Istanbul 

(/ˌɪstænˈbʊl/ IST-an-BUUL,[7][8] US also /ˈɪstænbʊl/ IST-an-buul; Turkish: İstanbul [i
sˈtanbuɫ] ( listen)), formerly known
as Constantinople[b] (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις; Latin: Constantinopolis), is the largest
city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, cultural and historic hub. The city
straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over
15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey.[4] Istanbul is the most
populous European city,[c] and the world's 15th-largest city.
The city was founded as Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzantion) 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 (Greek: Νέα
Ῥώμη, Nea Rhomē; Latin: Nova Roma)[10] and then as Constantinople (Constantinopolis)
after himself.[10][11] 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 served as an imperial capital for almost 1600 years: during
the Roman/Byzantine (330–1204), Latin (1204–1261), late Byzantine (1261–1453),
and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires.[12] 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. In 1930, the city's name
was officially changed to Istanbul, the Turkish rendering of εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (romanized: eis
tḕn Pólin; 'to the City'), the appellation Greek speakers used since the 11th century to
colloquially refer to the city.[10]
Over 13.4 million foreign visitors came to Istanbul in 2018, eight years after it was named
a European Capital of Culture, making it the world's eighth most visited city.[14] Istanbul is
home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and hosts the headquarters of
numerous Turkish companies, accounting for more than thirty percent of the country's
economy.[15][16]

Toponymy
Main article: Names of Istanbul

Column of Constantine[17]

The first known name of the city is Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzántion), the name

given to it at its foundation by Megarian colonists around 657 BCE.[10][18] Megarian
colonists claimed a direct line back to the founders of the city, Byzas, the son of the god
Poseidon and the nymph Ceroëssa.[18] Modern excavations have raised the possibility
that the name Byzantium might reflect the sites of native Thracian settlements that
preceded the fully-fledged town.[19] Constantinople comes from the Latin name
Constantinus, after Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor who refounded the city in
324 CE.[18] Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until
the 1930s, when Turkish authorities began to press for the use of "Istanbul" in foreign
languages. Ḳosṭanṭīnīye (Ottoman Turkish: ‫ )قسطنطينيه‬and İstanbul were the names used
alternatively by the Ottomans during their rule.[20]
The name İstanbul (Turkish pronunciation: [isˈtanbuɫ] ( listen), colloquially Turkish
pronunciation: [ɯsˈtambuɫ]) is commonly held to derive from the Medieval
Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" (pronounced Greek pronunciation: [is tim ˈbolin]), which means
"to the city"[21] 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 nickname Der Saadet meaning the 'Gate to
Prosperity' in Ottoman Turkish.[22] An alternative view is that the name evolved directly
from the name Constantinople, with the first and third syllables dropped.[18] Some
Ottoman sources of the 17th century, such as Evliya 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 Islambol (Ottoman Turkish: ‫ )اسالمبول‬on coinage was
in 1730 during the reign of Sultan Mahmud I.[23] In modern Turkish, the name is written
as İstanbul, with a dotted İ, as the Turkish alphabet distinguishes between
a dotted and dotless I. In English the stress is on the first or last syllable, but in Turkish it
is on the second syllable (-tan-).[24] A person from the city is
an İstanbullu (plural: İstanbullular); Istanbulite is used in English.[25]

History
Main article: History of Istanbul
See also: Timeline of Istanbul history
Historical affiliations
Byzantium 667 BC–510 BC
 Persian Empire 512 BC–478 BC
Byzantium (Under Athens) 478 BC–404 BC
Byzantium 404 BC–196 CE
 Roman Empire 196–395 (Capital between 330–395)
 Byzantine Empire 395–1204
 Latin Empire 1204–1261
 Byzantine Empire 1261–1453
 Ottoman Empire 1453–1918
 Occupation of Istanbul 1918–1923
 Turkish National Movement 1923
 Turkey 1923–Present

