The city was founded asByzantium in the 7th century BCE byGreek settlers fromMegara.[9] In 330CE, theRoman emperorConstantine the Great made it his imperial capital, renaming it first asNew Rome (Ancient Greek:Νέα ῬώμηNea Rhomē;Latin:Nova Roma)[10] and then finally asConstantinople (Constantinopolis) after himself.[10][11] In 1930, the city's name was officially changed to Istanbul, the Turkish rendering ofεἰς τὴν Πόλινeis tḕn Pólin 'to the City', the appellationGreek 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 theByzantine (330–1204),Latin (1204–1261),late Byzantine (1261–1453), andOttoman (1453–1922) empires.[12] The city grew in size and influence, eventually becoming a beacon of theSilk Road and one of the most important cities in history. The city played a key role in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, hosting four of thefirst seven ecumenical councils before its transformation to an Islamic stronghold following thefall of Constantinople in 1453 CE—especially after becoming the seat of theOttoman Caliphate in 1517.[13] In 1923, after theTurkish War of Independence,Ankara replaced the city as the capital of the newly formed Republic of Turkey.
The first known name of the city isByzantium (Ancient Greek:Βυζάντιον,‹See RfD›Byzántion), the name given to it at its foundation byMegarian colonists around 657 BCE.[10][19] Megarian colonists claimed a direct line back to the founders of the city, Byzas, the son of the god Poseidon and the nymph Ceroëssa.[19] Modern excavations have raised the possibility that the name Byzantium might reflect the sites of nativeThracian settlements that preceded the fully-fledged town.[20]Constantinople comes from the Latin nameConstantinus, afterConstantine the Great, the Roman emperor who refounded the city in 324 CE.[19] Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until the 1930s, when Turkish authorities began to press for the use ofIstanbul in foreign languages.‹See RfD›Ḳosṭanṭīnīye (Ottoman Turkish:قسطنطينيه) andİstanbul were the names used alternatively by the Ottomans during their rule.[21]
The nameİstanbul (Ottoman Turkish:استانبول;pronounced[isˈtanbuɫ]ⓘ, colloquially[ɯsˈtambuɫ]) is commonly held to derive from theMedieval Greek phrase‹See RfD›eis tḕnPólin (εἰς τὴν Πόλιν,pronounced[istimˈbolin]), literally 'to the city'[22] and is how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks. This reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity. The importance of Constantinople in the Ottoman world was also reflected by its nicknameDersaadet (Ottoman Turkish:درساعدت) meaning the 'Gate to Prosperity' in Ottoman Turkish.[23] An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from "Constantinople", with the first and third syllables dropped.[19] Some Ottoman sources of the 17th century, such asEvliya Çelebi, describe it as the common Turkish name of the time; between the late 17th and late 18th centuries, it was also in official use. The first use of the word‹See RfD›Islambol (Ottoman Turkish:اسلامبول) on coinage was in 1730 during the reign of SultanMahmud I.[24] In modernTurkish, the name is written asİstanbul, with a dotted İ, as theTurkish alphabet distinguishes between adotted anddotless I. In English, the stress is on the first or last syllable, but in Turkish it is on the second syllable.[25] A person from the city is anİstanbullu (pluralİstanbullular);Istanbulite is used in English.[26]
Neolithic artifacts, uncovered by archeologists at the beginning of the 21st century, indicate that Istanbul's historic peninsula was settled as far back as the 6th millennium BCE.[28] That early settlement, important in the spread of theNeolithic Revolution from the Near East to Europe, lasted for almost a millennium before being inundated by rising water levels.[29][28][30][31] The first human settlement on the Asian side, the Fikirtepe mound, is from theCopper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BCE,[32] On the European side, near the point of the peninsula (Sarayburnu), there was a Thracian settlement during the early 1st millennium BCE. Modern authors have linked it to the Thracian toponymLygos,[33] mentioned byPliny the Elder as an earlier name for the site of Byzantium.[34]
The history of the city proper begins around 660 BCE,[10][35][d] when Greek settlers from Megara established Byzantium on the European side of the Bosporus. The settlers built anacropolis adjacent to theGolden Horn on the site of the early Thracian settlements, fueling the nascent city's economy.[41] The city experienced a brief period ofPersian rule at the turn of the 5th century BCE, but the Greeks recaptured it during theGreco-Persian Wars.[42] Byzantium then continued as part of theAthenian League and its successor, theSecond Athenian League, before gaining independence in 355 BCE.[43] Long allied with the Romans, Byzantium officially became a part of theRoman Empire in 73 CE.[44] Byzantium's decision to side with theRoman usurperPescennius Niger against EmperorSeptimius Severus cost it dearly; by the time it surrendered at the end of 195 CE, two years of siege had left the city devastated.[45] Five years later, Severus began to rebuild Byzantium, and the city regained—and, by some accounts, surpassed—its previous prosperity.[46]
Byzantine era
Originally built by Constantine the Great in the 4th century and later rebuilt byJustinian I after theNika riots in 532, theHagia Irene is anEastern Orthodox Church located in the outer courtyard ofTopkapı Palace in Istanbul. It is one of the few Byzantine era churches that were never converted into mosques; during the Ottoman period it served as Topkapı's principal armoury.
Originally a church, later a mosque, the 6th-centuryHagia Sophia (532–537) by Byzantine emperor Justinian I was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of theSeville Cathedral (1507) in Spain.
Constantine the Great effectively became the emperor of the whole of the Roman Empire in September 324.[47] Two months later, he laid out the plans for a new, Christian city to replace Byzantium. As the eastern capital of the empire, the city was namedNova Roma; most called it Constantinople, a name that persisted into the 20th century.[48] On 11 May 330, Constantinople was proclaimed the capital of the Roman Empire, which was later permanently divided between the two sons ofTheodosius I upon his death on 17 January 395, when the city became the capital of the empire; during the following millennium of Roman history the state is commonly referred to as the "Byzantine Empire".[49]
The establishment of Constantinople was one of Constantine's most lasting accomplishments, shifting Roman power eastward as the city became a center of Greek culture and Christianity.[49][50] Numerous churches were built across the city, includingHagia Sophia which was built during the reign ofJustinian I and remained the world's largest cathedral for a thousand years.[51] Constantine also undertook a major renovation and expansion of theHippodrome of Constantinople; accommodating tens of thousands of spectators, the hippodrome became central to civic life and, in the 5th and 6th centuries, the center of episodes of unrest, including theNika riots.[52][53] Constantinople's location also ensured its existence would stand the test of time; for many centuries, its walls and seafront protected Europe against invaders from the east and the advance of Islam.[50] During most of theMiddle Ages, the latter part of the Byzantine era, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city on the European continent and at times the largest in the world.[54][55] Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of OrthodoxChristian civilization".[56][57]
Constantinople began to decline continuously after the end of the reign ofBasil II in 1025. TheFourth Crusade was diverted from its purpose in 1204, and the city was sacked and pillaged by the crusaders.[58] They established theLatin Empire in place of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire.[59] Hagia Sophia was converted to a Catholic church in 1204. The Byzantine Empire was restored, albeit weakened, in 1261.[60] Constantinople's churches, defenses, and basic services were in disrepair,[61] and its population had dwindled to a hundred thousand from half a million during the 8th century.[e] After the reconquest of 1261, however, some of the city's monuments were restored, and some, like the twoDeesis mosaics in Hagia Sophia and Kariye, were created.[62]
Various economic and military policies instituted byAndronikos II Palaiologos, such as the reduction of military forces, weakened the empire and left it vulnerable to attack.[63] In the mid-14th-century, theOttoman Turks began a strategy of gradually taking smaller towns and cities, cutting off Constantinople's supply routes and strangling it slowly.[64] On 29 May 1453, after an eight-week siege during which the last Roman emperor,Constantine XI, was killed, SultanMehmed II "the Conqueror"captured Constantinople.
