban density5,939/km2 (15,380/sq mi)
 • Metro density2,930/km2 (7,600/sq mi)
DemonymIstanbulite (Turkish: İstanbullu)
GDP (nominal) (2022)
 • Metropolitan municipality and province 4,564 billion
US$ 276 billion
 • Per capita₺287,524
US$17,349
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code
34000 to 34990
Area codes
  • +90 212 (European side)
  • +90 216 (Asian side)
ISO 3166 codeTR-34
Vehicle registration34
HDI (2021)0.867[6] (very high) · 1st
GeoTLD.ist, .istanbul
Website
Official nameHistoric Areas of Istanbul
CriteriaCultural: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)
Reference356bis
Inscription1985 (9th Session)
Extensions2017
Area765.5 ha (1,892 acres)

Istanbul[b] is the largest city in Turkey, straddling the Bosporus Strait, the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is considered the country's economic, cultural and historic capital. The city has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey,[3] and is the most populous city in Europe[c] and the world's sixteenth-largest city.

The city was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century BCE by Greek settlers from Megara.[9] In 330 CE, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great made it his imperial capital, renaming it first as New Rome (Ancient Greek: Νέα Ῥώμη Nea Rhomē; Latin: Nova Roma)[10] and then finally as Constantinople (Constantinopolis) after himself.[10][11] In 1930, the city's name was officially changed to Istanbul, the Turkish rendering of εἰς τὴν Πόλιν eis tḕn Pólin 'to the City', the appellation Greek speakers used since the 11th century to colloquially refer to the city.[10]

The city served as an imperial capital for almost 1600 years: during the Byzantine (330–1204), Latin (1204–1261), late Byzantine (1261–1453), and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires.[12] The city grew in size and influence, eventually becoming a beacon of the Silk Road and one of the most important cities in history. The city played a key role in the advancement of Christianity during Roman/Byzantine times, hosting four of the first seven ecumenical councils before its transformation to an Islamic stronghold following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE—especially after becoming the seat of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1517.[13] In 1923, after the Turkish War of Independence, Ankara replaced the city as the capital of the newly formed Republic of Turkey.

Istanbul was the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The city has surpassed London and Dubai to become the most visited city in the world, with more than 20 million foreign visitors in 2023.[14] The historic centre of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city hosts the headquarters of numerous Turkish companies, accounting for more than thirty percent of the country's economy.[15][16]

  1. ^ "YETKİ ALANI". Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  2. ^ "İstanbul'un En Yüksek Tepeleri". Hava Forumu. Hava Durumu Forumu. 15 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The Results of Address Based Population Registration System, 2023". www.tuik.gov.tr. Turkish Statistical Institute. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Ulusal Hesaplar - Kişi başına GSYH ($)" [National Accounts - GDP per capita ($)]. www.tuik.gov.tr (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ "GDP by Provinces, 2022 - İstanbul had the highest share of GDP with 30.4% (Tables 1 and 3)". www.tuik.gov.tr. Turkish Statistical Institute. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.
  7. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  8. ^ Upton, Clive; Kretzschmar, William A. Jr. (2017). The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 704. ISBN 978-1-138-12566-7.
  9. ^ Herrin, Judith (28 September 2009). Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. Princeton University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-691-14369-9.
  10. ^ a b c "Istanbul". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 October 2023.
  11. ^ Mango, Cyril (1991). "Constantinople". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 508–512. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  12. ^ Çelik 1993, p. xv.
  13. ^ Masters & Ágoston 2009, pp. 114–15
  14. ^ "2023's Top 100 City Destinations Ranking: Triumphs and Turmoil Uncovered". Euromonitor International. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference hisdic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ OECD Territorial Reviews: Istanbul, Turkey. Policy Briefs. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. March 2008. ISBN 978-92-64-04383-1.


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