This large keystone might have belonged to a triumphal arch at the Forum of

Constantine (present-day Çemberlitaş).[17]
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.[26] That early settlement, important in the spread of the Neolithic Revolution from the
Near East to Europe, lasted for almost a millennium before being inundated by rising
water levels.[27][26][28][29] The first human settlement on the Asian side, the Fikirtepe mound, is
from the Copper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BCE,[30] 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 toponym Lygos,[31] mentioned by Pliny the Elder as an earlier name for the site
of Byzantium.[32]
The history of the city proper begins around 660 BCE,[10][33][d] when Greek settlers from
Megara established Byzantium on the European side of the Bosporus. The settlers built
an acropolis adjacent to the Golden Horn on the site of the early Thracian settlements,
fueling the nascent city's economy.[39] The city experienced a brief period of Persian rule
at the turn of the 5th century BCE, but the Greeks recaptured it during the Greco-Persian
Wars.[40] Byzantium then continued as part of the Athenian League and its successor,
the Second Athenian League, before gaining independence in 355 BCE.[41] Long allied
with the Romans, Byzantium officially became a part of the Roman Empire in 73 CE.
[42]
 Byzantium's decision to side with the Roman usurper Pescennius Niger against
Emperor Septimius Severus cost it dearly; by the time it surrendered at the end of 195
CE, two years of siege had left the city devastated.[43] Five years later, Severus began to
rebuild Byzantium, and the city regained—and, by some accounts, surpassed—its
previous prosperity.[44]

Rise and fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire

Main article: Constantinople

Originally built by Constantine the Great in the 4th century and later rebuilt by Justinian the
Great after the Nika riots in 532, the Hagia Irene is an Eastern Orthodox Church located in the
outer courtyard of Topkapı 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-century Hagia Sophia (532–537)
by Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a
thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral (1507) in Spain.

The construction of the Aqueduct of Valens began during the reign of

the Roman emperor Constantius II and was completed in 373 during the reign of emperor Valens.

Constantine the Great effectively became the emperor of the whole of the Roman Empire
in September 324.[45] 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 named Nova Roma;
most called it Constantinople, a name that persisted into the 20th century.[46] On 11 May
330, Constantinople was proclaimed the capital of the Roman Empire, which was later
permanently divided between the two sons of Theodosius I upon his death on 17 January
395, when the city became the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.[47]

The 6th century Basilica Cistern was built by Justinian the Great.

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.[47][48] Numerous churches were built across the city,
including Hagia Sophia which was built during the reign of Justinian the Great and
remained the world's largest cathedral for a thousand years.[49] Constantine also
undertook a major renovation and expansion of the Hippodrome 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 the Nika
riots.[50][51] 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.[48] During most of the Middle 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.[52][53] Constantinople is generally considered
to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization".[54][55]
Constantinople began to decline continuously after the end of the reign of Basil II in 1025.
The Fourth Crusade was diverted from its purpose in 1204, and the city was sacked and
pillaged by the crusaders.[56] They established the Latin Empire in place of the Orthodox
Byzantine Empire.[57] Hagia Sophia was converted to a Catholic church in 1204. The
Byzantine Empire was restored, albeit weakened, in 1261.[58] Constantinople's churches,
defenses, and basic services were in disrepair,[59] 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
two Deesis mosaics in Hagia Sophia and Kariye, were created.[60]
Various economic and military policies instituted by Andronikos II, such as the reduction
of military forces, weakened the empire and left it vulnerable to attack.[61] In the mid-14th-
century, the Ottoman Turks began a strategy of gradually taking smaller towns and cities,
cutting off Constantinople's supply routes and strangling it slowly.[62] On 29 May 1453,
after an eight-week siege (during which the last Roman emperor, Constantine XI, was
killed), Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured Constantinople and declared it the
new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Hours later, the sultan rode to the Hagia Sophia and
summoned an imam to proclaim the Islamic creed, converting the grand cathedral into an
imperial mosque due to the city's refusal to surrender peacefully.[63] Mehmed declared
himself as the new Kayser-i Rûm (the Ottoman Turkish equivalent of the Caesar of
Rome) and the Ottoman state was reorganized into an empire.[64][65]

Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic eras

Map of Istanbul in the 16th century by the Ottoman polymath Matrakçı Nasuh

Following the conquest of Constantinople,[f] 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.[67] He also invited people from all over Europe to his capital,
creating a cosmopolitan society that persisted through much of the Ottoman period.
[68]
 Revitalizing Istanbul also required a massive program of restorations, of everything
from roads to aqueducts.[69] Like many monarchs before and since, Mehmed II
transformed Istanbul's urban landscape with wholesale redevelopment of the city center.
[70]
 There was a huge new palace to rival, if not overshadow, the old one, a new covered
market (still standing as the Grand Bazaar), porticoes, pavilions, walkways, as well as
more than a dozen new mosques.[69] Mehmed II turned the ramshackle old town into
something that looked like an imperial capital.[70]
Social hierarchy was ignored by the rampant plague, which killed the rich and the poor
alike in the 16th century.[71] Money could not protect the rich from all the discomforts and
harsher sides of Istanbul.[71] 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.[71] Opulent houses shared the same streets and districts
with tiny hovels.[71] Those rich enough to have secluded country properties had a chance
of escaping the periodic epidemics of sickness that blighted Istanbul.[71]

View of the Golden Horn and the Seraglio Point from Galata Tower

The Ottoman Dynasty claimed the status of caliphate in 1517, with Constantinople

remaining the capital of this last 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 architect Mimar Sinan designed several iconic buildings in the city,
while Ottoman arts of ceramics, stained glass, calligraphy, and miniature flourished.
[72]
 The population of Constantinople was 570,000 by the end of the 18th century.[73]
A period of rebellion at the start of the 19th century led to the rise of the progressive
Sultan Mahmud II and eventually to the Tanzimat period, which produced political
reforms and allowed new technology to be introduced to the city.[74] Bridges across the
Golden Horn were constructed during this period,[75] and Constantinople was connected to
the rest of the European railway network in the 1880s.[76] 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.
[77]
 The modernization efforts were not enough to forestall the decline of the Ottoman
Empire.[78]

Two aerial photos showing the Golden Horn and the Bosporus, taken from a German zeppelin on
19 March 1918

Sultan Abdul Hamid II was deposed with the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 and
the Ottoman Parliament, closed since 14 February 1878, was reopened 30 years later on
23 July 1908, which marked the beginning of the Second Constitutional Era.[79] A series of
wars in the early 20th century, such as the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) and the Balkan
Wars (1912–1913), plagued the ailing empire's capital and resulted in the 1913 Ottoman
coup d'état, which brought the regime of the Three Pashas.[80]
A view of Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Street) in the late 1920s. Completed in 1892, the Ottoman
Central Bank headquarters is seen at left. In 1995 the Istanbul Stock Exchange moved to İstinye,
while numerous Turkish banks have moved to Levent and Maslak.[81]

The Ottoman Empire joined World War I (1914–1918) on the side of the Central

Powers and was ultimately defeated. The deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24
April 1915 was among the major events which marked the start of the Armenian
genocide during WWI.[82] Due to Ottoman and Turkish policies of Turkification and ethnic
cleansing, the city's Christian population declined from 450,000 to 240,000 between 1914
and 1927.[83] The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October 1918 and
the Allies occupied Constantinople on 13 November 1918. The Ottoman Parliament was
dissolved by the Allies on 11 April 1920 and the Ottoman delegation led by Damat Ferid
Pasha was forced to sign the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920.[citation needed]
Following the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922), the Grand National Assembly
of Turkey in Ankara abolished the Sultanate on 1 November 1922, and the last Ottoman
Sultan, Mehmed VI, was declared persona non grata. Leaving aboard
the British warship HMS Malaya on 17 November 1922, he went into exile and died
in Sanremo, Italy, on 16 May 1926. The Treaty 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.[84] Turkish forces of the Ankara government,
commanded by Şükrü Naili Pasha (3rd Corps), entered the city with a ceremony on 6
October 1923, which has been marked as the Liberation Day of Istanbul
(Turkish: İstanbul'un Kurtuluşu) and is commemorated every year on its anniversary.
[84]
 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 first President.[85][86]
A 1942 wealth tax assessed mainly on non-Muslims led to the transfer or liquidation of
many businesses owned by religious minorities.[87] 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.[88] The 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 the metropolitan area of Istanbul.[89]

Geography
Further information: Geography of Turkey and Geology of Turkey
Satellite view of Istanbul and the strait of Bosporus

Istanbul is located in north-western Turkey and straddles the strait Bosporus, which

provides the only passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Sea of
Marmara.[15] 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.[15] Several picturesque islands—
Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada, Kınalıada, and five smaller islands—are part of the
city.[15] Istanbul's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Large sections
of Caddebostan sit on areas of landfill, increasing the total area of the city to 5,343
square kilometers (2,063 sq mi).[15]
Despite the myth that seven 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.[15]
The nearby North Anatolian Fault is responsible for much earthquake activity, although it
doesn't physically pass through the city itself.[90] The fault caused the earthquakes
in 1766 and 1894.[90] The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's
infrastructure development, with over 500,000[90] vulnerable buildings demolished and
replaced since 2012.[91] The city has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, most
recently in 2018,[91] requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering
standards for new construction.