Ottoman Empire
Sultan Mehmed declared Constantinople the new capital of theOttoman Empire. Hours after the fall of the city, the sultan rode to the Hagia Sophia and summoned an imam to proclaim theshahada, converting the grand cathedral into an imperial mosque due to the city's refusal to surrender peacefully.[65] Mehmed declared himself as the newKayser-i Rûm, the Ottoman Turkish equivalent of theCaesar of Rome, and the Ottoman state was reorganized into an empire.[66][67]
Map of Istanbul in the 16th century by the Ottoman polymathMatrakçı Nasuh
Following the capture of Constantinople, Mehmed II immediately set out to revitalize the city. Cognizant that revitalization would fail without the repopulation of the city,Mehmed II welcomed everyone–foreigners, criminals, and runaways– showing extraordinary openness and willingness to incorporate outsiders that came to define Ottoman political culture.[68] He also invited people from all over Europe to his capital, creating a cosmopolitan society that persisted through much of the Ottoman period.[69] Revitalizing Istanbul also required a massive program of restorations, of everything from roads toaqueducts.[70] Like many monarchs before and since, Mehmed II transformed Istanbul's urban landscape with wholesale redevelopment of the city center.[71] There was ahuge new palace to rival, if not overshadow,the old one, a new covered market (still standing as theGrand Bazaar), porticoes, pavilions, walkways, as well as more than a dozen new mosques.[70] Mehmed II turned the ramshackle old town into something that looked like an imperial capital.[71]
Social hierarchy was ignored by the rampant plague, which killed the rich and the poor alike in the 16th century.[72] Money could not protect the rich from all the discomforts and harsher sides of Istanbul.[72] Although the Sultan lived at a safe remove from the masses, and the wealthy and poor tended to live side by side, for the most part Istanbul was not zoned as modern cities are.[72] Opulent houses shared the same streets and districts with tiny hovels.[72] Those rich enough to have secluded country properties had a chance of escaping the periodic epidemics of sickness that blighted Istanbul.[72]
TheOttoman dynasty claimed the status ofcaliphate in 1517, with Constantinople remaining the capital of thislast caliphate for four centuries.[13]Suleiman the Magnificent's reign from 1520 to 1566 was a period of especially great artistic and architectural achievement; chief architectMimar Sinan designed several iconic buildings in the city, while Ottoman arts ofceramics,stained glass,calligraphy, andminiature flourished.[73] The population of Constantinople was 570,000 by the end of the 18th century.[74]
A period of rebellion at the start of the 19th century led to the rise of the progressive SultanMahmud II and eventually to theTanzimat period, which produced political reforms and allowed new technology to be introduced to the city.[75] Bridges across the Golden Horn were constructed during this period,[76] and Constantinople was connected to the rest of the European railway network in the 1880s.[77] Modern facilities, such as a water supply network, electricity, telephones, and trams, were gradually introduced to Constantinople over the following decades, although later than to other European cities.[78] The modernization efforts were not enough to forestall thedecline of the Ottoman Empire.[79]
TheTreaty of Lausanne was signed on 24 July 1923, and the occupation of Constantinople ended with the departure of the last forces of the Allies from the city on 4 October 1923.[85] Turkish forces of the Ankara government, commanded byŞükrü Naili Pasha (3rd Corps), entered the city with a ceremony on 6 October 1923, which has been marked as the "Liberation Day of Istanbul" (İstanbul'un Kurtuluşu), and has been commemorated annually since.[85]
Turkish Republic
On 29 October 1923 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared the establishment of the Turkish Republic, with Ankara as its capital.Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became the Republic's firstPresident.[86][87]
A1942 wealth tax assessed mainly on non-Muslims led to the transfer or liquidation of many businesses owned by religious minorities.[88] TheUS-incited[89] and state-sanctioned1955 Istanbul pogrom, in which hundreds of Greek men, women and children were attacked and raped and dozens murdered, led to the emigration of most of the remaining Greeks in Istanbul.[90][91] Government persecution of Greeks and religious minorities, especiallyChristians, intensified through the 1960s as part of the process ofTurkification. Furthermass expulsions of Greeks took place in 1964–1965.[92] As a result of these policies, the Greek population of Istanbul decreased from 110,000 in 1919 to 2,500 today.[93]
From the late 1940s and early 1950s, Istanbul underwent great structural change, as new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed throughout the city, sometimes at the expense of historical buildings.[94] The overall population of Istanbul began to rapidly increase in the 1970s, as people from Anatolia migrated to the city to find employment in the many new factories that were built on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. This sudden, sharp rise in the city's population caused a large demand for housing, and many previously outlying villages and forests became engulfed into themetropolitan area of Istanbul as result ofurban sprawl.[95]
Istanbul is in north-western Turkey and straddles theBosporus Strait, which provides the only passage from theBlack Sea to theMediterranean via theSea of Marmara.[16] Historically, the city has been ideally situated for trade and defense: The confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Golden Horn provide both ideal defense against enemy attack and a natural toll-gate.[16] Several picturesque islands—Büyükada,Heybeliada,Burgazada,Kınalıada, and five smaller islands—are part of the city.[16] Istanbul's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Large sections ofCaddebostan sit on areas of landfill, increasing the total area of the city to 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi).[16]
Despite the myth thatseven hills make up the city, there are, in fact, more than 50 hills within the city limits. Istanbul's tallest hill, Aydos, is 537 meters (1,762 ft) high.[16]
The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development, with over 500,000 vulnerable buildings demolished and replaced since 2012.[97] According to ministry statements and geologist comments made in 2023, the city's infrastructure was in reasonably good shape, however, due to very high costs, buildings were not: over half a million flats were still vulnerable to collapse, andcasualties largely depend on how many collapse.[102][103][104] As of 2024[update], mostbuildings in Istanbul were built to a low seismic standard in the 20th century,[105] and residents think the city is not properlyprepared for the earthquake.[106]
The city's summers are warm to hot and moderately dry, with an average daytime temperature of about 28 °C (82 °F), and less than 7 days of precipitation per month. Despite the generally acceptable temperature range, mid-summer in Istanbul is considered moderately uncomfortable, due to high dew points and relative humidity.[108] Winters, meanwhile, are cool, quite rainy, and relatively snow-rich for a city with above-freezing average temperatures.
Istanbul's precipitation is unevenly distributed, with winter months getting at least twice the level of precipitation of their summerly counterparts. The mode of precipitation also varies by season. Winter precipitation is generally light, persistent and often of mixed precipitation such asrain-snow mixes andgraupel; while summer precipitation is generally abrupt and sporadic. Cloudiness, as with precipitation, varies greatly by season. Winters are quite cloudy, with around 20 percent of days being sunny or partly cloudy. Meanwhile, summers experience 60-70 percent of possible sunshine.
Snowfall is sporadic, but accumulates virtually every winter; and when it does, it is highly disruptive to city infrastructure.Sea-effect snowstorms with more than 30 centimetres (1 ft) of snowfall happen almost annually, most recently in2022.[109][110]
Climate data forKireçburnu (normals 1991–2020, precipitation days and sunshine 1981–2010; seethe main article for more information)
Climate change has caused an increase in Istanbul's heatwaves,[114] droughts,[115] storms,[116] and flooding[117][118] in Istanbul. Furthermore, as Istanbul is a large and rapidly expanding city, itsurban heat island has been intensifying the effects of climate change.[119] If trends continue, sea level rise is likely to affect city infrastructure, for exampleKadıkoy metro station is threatened with flooding.[120]Xeriscaping of green spaces has been suggested,[121] and Istanbul has a climate-change action plan.[122]
Turkish Straits and Sea of Marmara play a vital role formigrating fish and other marine animals between Mediterranean, Marmara and Black Sea. Bosporus hostspelagic,demersal and semipelagic fish species and more than 130 different taxa have been documented in the strait.[125]Bluefish,bonito,sea bass,horse mackerel andanchovies compose the economically important species. Fish diversity in the waters of Istanbul has dwindled in the recent decades. From around 60 different fish species recorded in the 1970s only 20 of them still survive in the Bosporus.[126][dubious –discuss]Common bottlenose dolphin (Turkish:afalina),short-beaked common dolphin (Turkish:tırtak) andharbor porpoise (Turkish:mutur) make up the marine mammals presently found in the Bosporus and surrounding waters, though since the 1950s the number of dolphin observations has become increasingly rare.Mediterranean monk seals were present in Bosporus, and Princes' Islands and Tuzla shores were seal breeding areas during summer, but they have not been observed in Istanbul since the 1960s and thought to be extinct in the region.[127] Water pollution,overfishing and destruction of coastal habitats caused by urbanization are main threats to Istanbul's marine ecology.
