Istanbul << `ihs` tan BOOL >>, the largest city of Turkey, is the only major city that stands on two continents—Asia and Europe. The metropolitan municipality of Istanbul has a population of 13,710,512. A metropolitan municipality may include rural areas as well as the urban center. Istanbul lies at the south end of the Bosporus, a strait in northwestern Turkey that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The Bosporus separates the Asian and European sections of Istanbul. Three bridges and a rail tunnel link the sections.
Istanbul has long been one of the world’s most important cities. From A.D. 330 to 1453, Istanbul—then called Constantinople—served as the capital of the Roman and then of the Byzantine empires. It was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to 1922. In 1923, with the birth of the Turkish republic, Ankara became the capital. But Istanbul remained Turkey’s leading center of industry, trade, and culture. Tourists visit the city to see its bazaars, museums, palaces, Byzantine churches, and world-famous mosques.
The city.
Istanbul covers 92 square miles (238 square kilometers). The European area is about 11/2 times as large as the Asian. Most of the people live on the European side. Asian Istanbul consists mainly of residential districts and port facilities.
European Istanbul is divided into old and modern sections by the Golden Horn, an inlet of the Bosporus. The old section lies south of the Golden Horn, and the modern section lies to the north. Beautiful mosques form the skyline of the old area. Narrow cobblestone lanes wind through hilly areas to link government and commercial areas with parks, squares, and residential areas. The old section also includes a huge covered bazaar with thousands of shops. The modern part is the city’s main business area. Modern hotels and office buildings form the skyline there.
Istanbul has Byzantine churches, hundreds of mosques, and many museums. In the A.D. 530’s, Emperor Justinian I built the magnificent Orthodox Christian cathedral called Hagia Sophia (also known as St. Sophia) in Istanbul. The church was converted into a mosque in 1453. From 1935 to 2020, it served as a museum. In 2020, it was restored as a mosque. Istanbul’s most famous mosques include the Mosque of Suleyman I and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque. Completed in 1557, the Mosque of Suleyman I was designed by the master architect known as Mimar Sinan (the Turkish word mimar means the architect). The Sultan Ahmet Mosque, often called the Blue Mosque because of the interior’s blue tiles, is the only mosque in Istanbul with six minarets (Muslim prayer towers). Also in Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace, a museum that once was the home of Turkish sultans. Ruins of Byzantine aqueducts and ancient city walls still stand. Rumeli Hisari, a fortress built in 1452, overlooks the Bosporus, north of the city.
People.
Most of the people of Istanbul are Muslim Turks. Minority groups include Jews, and Greek and Armenian Christians. Istanbul’s population grew sharply in the middle and late 1900’s. About half of the people who live there today were born in Istanbul. Most of the others come from towns and villages in Asian Turkey.
Istanbul’s rapid population growth has caused many problems. Many new residents live in shacks on the outskirts of the city. Other people live in modern apartment buildings or in old, wooden buildings that stand crowded together on the hillsides.
Education and cultural life.
Istanbul has been the cultural center of Turkey for hundreds of years. Istanbul University ranks as the oldest Turkish university. Other universities and colleges include Marmara University, Istanbul Technical University, Bosporus University, and Koc University.
Several major libraries are in Istanbul. Turkey’s largest book and newspaper publishers have their offices there. Istanbul’s numerous theaters present plays, operas, and symphony concerts. Artists exhibit their work at the city’s art galleries. Istanbul has a number of learned societies and research institutes.
Istanbul’s churches and mosques are among the world’s finest examples of Byzantine and Islamic architecture. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts displays such items as antique carpets, decorated manuscripts, and finely colored tiles. Visitors to the Topkapi Palace can see rooms used by Turkish sultans and their courts.
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Economy.
Istanbul is Turkey’s major manufacturing center. Factories in the city produce cement, drugs, electrical appliances, glassware, leather goods, machinery, plastics, textiles, and processed foods. The city also has plants that assemble automobiles and trucks. Dockyards along the Bosporus build and repair ships.
Istanbul’s location makes it a major center of trade and transportation. The city is Turkey’s chief port. A major truck route between Europe and Asia passes through the city. Railroads link Istanbul with other parts of Europe and Asia. Istanbul Atatürk Airport, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of the center of the city, has domestic and international flights.
Within Istanbul, most people travel on buses, light rail transit, or ferryboats, or in shared taxis called dolmuş. The dolmuş operate much as buses do. In 2013, the Marmaray rail tunnel opened in Istanbul. The tunnel runs beneath the Bosporus, linking the city’s Asian and European sides.
History.
People probably lived in what is now Asian Istanbul as early as 3000 B.C. During the mid-600’s B.C., Greek colonists founded a city called Byzantium on the European shore. The city later became part of the Roman Empire. In A.D. 324, the Roman emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium as the site for a new capital. The city was officially dedicated in A.D. 330. It was called Constantinople—city of Constantine.
In A.D. 395, the Roman Empire split into two parts. In the mid-400’s, Germanic tribes from along the empire’s northern borders began to establish small kingdoms that replaced the central authority of the West Roman Empire. Constantinople remained the capital of the East Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire). In A.D. 532, during the reign of Justinian I, antigovernment riots destroyed much of the city. Justinian rebuilt it with such fine structures as Hagia Sophia.
For the next several hundred years, Persians, Arabs, and nomadic peoples attacked Constantinople. In 1204, members of the Fourth Crusade conquered the city and damaged much of it. Crusader kings governed the city until 1261, when Byzantine rulers recaptured it.
The Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453, and the city became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans called the city Istanbul. They launched military campaigns in Europe and the Middle East from the city. By the mid-1500’s, Istanbul had become a major political, commercial, and cultural center with a population of almost half a million.
The Ottoman Empire began to weaken by the late 1600’s. During the 1800’s, the sultans introduced various reforms in an attempt to strengthen and modernize the Ottoman Empire. European-style schools and other elements that were part of Western culture were brought into Istanbul.
During World War I (1914-1918), the Allies defeated the Ottoman Empire. They occupied Istanbul from 1918 to 1923. In 1922, Turkish nationalist forces under Mustafa Kemal (later called Kemal Ataturk) gained control of the government of the Ottoman Empire and abolished the office of sultan. In 1923, Kemal made Turkey a republic and moved the capital to Ankara.
In 1930, the Turkish government declared Istanbul to be the official name of the former capital. Until then, it sometimes still had been called Constantinople.
During the middle and late 1900’s, Istanbul’s population grew rapidly and industry expanded. The Bosporus Bridge opened in 1973. In the 1980’s, the city tore down factories and slums along the Golden Horn and built new parks and playgrounds. The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge was completed in 1988. The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge opened in 2016.
In August 1999, a powerful earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, including Istanbul. The quake killed more than 17,000 people.
In late May 2013, antigovernment protests in the city’s Taksim Square led to violent clashes with police. In 2015 and 2016, attacks by Kurdish separatists and Islamic State terrorists hit parts of the city. The worst came in late June 2016, when Islamic State attackers killed 43 people and injured more than 230 others at Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