Street cats in the city
Apart from the wild land mammals Istanbul hosts a sizeablestray animal population. The presence offeral cats in Istanbul (Turkish:sokak kedisi) is noted to be very prevalent, with estimates ranging from a hundred thousand to over a million stray cats. The feral cats in the city have gained widespread media and public attention and are considered to be symbols of the city.[128][129]Rose-ringed parakeet colonies are present in urban areas, similar to other European cities asferal parrots, and considered asinvasive species.[130]
Pollution
Air pollution in Turkey is acute in İstanbul with cars, buses and taxis causing frequent urbansmog,[131] as it is one of the few European cities without alow-emission zone. As of 2019[update] the city's meanair quality remains at a level so as to affect the heart and lungs of healthy street bystanders during peak traffic hours,[132] and almost 200 days of pollution were measured by theair pollution sensors atSultangazi,Mecidiyeköy, Alibeyköy andKağıthane.[133] It is one of the 10 worst cities forNO 2.[134] However a trial of congestion pricing is planned for the historic peninsula.[135]
Algal blooms andred tides were reported in the Sea of Marmara and Bosporus (especially in Golden Horn), and regularly happen in urban lakes such asLake Büyükçekmece andKüçükçekmece. In June 2021, amarine mucilage wave allegedly caused by water pollution spread to Sea of Marmara.[136]
TheFatih district, which was named after Mehmed II (Turkish:Fatih Sultan Mehmed), corresponds to what was the whole of Constantinople until the Ottoman conquest; today it is the capital district and called thehistoric peninsula of Istanbul on the southern shore of theGolden Horn, across the medievalGenoese citadel ofGalata on the northern shore. The Genoese fortifications in Galata were largely demolished in the 19th century, leaving only theGalata Tower, to make way for the northward expansion of the city.[137] Galata (Karaköy) is today a quarter within the Beyoğlu district, which forms Istanbul's commercial and entertainment center and includesİstiklal Avenue andTaksim Square.[138]
Originally outside the city,yalı residences along the Bosporus are now homes in some of Istanbul's elite neighborhoods.
Dolmabahçe Palace, the seat of government during the late Ottoman period, is in theBeşiktaş district on the European shore of the Bosporus, to the north of Beyoğlu. The former village ofOrtaköy is within Beşiktaş and gives its name to theOrtaköy Mosque on the Bosporus, near theBosporus Bridge. Lining both the European and Asian shores of the Bosporus are the historicyalıs, luxurious chalet mansions built by Ottoman aristocrats and elites as summer homes.[139] Inland, north of Taksim Square is theIstanbul Central Business District, a set of corridors lined with office buildings, residential towers, shopping centers, and university campuses, and over 2,000,000 m2 (22,000,000 sq ft) of class-A office space in total.Maslak,Levent, andBomonti are important nodes within the CBD.[140][141]
The Atatürk Airport corridor is another suchedge city-style business, residential and shopping corridor with over 900,000 m2 (9,700,000 sq ft) of class-A office space.[141]
During the Ottoman period,Üsküdar (then Scutari) andKadıköy were outside the scope of the urban area, serving as tranquil outposts with seasideyalıs and gardens. But in the second half of the 20th century, the Asian side experienced major urban growth; the late development of this part of the city led to better infrastructure and tidier urban planning when compared with most other residential areas in the city.[142] Much of the Asian side of the Bosporus functions as a suburb of the economic and commercial centers in European Istanbul, accounting for a third of the city's population but only a quarter of its employment.[142] However,Kozyatağı–Ataşehir,Altunizade,Kavacık andÜmraniye, all together having around 1.4 million sqm of class-A office space, are now important "edge cities", i.e. corridors and nodes of business and shopping centers and of tall residential buildings.[141]
Expansion
As a result of Istanbul's exponential growth in the 20th century, a significant portion of the city is composed ofgecekondus (literally "built overnight"), referring to illegally constructed squatter buildings.[143] At present, somegecekondu areas are being gradually demolished and replaced by modern mass-housing compounds.[144] Moreover, large scalegentrification andurban renewal projects have been taking place,[145] such as the one inTarlabaşı;[146] some of these projects, like the one inSulukule, have faced criticism.[147] The Turkish government also has ambitious plans for an expansion of the city west and northwards on the European side in conjunction with the newIstanbul Airport, opened in 2019; the new parts of the city will include four different settlements with specified urban functions, housing 1.5 million people.[148]
Istanbul does not have a primary urban park, but it has several green areas.Gülhane Park andYıldız Park were originally included within the grounds of two of Istanbul's palaces — Topkapı Palace andYıldız Palace—but they were repurposed as public parks in the early decades of the Turkish Republic.[149] Another park,Fethi Paşa Korusu, is on a hillside adjacent to the Bosphorus Bridge in Anatolia, opposite Yıldız Palace in Europe.
Along the European side, and close to theFatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, isEmirgan Park, which was known as theKyparades ('Cypress Forest') during the Byzantine period. In the Ottoman period, it was first granted toNişancıFeridun Ahmed Bey in the 16th century, before being granted by SultanMurad IV to theSafavid emir Gûne Han in the 17th century, hence the nameEmirgan. The 47-hectare (120-acre) park was later owned by KhediveIsma'il Pasha ofOttoman Egypt in the 19th century. Emirgan Park is known for its diversity of plants and an annualtulip festival is held there since 2005.[150]
Popular during the summer among Istanbulites isBelgrad Forest, spreading across 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) at the northern edge of the city. The forest originally supplied water to the city and remnants of reservoirs used during Byzantine and Ottoman times survive.[151][152]
Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture. Despite its development as a Turkish city since 1923, it contains many ancient, Roman, Byzantine, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish monuments.
There are numerous ancient monuments in the city.[153] The most ancient is theObelisk ofThutmose III (Obelisk of Theodosius).[153] Built of red granite, 31 m (100 ft) high, it came from theTemple of Karnak inLuxor, and was erected there byPharaoh Thutmose III (r. 1479 – 1425 BCE) to the south of the seventhpylon.[153] The Roman emperorConstantius II (r. 337–361 CE– ) had it and another obelisk transported along theNile toAlexandria for commemorating hisventennalia or 20 years on the throne in 357. The other obelisk was erected on thespina of theCircus Maximus in Rome in the autumn of that year, and is now known as theLateran Obelisk. The obelisk that would become theObelisk of Theodosius remained in Alexandria until 390, when Theodosius I (r. 379–395) had it transported to Constantinople and put up on thespina of the Hippodrome there.[154] When re-erected at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the obelisk was mounted on a decorative base, withreliefs that depict Theodosius I and his courtiers.[153] The lower part of the obelisk was damaged in antiquity, probably during its transport to Alexandria in 357 CE or during its re-erection at the Hippodrome of Constantinople in 390 CE. As a result, the current height of the obelisk is only 18.54 meters, or 25.6 meters if the base is included. Between the four corners of the obelisk and the pedestal are four bronze cubes, used in its transportation and re-erection.[155]
Next in age is theSerpent Column, from 479 BCE.[153] It was brought fromDelphi in 324 CE, during the reign of Constantine the Great, and also erected at thespina of the Hippodrome.[153] It was originally part of anancient Greeksacrificial tripod in Delphi that was erected to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated thePersian Empire at theBattle of Plataea in 479 BCE. The three serpent heads of the 8-meter (26 ft) high column remained intact until the end of the 17th century (one is on display at the nearbyIstanbul Archaeology Museums).[157]
Built inporphyry and erected at the center of theForum of Constantine in 330 CE to mark the founding of the new Roman capital, theColumn of Constantine was originally adorned with a sculpture of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great depicted as the solar godApollo on its top, which fell in 1106 and was later replaced by a cross during the reign of Byzantine emperorManuel Komnenos (r. 1143–1180).[27][153]
However, it is the Hagia Sophia that fully conveys the period of Constantinople as a city without parallel inChristendom. The Hagia Sophia, topped by a dome 31 meters (102 ft) in diameter over a square space defined by four arches, is the pinnacle ofByzantine architecture.[158] The Hagia Sophia stood as the world's largest cathedral until it was converted into a mosque in the 15th century.[158] The minarets date from that period.[158] Because of its historical significance, it was reopened as a museum in 1935. However, it was re-converted into a mosque in July 2020.
Over the next four centuries, the Ottomans transformed Istanbul's urban landscape with a vast building scheme that included the construction of towering mosques and ornate palaces. TheSultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque), another landmark of the city, faces the Hagia Sophia at Sultanahmet Square (Hippodrome of Constantinople). TheSüleymaniye Mosque, built by Suleiman the Magnificent, was designed by his chief architect Mimar Sinan, the most illustrious of all Ottoman architects, who designed many of the city's renowned mosques and other types of public buildings and monuments.[160]
Among the oldest surviving examples ofOttoman architecture in Istanbul are theAnadoluhisarı andRumelihisarı fortresses, which assisted the Ottomans during their siege of the city.[161] Over the next four centuries, the Ottomans made an indelible impression on the skyline of Istanbul, building towering mosques and ornate palaces.
Topkapı Palace, dating back to 1465, is the oldest seat of government surviving in Istanbul. Mehmed II built the original palace as his main residence and the seat of government.[162] The present palace grew over the centuries as a series of additions enfolding four courtyards and blendingneoclassical,rococo, andbaroque architectural forms.[163] In 1639, Murad IV made some of the most lavish additions, including theBaghdad Kiosk, to commemorate hisconquest of Baghdad the previous year.[164] Government meetings took place here until 1786, when the seat of government was moved to the Sublime Porte.[162] After several hundred years of royal residence, it was abandoned in 1853 in favor of the baroque Dolmabahçe Palace.[163] Topkapı Palace became public property following theabolition of monarchy in 1922.[163] After extensive renovation, it became one of Turkey's first national museums in 1924.[162]
Theimperial mosques includeFatih Mosque,Bayezid Mosque,Yavuz Selim Mosque, Süleymaniye Mosque, Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque), andYeni Mosque, all of which were built at the peak of the Ottoman Empire, in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the following centuries, and especially after theTanzimat reforms, Ottoman architecture was supplanted by European styles.[165] An example of which is the imperialNuruosmaniye Mosque. Areas around İstiklal Avenue were filled with grand European embassies and rows of buildings in Neoclassical,Renaissance Revival andArt Nouveau styles, which went on to influence the architecture of a variety of structures in Beyoğlu—including churches, stores, and theaters—and official buildings such as Dolmabahçe Palace.[166]
Established in 1930 and restructured with the Metropolitan Municipalities Law of 2004,[167] theIstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (Turkish:İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi) is the main citywide local government authority responsible for public works, water infrastructure, transportation, cultural services, and such. It is a remarkable employer in Turkey with an accumulated amount of over 80,000 personnel.[168]
The current city structure traces back to theTanzimat reforms of the 19th century. Prior to that, local administration was held byQadis, who were appointed by theGrand Vizier. Some religious cults andguilds also provided services for their communities.[169] TheIndustrial Revolution, though Ottomans were not affected in a great extent, caused influx by foreign merchants asConstantinople was laid between two continents, and the imperial government signed bilateral trade agreements with many European countries, increasing the trade volume, especially with Eastern Mediterranean ports, such asSmyrna,Thessaloniki,Alexandria, andBeirut.[170][171]
In 1854, during theCrimean War, intensfying ties between the Ottoman Empire and other European powers has brought the reformizing Ottoman bureaucracy into implementing local government authority for Constantinople.[172] The first local government authority,Şehremaneti, was inspired from the Frenchcommune system.[173] Laws enacted after theOttoman constitution of 1876 aimed to expand this structure across the city, imitating the twentyarrondissements of Paris, but they were not fully implemented until 1908 when the city was declared a province with nine constituent districts.[174][175] ThoughŞehremaneti and its successors were disbanded by theTurkish Revolution, the system itself continued with the establishment of Istanbul Municipality in 1930.[176]
TheMunicipal Council of Istanbul is the legislative organ of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Every five years, 314 local councillors are elected by popular vote. The council is the sole authority in matters regarding the municipality's jurisdiction,[177] with an exception, UKOME (Transportation Coordination Center), which is partnered with central government agencies.[178]
District municipalities are chiefly responsible for waste management and construction projectes within their respective districts, yet the law allows basically all services butcritical infrastructure, such as public transportation and water management.[179] They are independent from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and have their own budgets and structure with administrative autonomy to some extent. District municipalities and the metropolitan municipality often collaborate for local projects.[180][181]
Muhtar is the lowest-tier elected official in Turkey. Each neighborhood has aMuhtar, tasked with helping citizens in regards of bureaucracy and building a bridge between locals and the central government. They report to the civil administration and are the first authority to represent neighborhoods inpublic policy process.[182]
In Turkey, civil administration (Turkish:Mülki idare) refers to appointed officials of thecentral government toprovinces anddistricts. They handle local affairs of national agencies, such as theGeneral Directorate of Security. Law enforcement in Turkey is mostly centralized, and thus Istanbul does not have a separated armed police force.Vali and their organization are responsible for coordinating public safety efforts throughout a province.[183]
Kaymakam is a representative of the central government in a district. Their nature of duties is similar to aVali, yet they also handle bureaucratic works regarding the central government organizations in their respective districts. For instance,Kaymakam may audit a school operated by theMinistry of National Education.[184]
Politics
Politically, Istanbul is seen as the most important administrative region in Turkey. In the run-up tolocal elections in 2019, Erdoğan claimed 'if we fail in Istanbul, we will fail in Turkey'.[185] Thecontest in Istanbul carried deep political, economic and symbolic significance for Erdoğan, whoseelection of mayor of Istanbul in 1994 had served as his launchpad.[186] ForEkrem İmamoğlu, winning the mayoralty of Istanbul was a huge moral victory, but for Erdoğan it had practical ramifications: His party, AKP, lost control of the $4.8 billion municipal budget, which had sustained patronage at the point of delivery of many public services for 25 years.[187]
More recently, Istanbul and many of Turkey's metropolitan cities are following a trend away from the government and their right-wing ideology. In 2013 and 2014, large scaleanti-AKP government protests began in İstanbul and spread throughout the nation. This trend first became evident electorally in the2014 mayoral election where the center-left opposition candidate won an impressive 40% of the vote, despite not winning. The first government defeat in Istanbul occurred in the2017 constitutional referendum, where Istanbul voted 'No' by 51.4% to 48.6%. The AKP government had supported a 'Yes' vote and won the vote nationally due to high support in rural parts of the country. A major turning point for the government came in the 2019 local elections, where their candidate for Mayor, former Prime MinisterBinali Yıldırım, was defeated by a very narrow margin by theRepublican People's Party candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu won the vote with 48.77% of the vote, against Yıldırım's 48.61%, but the elections were controversially annulled by theSupreme Electoral Council due to AKP's claim of electoral fraud. In the re-run İmamoğlu gathered 54.22% of the total vote and widened his margin of victory.[188]
Following the 2019 election, a trend towards the CHP has persisted across the city. In the2023 presidential election the CHP candidate,Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, received 48.56% of the city's vote, while the incumbent president and AKP candidate,Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, received 46.68%.
In the2024 local elections, Ekrem İmamoğlu was re-elected by a 12-point margin. İmamoğlu won 51.15% of the vote, while the AKP's candidateMurat Kurum received 39.59%. Additionally, the CHP won the mayoralties in 26 of İstanbul's 39 districts.[189]
Throughout most of its history, Istanbul has ranked among the largest cities in the world. By 500 CE, Constantinople had somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 people, edging out its predecessor, Rome, for theworld's largest city.[192] Constantinople jostled with other major historical cities, such asBaghdad,Chang'an,Kaifeng andMerv for the position of the world's largest city until the 12th century. It never returned to being the world's largest, but remained thelargest city in Europe from 1500 to 1750, when it was surpassed byLondon.[193]
TheTurkish Statistical Institute estimates that the population of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality was 15,519,267 at the end of 2019, hosting19 percent of the country's population.[194] 64.4% of the residents live on the European side and 35.6% on the Asian side.[194]
Istanbul experienced especially rapid growth during the second half of the 20th century, with its population increasing tenfold between 1950 and 2000.[197] This growth was fueled by internal and international migration. Istanbul's foreign population with a residence permit increased dramatically, from 43,000 in 2007[198] to 856,377 in 2019.[199][200]
According to 2020 TÜİK data around 2.1 million people in a population of over 15.4 million have been registered[f] in Istanbul, meanwhile the vast majority of the residents ultimately originate from Anatolian provinces, especially those in theBlack Sea,Central andEastern Anatolia regions due to internal migration since the 1950s.[201] People registered inKastamonu,Ordu,Giresun,Erzurum,Samsun,Malatya,Trabzon,Sinop andRize provinces represent the biggest population groups in Istanbul, meanwhile people registered inSivas has the highest percentage with more than 760 thousand residents in the city.[202] A 2019 survey found that only 36% of the Istanbul's population was born in the province.[203]
Istanbul has been a cosmopolitan city throughout much of its history, but it has become more homogenized since the end of the Ottoman era. The dominant ethnic group in the city isTurkish people, which also forms the majority group in Turkey. According to survey data 78% of the voting-age Turkish citizens in Istanbul state "Turkish" as their ethnic identity.[203]
With estimates ranging from 2 to 4 million,Kurds form one of the largest ethnic minorities in Istanbul and are the biggest group after Turks among Turkish citizens.[204][205] According to a 2019KONDA study, Kurds constituted around 17% of Istanbul's adult total population who were Turkish citizens.[203] Although the initial Kurdish presence in the city dates back to the early Ottoman period,[206] the majority of Kurds in the city originate from villages in eastern and southeastern Turkey.[207]Zazas are also present in the city and constitute around 1% of the total voting-age population.[203]
Arabs form the city's other largest ethnic minority, with an estimated population of more than 2 million.[208] Following Turkey's support for theArab Spring, Istanbul emerged as a hub for dissidents from across theArab world, including former presidential candidates from Egypt, Kuwaiti MPs, and former ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia (includingJamal Khashoggi), Syria, and Yemen.[209][210][211] As of August 2019, the number ofrefugees of the Syrian Civil War in Turkey residing in Istanbul was estimated to be around 1 million.[212]Native Arab population in Turkey who are Turkish citizens are found to be making up less than 1% of city's total adult population.[203] As of August 2023, there were more than 530,000 refugees of the Syrian civil war in Istanbul, the highest number in any Turkish city.[213]
A 2019 survey study by KONDA that examined the religiosity of the voting-age adults in Istanbul showed that 57% of the surveyed had a religion and were trying to practise its requirements. This was followed by nonobservant people with 26% who identified with a religion but generally did not practise its requirements. 11% stated they were fully devoted to their religion, meanwhile 6% werenon-believers who did not believe the rules and requirements of a religion. 24% of the surveyed also identified themselves as "religious conservatives". Around 90% of Istanbul's population areSunni Muslims andAlevism forms the second biggest religious group.[203][214]
Into the 19th century, the Christians of Istanbul tended to be eitherGreek Orthodox, members of theArmenian Apostolic Church or CatholicLevantines.[215] Greeks andArmenians form the largest Christian population in the city. While Istanbul's Greek population was exempted from the 1923 population exchange with Greece, changes in tax status and the1955 anti-Greek pogrom promptedthousands to leave.[216] Following Greek migration to the city for work in the 2010s, the Greek population rose to nearly 3,000 in 2019, still greatly diminished since 1919, when it stood at 350,000.[216] There are today 50,000 to 70,000Armenians in Istanbul[217] down from a peak of 164,000 in 1913.[218] As of 2019, an estimated 18,000 of the country's 25,000 ChristianAssyrians live in Istanbul.[219]
The majority of the CatholicLevantines (Turkish:Levanten) in Istanbul andİzmir are the descendants of traders/colonists from the Italianmaritime republics of the Mediterranean (especially Genoa andVenice) and France, who obtained special rights and privileges called theCapitulations from the Ottoman sultans in the 16th century.[221] The community had more than 15,000 members during Atatürk's presidency in the 1920s and 1930s, but today is reduced to only a few hundreds, according to Italo-Levantine writerGiovanni Scognamillo.[222] They continue to live in Istanbul (mostly in Karaköy, Beyoğlu andNişantaşı), and İzmir (mostly inKarşıyaka,Bornova andBuca).
Istanbul became one of the world's most important Jewish centers in the 16th and 17th century.[223] Romaniote and Ashkenazi communities existed in Istanbul before the conquest of Istanbul, but it was the arrival of Sephardic Jews that ushered a period of cultural flourishing. Sephardic Jews settled in the city after their expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497.[223] Sympathetic to the plight of Sephardic Jews,Bayezid II sent out theOttoman Navy under the command of admiralKemal Reis to Spain in 1492 in order to evacuate them safely to Ottoman lands.[223] In marked contrast toJews in Europe,Ottoman Jews were allowed to work in any profession.[224] Ottoman Jews in Istanbul excelled in commerce and came to particularly dominate the medical profession.[224] By 1711, using the printing press, books came to be published inSpanish andLadino, Yiddish, and Hebrew.[225] In large part due to emigration to Israel, the Jewish population in the city dropped from 100,000 in 1950[226] to 15,000 in 2021.[227][228][229]
Levent is one of the main business districts in Istanbul, together withMaslak andŞişli on the European side andAtaşehir on the Asian side
Istanbul had theeleventh-largest economy among the world's urban areas in 2018, and is responsible for30 percent of Turkey's industrial output,[230]31 percent of GDP,[230] and47 percent of tax revenues.[230] The city'sgross domestic product adjusted byPPP stood atUS$537.507 billion in 2018,[231] with manufacturing and services accounting for36 percent and60 percent of the economic output respectively.[230] Istanbul's productivity is110 percent higher than the national average.[230] Trade is economically important, accounting for30 percent of the economic output in the city.[16] In 2019, companies based in Istanbul produced exports worth$83.66 billion and received imports totaling$128.34 billion; these figures were equivalent to47 percent and61 percent, respectively, of the national totals.[232]
Istanbul, which straddles the Bosporus strait, houses international ports that link Europe and Asia. The Bosporus, providing the only passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, is the world's busiest and narroweststrait used for international navigation, with more than200 million tons of oil passing through it each year.[233]International conventionsguarantee passage between the Black and the Mediterranean seas,[234] even when tankers carry oil, natural gas, chemicals, and other flammable or explosive materials as cargo. In 2011, as a workaround solution, the then Prime Minister Erdoğan presentedCanal Istanbul, a project to open a new strait between the Black and Marmara seas.[234] While the project was still on Turkey's agenda in 2020, there has not been a clear date set for it.[16]
Shipping is a significant part of the city's economy, with73.9 percent of exports and92.7 percent of imports in 2018 executed by sea.[16] Istanbul has three major shipping ports – thePort of Haydarpaşa, the Port of Ambarlı, and the Port of Zeytinburnu – as well as several smaller ports and oil terminals along the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara.[16]
Haydarpaşa, at the southeastern end of the Bosporus, was Istanbul's largest port until the early 2000s.[235] Since then operations were shifted to Ambarlı, with plans to convert Haydarpaşa into a tourism complex.[16] In 2019, Ambarlı, on the western edge of the urban center, had an annual capacity of 3,104,882TEUs, making it the third-largest cargo terminal in the Mediterranean basin.[235]
Istanbul has been an international banking hub since the 1980s,[16] and is home to the only activestock exchange in Turkey,Borsa Istanbul, which was originally established as the Ottoman Stock Exchange in 1866.[236]
In 1995, keeping up with the financial trends, Borsa Istanbul moved its headquarters (which was originally located onBankalar Caddesi, the financial center of the Ottoman Empire,[236] and later at the4th Vakıf Han building inSirkeci) toİstinye, in the vicinity of Maslak, which hosts the headquarters of numerous Turkish banks.[237]
13.4 million foreign tourists visited the city in 2018, making Istanbul the world's fifth most-visited city in that year.[247] Istanbul andAntalya are Turkey's two largest international gateways, receiving a quarter of the nation's foreign tourists. Istanbul has more than fifty museums, with the Topkapı Palace, the most visited museum in the city, bringing in more than$30 million in revenue each year.[16]
Istanbul expects 1 million tourists from cruise companies after the renovation of its cruise port, also known asGalataport in Karaköy district.[248]
A view ofDolmabahçe Palace and the skyscrapers of Levent financial district in the background.[249][250] Providing the only sea route to the Black Sea, the Bosporus is the world's busiest waterway that is used for international navigation.[16]
Istanbul was historically known as a cultural hub, but its cultural scene stagnated after the Turkish Republic shifted its focus toward Ankara.[251] The new national government established programs that served to orient Turks toward musical traditions, especially those originating in Europe, but musical institutions and visits by foreign classical artists were primarily centered in the new capital.[252]
Much of Turkey's cultural scene had its roots in Istanbul, and by the 1980s and 1990s Istanbul reemerged globally as a city whose cultural significance is not solely based on its past glory.[253]
By the end of the 19th century, Istanbul had established itself as a regional artistic center, with Turkish, European, and Middle Eastern artists flocking to the city. Despite efforts to make Ankara Turkey's cultural heart, Istanbul had the country's primary institution of art until the 1970s.[254] When additional universities and art journals were founded in Istanbul during the 1980s, artists formerly based in Ankara moved in.[255]
Beyoğlu has been transformed into the artistic center of the city, with young artists and older Turkish artists formerly residing abroad finding footing there. Modern art museums, includingİstanbul State Art and Sculpture Museum,National Palaces Painting Museum,İstanbul Modern, thePera Museum,Sakıp Sabancı Museum,Arter andSantralIstanbul, opened in the 2000s to complement the exhibition spaces and auction houses that have already contributed to the cosmopolitan nature of the city.[257] These museums have yet to attain the popularity of older museums on the historic peninsula, including the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, which ushered in the era of modern museums in Turkey, and theTurkish and Islamic Arts Museum.[256]
The restored Paket Postanesi (Parcel Post Office) building is now a symbol ofGalataport. The district is also home to Museums Square.
The first film screening in Turkey was at Yıldız Palace in 1896, a year after the technology publicly debuted in Paris.[258] Movie theaters rapidly cropped up in Beyoğlu, with the greatest concentration of theaters being along the street now known as İstiklal Avenue.[259] Istanbul also became the heart ofTurkey's nascent film industry, although Turkish films were not consistently developed until the 1950s.[260] Since then, Istanbul has been the most popular location to filmTurkish dramas and comedies.[261] The Turkish film industry ramped up in the second half of the century, and withUzak (2002) andMy Father and My Son (2005), both filmed in Istanbul, the nation's movies began to see substantial international success.[262] Istanbul and its picturesque skyline have also served as a backdrop for several foreign films, includingFrom Russia with Love (1963),Topkapi (1964),The World Is Not Enough (1999), andMission Istaanbul (2008).[263]
Coinciding with this cultural reemergence was the establishment of the Istanbul Festival, which began showcasing a variety of art from Turkey and around the world in 1973. From this flagship festival came theInternational Istanbul Film Festival and theIstanbul Jazz Festival in the early 1980s. With its focus now solely on music and dance, the Istanbul Festival has been known as theIstanbul International Music Festival since 1994.[264] The most prominent of the festivals that evolved from the original Istanbul Festival is theIstanbul Biennial, held every two years since 1987. Its early incarnations were aimed at showcasing Turkish visual art, and it has since opened to international artists and risen in prestige to join the elitebiennales, alongside theVenice Biennale and theSão Paulo Art Biennial.[265]
Abdi İpekçi Street inNişantaşı,Galataport Shopping Area inKaraköy andBağdat Avenue on the Anatolian side of the city have evolved into high-end shopping districts.[266][267] Other focal points for shopping, leisure and entertainment include Nişantaşı,Ortaköy,Bebek andKadıköy.[268] The city hasnumerous shopping centers, from the historic to the modern. Istanbul also has an active nightlife and historic taverns, a signature characteristic of the city for centuries, if not millennia.
TheGrand Bazaar, in operation since 1461, is among the world's oldest and largest covered markets.[269][270]Mahmutpasha Bazaar is an open-air market extending between the Grand Bazaar and theSpice Bazaar, which has been Istanbul's major spice market since 1660.
Galleria Ataköy ushered in the age of modern shopping malls in Turkey when it opened in 1987.[271] Since then, malls have become major shopping centers outside the historic peninsula.Akmerkez was awarded the titles of "Europe's best" and "World's best" shopping mall by theInternational Council of Shopping Centers in 1995 and 1996;Istanbul Cevahir has been one of the continent's largest since opening in 2005; andKanyon won the Cityscape Architectural Review Award in the Commercial Built category in 2006.[270]Zorlu Center andİstinye Park are among the other upscalemalls in Istanbul which include the stores of the world's top fashion brands.
Alongİstiklal Avenue is theÇiçek Pasajı ('Flower Passage'), a 19th-century shopping gallery which is today home to winehouses (known asmeyhanes), pubs and restaurants.[272] İstiklal Avenue, originally known for its taverns, has shifted toward shopping, but the nearby Nevizade Street is still lined with winehouses and pubs.[273][274] Some other neighborhoods around İstiklal Avenue have been revamped to cater to Beyoğlu's nightlife, with formerly commercial streets now lined with pubs, cafes, and restaurants playing live music.[275]
Istanbul is known for its historic seafood restaurants. Many of the city's most popular and upscale seafood restaurants line the shores of the Bosporus (particularly in neighborhoods likeOrtaköy,Bebek,Arnavutköy,Yeniköy,Beylerbeyi andÇengelköy).Kumkapı along the Sea of Marmara has a pedestrian zone that hosts around fifty fish restaurants.[276]
ThePrinces' Islands, 15 kilometers (9 mi) from the city center, are also popular for their seafood restaurants. Because of their restaurants, historic summer mansions, and tranquil, car-free streets, the Princes' Islands are a popular vacation destination among Istanbulites and foreign tourists.[277]
Istanbul is also famous for its sophisticated and elaborately-cooked dishes of theOttoman cuisine. Following the influx of immigrants from southeastern and eastern Turkey, which began in the 1960s, the city's foodscape has drastically changed by the end of the century; with influences of Middle Eastern cuisine such askebab taking an important place in the food scene.
Restaurants featuring foreign cuisines are mainly concentrated in theBeyoğlu,Beşiktaş,Şişli andKadıköy districts.
Apart from the city's numerous stadiums, sports halls and concert halls, there are several open-air venues for concerts and festivals, such as theCemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre inHarbiye, Paraf Kuruçeşme Open-Air on the Bosphorus shore inKuruçeşme, and Parkorman in the forest ofMaslak. The annualIstanbul Jazz Festival has been held every year since 1994. Organized between 2003 and 2013,Rock'n Coke was the biggest open-air rock festival in Turkey, sponsored by Coca-Cola. It was traditionally held at theHezarfen Airfield in Istanbul.
Abdi İpekçi Street inNişantaşı, one of Istanbul's premier shopping streets
When it was held for the first time in 2003, the annualIstanbul Pride became the first gay pride event in a Muslim-majority country.[278] Since 2015, all types of parades atTaksim Square andİstiklal Avenue (where, in 2013, theGezi Park protests took place) have been denied permission by theAKP government, citing security concerns, but hundreds of people have defied the ban each year. Critics have claimed that the bans were in fact due to ideological reasons.
Istanbul is home to some of Turkey's oldestsports clubs.Beşiktaş J.K., established in 1903, is considered the oldest of these sports clubs. Due to its initial status as Turkey's only club, Beşiktaş occasionally represented the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic in international sports competitions, earning the right to place the Turkish flag inside its team logo.[279]Galatasaray S.K. andFenerbahçe S.K. have fared better in international competitions and have won moreSüper Lig titles, at 24 and 19 times, respectively.[280][281][282] Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe have a long-standing rivalry, with Galatasaray based in the European part and Fenerbahçe based in the Anatolian part of the city.[281] Istanbul has seven basketball teams—Anadolu Efes,Beşiktaş,Darüşşafaka,Fenerbahçe,Galatasaray,İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor andBüyükçekmece—that play in the premier-levelBasketbol Süper Ligi.[283]
Between the 2005–2011 seasons,[294] and in the 2020 season,[295]Istanbul Park racing circuit hosted the Formula OneTurkish Grand Prix. The 2021 F1 Turkish Grand Prix was initially cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[296] but on 25 June 2021, it was announced that the 2021 F1 Turkish Grand Prix will take place on 3 October 2021.[297] Istanbul Park was also a venue of theWorld Touring Car Championship and theEuropean Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006, but the track has not seen either of these competitions since then.[298][299] It also hosted theTurkish Motorcycle Grand Prix between 2005 and 2007. Istanbul was occasionally a venue of theF1 Powerboat World Championship, with the last race on the Bosporus strait on 12–13 August 2000.[300][unreliable source?] The last race of thePowerboat P1 World Championship on the Bosporus took place on 19–21 June 2009.[301] Istanbul Sailing Club, established in 1952, hosts races and other sailing events on the waterways in and around Istanbul each year.[302][303]
Most state-run radio and television stations are based in Ankara, but Istanbul is the primary hub of Turkish media. The industry has its roots in the former Ottoman capital, where the first Turkish newspaper,Takvim-i Vekayi (Calendar of Affairs), was published in 1831. TheCağaloğlu street on which the newspaper was printed, Bâb-ı Âli Street, rapidly became the center of Turkish print media, alongside Beyoğlu across the Golden Horn.[305]
Istanbul now has a wide variety of periodicals. Most nationwide newspapers are based in Istanbul, with simultaneous Ankara and İzmir editions.[306]Hürriyet,Sabah,Posta andSözcü, the country's top four papers, are all headquartered in Istanbul, boasting more than 275,000 weekly sales each.[307]Hürriyet's English-language edition,Hürriyet Daily News, has been printed since 1961, but the English-languageDaily Sabah, first published bySabah in 2014, has overtaken it in circulation. Several smaller newspapers, including popular publications likeCumhuriyet,Milliyet andHabertürk are also based in Istanbul.[306] Istanbul also has long-runningArmenian language newspapers, notably the dailiesMarmara andJamanak and the bilingual weeklyAgos in Armenian and Turkish.[308]
Radio broadcasts in Istanbul date back to 1927, when Turkey's first radio transmission came from atop the Central Post
Istanbul Radio House
Office in Eminönü. Control of this transmission, and other radio stations established in the following decades, ultimately came under the state-runTurkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), which held a monopoly on radio and television broadcasts between its founding in 1964 and 1990.[309] Today, TRT runs four national radio stations; these stations have transmitters across the country so each can reach over90 percent of the country's population, but onlyRadio 2 is based in Istanbul. Offering a range of content from educational programming to coverage of sporting events,Radio 2 is the most popular radio station in Turkey.[309] Istanbul's airwaves are the busiest in Turkey, primarily featuring either Turkish-language or English-language content. One of the exceptions, offering both, isAçık Radyo (94.9 FM). Among Turkey's first private stations, and the first featuring foreign popular music, was Istanbul'sMetro FM (97.2 FM). The state-runRadio 3, although based in Ankara, also features English-language popular music, and English-language news programming is provided on NTV Radyo (102.8 FM).[310]
TRT-Children is the only TRT television station based in Istanbul.[311] Istanbul is home to the headquarters of several Turkish stations and regional headquarters of international media outlets. Istanbul-basedStar TV was the first private television network to be established following the end of the TRT monopoly; Star TV andShow TV (also based in Istanbul) remain highly popular throughout the country, airing Turkish and American series.[312]Kanal D andATV are other stations in Istanbul that offer a mix of news and series;NTV (partnered with American media outletMSNBC) andSky Turk—both based in the city—are mainly just known for their news coverage in Turkish. TheBBC has a regional office in Istanbul, assisting its Turkish-language news operations, and the American news channelCNN established the Turkish-languageCNN Türk there in 1999.[313]
Istanbul contains almost a third of alluniversities in Turkey. As of 2019 Istanbul has 61 colleges and universities, with more than 1.8 million students enrolled according to official figures. Of those, fourteen are state-owned, 44 are "foundation-owned"private universities and three are foundation-ownedvocational universities of higher education. There are also military academies, including theTurkish Air Force Academy andTurkish Naval Academy as well as four foundation-owned vocational universities of higher education which are not affiliated with any university.[320]
Some of the most renowned and highly ranked universities in Turkey are in Istanbul.Istanbul University, the nation's oldest institute of higher education, dates back to 1453 and its dental, law, medical schools were founded in the 19th century.The city's largest private universities includeSabancı University, with its main campus inTuzla,Koç University in Sarıyer,Özyeğin Üniversitesi nearAltunizade. Istanbul's first private university, Koç University, was founded as late as 1992, because private universities were not allowed in Turkey before the1982 amendment to the constitution.[316] Istanbul is also home to several conservatories and art schools, includingMimar Sinan Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1882.[321]
Public universities with a major presence in the city, such as Istanbul University,Istanbul Technical University (the world's third-oldest university dedicated entirely to engineering, established in 1773), andBoğaziçi University (formerly the higher education section of Robert College until 1971) provide education in English as the primary foreign language, while the primary foreign language of education atGalatasaray University is French.[316]
Istanbul's firstwater supply systems date back to the city's early history, whenaqueducts (such as theValens Aqueduct) deposited the water in the city's numerouscisterns.[322] At the behest of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Kırkçeşme water supply network was constructed; by 1563, the network provided 4,200 cubic meters (150,000 cu ft) of water to158 sites each day.[322] In later years, in response to increasing public demand, water from various springs was channeled to public fountains, like theFountain of Ahmed III, by means of supply lines.[323] Today, Istanbul has a chlorinated and filtered water supply and asewage treatment system managed by the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İstanbul Su ve Kanalizasyon İdaresi, İSKİ).[324]
TheSilahtarağa Power Station, acoal-fired power station along the Golden Horn, was the sole source of Istanbul's electricity between 1914, when its first engine room was completed, and 1952.[325] Following the founding of the Turkish Republic, the plant underwent renovations to accommodate the city's increasing demand; its capacity grew from23 megawatts in 1923 to a peak of120 megawatts in 1956.[325][326] Capacity declined until the power station reached the end of its economic life and shut down in 1983.[325] The state-run Turkish Electrical Authority (TEK) briefly—between its founding in 1970 and 1984—held a monopoly on the generation and distribution of electricity, but now the authority—since split between the Turkish Electricity Generation Transmission Company (TEAŞ) and the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company (TEDAŞ)—competes with privateelectric utilities.[326]
The Ottoman Ministry of Post and Telegraph was established in 1840 and the first post office, the Imperial Post Office, opened near the courtyard of Yeni Mosque. By 1876, the first international mailing network between Istanbul and the lands beyond the Ottoman Empire had been established.[327] SultanAbdülmecid I issuedSamuel Morse his first official honor for theelectrical telegraph in 1847, and construction of the first telegraph line—between Istanbul andEdirne—finished in time to announce the end of theCrimean War in 1856.[328]
A nascent telephone system began to emerge in Istanbul in 1881 and after the first manualtelephone exchange became operational in Istanbul in 1909, the Ministry of Post and Telegraph became the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone.[327][330]GSM cellular networks arrived in Turkey in 1994, with Istanbul among the first cities to receive the service.[331] Today,mobile andlandline service is provided by private companies, afterTürk Telekom, which split from the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone in 1995, was privatized in 2005.[327][331] Postal services remain under the purview of what is now the Post and Telegraph Organization (retaining the acronym PTT).[327]
In 2000, Istanbul had137 hospitals, of which 100 were private.[332][needs update] Turkish citizens are entitled to subsidized healthcare in the nation's state-run hospitals.[306] As public hospitals tend to be overcrowded or otherwise slow, private hospitals are preferable for those who can afford them. Their prevalence has increased significantly over the last decade, as the percentage of outpatients using private hospitals increased from6 percent to23 percent between 2005 and 2009.[306][333] Many of these private hospitals, as well as some of the public hospitals, are equipped with high-tech equipment, includingMRI machines, or associated with medical research centers.[334] Turkey has more hospitals accredited by the United States–basedJoint Commission than any other country in the world, with most concentrated in its big cities. The high quality of healthcare, especially in private hospitals, has contributed to a recent upsurge inmedical tourism to Turkey (with a40 percent increase between 2007 and 2008).[335] Lasereye surgery andhair transplant surgery is particularly common among medical tourists, as Turkey is known for specializing in the procedure.[336]
Istanbul's motorways network are theO-1,O-2,O-3,O-4 andO-7. The total length of Istanbul Province's network oftoll roads is 543 km (337 mi) (2024) and the state highways network (devlet yollari) is 353 km (219 mi) (2024), totaling 896 km (557 mi) of expressway roads (minimum 2x2 lanes), excluding secondary roads and urban streets.[337][338][339] The density of expressway network is 16.8 km/100 km2. The O-1 forms the city's innerring road, traversing theBosphorus Bridge, and the O-2 is the city's outer ring road, crossing theFatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. The O-2 continues west to Edirne and the O-4 continues east to Ankara. The O-2, O-3, and O-4 are part ofEuropean route E80 (the Trans-European Motorway) between Portugal and theIran–Turkey border.[340] In 2011, the first and second bridges on the Bosphorus carried400,000 vehicles each day.[341] The O-7[339] or Kuzey Marmara Otoyolu, is a motorway that bypass Istanbul to the north. The O-7 motorway from Kinali Gişeleri to Istanbul Park Service has 139.2 km (86.5 mi), with 8 lanes (4x4), and from Odayeri-K10 toIstanbul Atatürk Airport has 30.4 km (18.9 mi).[339] The completed section of highway crosses the Bosporus via theYavuz Sultan Selim (Third Bosphorus) Bridge, entered service on 26 August 2016.[342] The O-7(Northen Beltway) 3.Beltway connects Istanbul Atatürk Airport with Istanbul Airport andSabiha Gökçen Airport.[343] Environmentalist groups worry that the third bridge will endanger the remaining green areas to the north of Istanbul.[344][345] Apart from the three Bosphorus Bridges, the dual-deck, 14.6-kilometer (9.1 mi)Eurasia Tunnel (which entered service on 20 December 2016) under the Bosphorus strait also provides road crossings for motor vehicles between the Asian and European sides of Turkey.[346] Road transport emits significant carbon dioxide, estimated at 7 million tons in 2021.[347]
Public transportation
Istanbul's local public transportation system is a network ofcommuter rail,trams,funiculars,metro lines, buses,bus rapid transit, andferries. Fares across modes are integrated, using thecontactlessIstanbulkart, introduced in 2009, or the olderAkbil electronic ticketing device.[348]Trams in Istanbul date back to 1872, when they were horse-drawn, but even the first electrified trams were decommissioned in the 1960s.[349] Operated by Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnels General Management (İETT), trams slowly returned to the city in the 1990s with the introduction of theIstanbul nostalgic tram and a fastermodern tram line, which now carries265,000 passengers each day.[349][350] TheTünel opened in 1875 as the world's second-oldest subterranean rail line, after theMetropolitan Railway in London.[349] It still carries passengers between Karaköy and İstiklal Avenue along a steep 573-meter (1,880 ft) track; a more modern funicular between Taksim Square andKabataş began running in 2006.[351][352]
TheIstanbul Metro comprises ten lines (theM1,M2,M3,M6,M7,M9 andM11 on the European side, and theM4,M5 andM8 on the Asian side) with several other lines (M12 andM14) and extensions under construction.[353][354] The two sides of Istanbul's metro are connected under the Bosphorus by theMarmaray Tunnel, inaugurated in 2013 as the first rail connection between Thrace and Anatolia, having 13.5 km (8.4 mi) length.[355] The Marmaray tunnel together with the suburban railways lines along the Sea of Marmara, form the intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, named officially B1, fromHalkalı on the European side toGebze on the Asian side. This rail line has 76.6 km (47.6 mi), and the full line opened on 12 March 2019.[356] Until then, buses provide transportation within and between the two-halves of the city, accommodating2.2 million passenger trips each day.[357] TheMetrobus, a form of bus rapid transit, crosses the Bosphorus Bridge, with dedicated lanes leading to its termini.[358]
AnİDOdeniz otobüsü (seabus) high-speed ferry departs Istanbul
There are three mainferry operators in Istanbul. The municipally-ownedŞehir Hatları operates the traditionalvapur ferries on 891 daily trips between 53 piers across the Bosporus and thePrinces' Islands.[359]
The privately ownedİDO (Istanbul Sea Buses) runs a combination of high-speed passenger ferries and vehicle ferries within Istanbul and to destinations across the Sea of Marmara.[360] A smaller private company,Turyol also operates services across the Bosphorus. The city's main cruise ship terminal is thePort of Istanbul in Karaköy, with a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour.[361]
Railroads
Originally opened in 1873 with a smaller terminal building as the main terminus at the OttomanChemins de fer Orientaux, which connected Istanbul withVienna, the currentSirkeci Terminal building was constructed between 1888 and 1890, and became the eastern terminus of theOrient Express from Paris.[362]
International rail service from Istanbul launched in 1889, with a line between Bucharest and Istanbul'sSirkeci Terminal, which ultimately became famous as the eastern terminus of theOrient Express from Paris.[77] Regular service to Bucharest andThessaloniki continued until the early 2010s, when the former was interrupted for Marmaray construction but started running again in 2019 and the latter was halted due to economic problems in Greece.[363][364] After Istanbul'sHaydarpaşa Terminal opened in 1908, it served as the western terminus of theBaghdad Railway and an extension of theHejaz Railway; today, neither service is offered directly from Istanbul.[365][366][367] Service to Ankara and other points across Turkey is normally offered byTurkish State Railways, but the construction of Marmaray and theAnkara-Istanbul high-speed railway forced the station to close in 2012.[368] New stations to replace both the Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci terminals, and connect the city's disjointed railway networks, now the Marmaray second phase opened to the public.[368] Private bus companies still operation to this day. Istanbul's main bus station is the largest in Europe, with a daily capacity of15,000 buses and600,000 passengers, serving destinations as distant asFrankfurt.[369][370]
Airports
Istanbul has had three large international airports, two of which currently serve commercial passenger flights. The largest is the newIstanbul Airport, opened in 2018 in theArnavutköy district to the northwest of the city center, on the European side, near the Black Sea coast.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred fromAtatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport on 6 April 2019, following the closure of Istanbul Atatürk Airport for scheduled passenger flights.[371] TheIATA code IST was also transferred to the new airport.[372] Once all phases are completed in 2025, the airport will have six sets of runways (eight in total), 16 taxiways, and will be able to accommodate 200 million passengers a year.[373][374] The transfer from the airport to the city is via the O-7, and it will eventually be linked by two lines of the Istanbul Metro.
Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, 45 kilometers (28 mi) southeast of the city center, on the Asian side, was opened in 2001 to relieve Atatürk. Dominated bylow-cost carriers, Istanbul's second airport has rapidly become popular, especially since the opening of a new international terminal in 2009;[375] the airport handled14.7 million passengers in 2012, a year afterAirports Council International named it the world's fastest-growing airport.[376][377] Atatürk had also experienced rapid growth, as its20.6 percent rise in passenger traffic between 2011 and 2012 was the highest among the world's top 30 airports.[378]
Istanbul Atatürk Airport, located 24 kilometers (15 mi) west of the city center, on the European side, near the Marmara Sea coast, was formerly the city's largest airport. After its closure to commercial flights in 2019, it was briefly used by cargo aircraft and the official state aircraft owned by the Turkish government, until the demolition of its runway began in 2020. It handled61.3 million passengers in 2015, which made it thethird-busiest airport in Europe and the18th-busiest in the world in that year.[378]
*According to the size of the population and the status of megacity, the limits of the Istanbul city correspond to the limits of the province, and the province is treated like as the metropolitan-city of Istanbul.
^Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia, with its commercial and historical centre and two-thirds of the population in Europe, the rest in Asia. Since Istanbul is a transcontinental city,Moscow is the largest city entirely within Europe.
^The foundation of Byzantion (Byzantium) is sometimes, especially in encyclopedic or other tertiary sources, placed firmly in 667 BCE. Historians have disputed the precise year the city was founded. Commonly cited is the work of 5th-century-BCE historianHerodotus, which says the city was founded seventeen years afterChalcedon,[36] which came into existence around 685 BCE.Eusebius concurs with 685 BCE as the year Chalcedon was founded, but places Byzantion's establishment in 659 BCE.[37] Among more modern historians, Carl Roebuck proposed the 640s BCE[38] and others have suggested even later. The foundation date of Chalcedon is itself subject to some debate; while many sources place it in 685 BC,[39] others put it in 675 BCE[40] or even 639 BCE (with Byzantion's establishment placed in 619 BCE).[37] Some sources refer to Byzantium's foundation as the 7th century BCE.
^abHistorians disagree—sometimes substantially—on population figures of Istanbul (Constantinople), and other world cities, prior to the 20th century. A follow-up to Chandler & Fox 1974,Chandler 1987, pp. 463–505[74] examines different sources' estimates and chooses the most likely based on historical conditions; it is the source of most population figures between 100 and 1914. The ranges of values between 500 and 1000 are due toMorris 2010, which also does a comprehensive analysis of sources, including Chandler (1987); Morris notes that many of Chandler's estimates during that time seem too large for the city's size, and presents smaller estimates. Chandler disagrees withTuran 2010 on the population of the city in the mid-1920s (with the former suggesting 817,000 in 1925), but Turan, p. 224, is used as the source of population figures between 1924 and 2005. Turan's figures, as well as the 2010 figure,[191] come from the Turkish Statistical Institute. The drastic increase in population between 1980 and 1985 is largely due to an enlargement of the city's limits (see theAdministration section). Explanations for population changes in pre-Republic times can be inferred from theHistory section.
^Based on state register data, which is unchangeable and inherited from the family. A married women is also registered to her husband's province.
^UEFA does not apparently keep a list of Category 4 stadiums, but regulations stipulate that only these elite stadiums are eligible to host UEFA Champions League Finals,[288] which Atatürk Olympic Stadium did in 2005, and UEFA Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) Finals,[289] which Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium did in 2009.Türk Telekom Arena is noted as an elite UEFA stadium by its architects.[290]
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