Climate

Microclimates of Istanbul according to Köppen–Geiger classification system

Istanbul has a borderline Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa, Trewartha Cs), humid

subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa, Trewartha Cf) and oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb,
Trewartha Do) under both classifications. It experiences cool winters with frequent
precipitation, and warm to hot (mean temperature peaking at 20 °C (68 °F) to 25 °C
(77 °F) in August, depending on location), moderately dry summers.[92] Spring and fall are
usually mild, with varying conditions dependent on wind direction.[93][94]
Istanbul's weather is strongly influenced by the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the
Black Sea to the north. This moderates temperature swings and produces a mild
temperate climate with low diurnal temperature variation. Consequently, Istanbul's
temperatures almost always oscillate between −5 °C (23 °F) and 32 °C (90 °F),[95] and
most of the city does not experience temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) for more than 14
days a year.[96] Another effect of Istanbul's maritime position is its persistently high dew
points, near-saturation morning humidity,[97] and frequent fog,[98][95] which also limits
Istanbul's sunshine hours to levels closer to Western Europe,[99] and gives the city its
noticeable seasonal lag; Istanbul is one of the few cities in the temperate Northern
Hemisphere where March is, on average, colder than December.
Because of its hilly topography and maritime influences, Istanbul exhibits a multitude of
distinct microclimates.[100] Within the city, rainfall varies widely owing to the rain shadow of
the hills in Istanbul, from around 600 millimeters (24 in) on the southern fringe
at Florya to 1,200 millimeters (47 in) on the northern fringe at Bahçeköy.[101] Furthermore,
while the city itself lies in USDA hardiness zones 9a to 9b, its inland suburbs lie in zone
8b with isolated pockets of zone 8a, restricting the cultivation of cold-
hardy subtropical plants to the coasts.[96][102]
As Istanbul is only slightly rain shadowed from Mediterranean storms and is otherwise
surrounded by water, it usually receives some amount of precipitation from both Western
European and Mediterranean systems. This results in frequent precipitation: the average
number of rainy days in the city is 131, and in some parts it may reach up to 152 days.
Furthermore, during early and mid-winter, the city's frequency of precipitation is virtually
unparalleled in the Mediterranean basin; January averages 20 days of precipitation when
counting trace accumulations,[103] 17 when using a 0.1 mm threshold, and 12 when using
a 1.0 mm threshold.[104]
The highest recorded temperature at the official downtown observation station
in Sarıyer was 41.5 °C (107 °F) and on 13 July 2000.[105] The lowest recorded temperature
was −16.1 °C (3 °F) on 9 February 1929.[105] The highest recorded snow cover in the city
center was 80 centimeters (31 in) on 4 January 1942, and 104 centimeters (41 in) in the
northern suburbs on 11 January 2017.[106][105][107]

showClimate data for Kireçburnu, Istanbul (normals 1981–2010, extremes 1929–2018,

snowy days 1996-2011)

showClimate data for Florya, Istanbul (normals 1991–2020, extremes 1937–present,

sunshine 1981-2010)

showClimate data for Bahçeköy, Istanbul

(normals and extremes 1981–2010, snowy
days 1990-1999)

hideClimate data for Istanbul

Fe Ma Ma Ju Au Se No De Ye
Month Jan Apr Jul Oct
b r y n g p v c ar
 Averag
10. 15. 21. 24. 24. 22. 18. 13. 10. 15.
e sea 8.4 7.7 8.3
2 5 3 6 9 8 4 8 5 5
temper (47. (45. (46.
(50. (59. (70. (76. (76. (73. (65. (56. (50. (60.
ature °C 1) 9) 9)
4) 9) 3) 3) 8) 0) 1) 8) 9) 0)
(°F)

Source: Weather Atlas [109]

Climate change

Müze Gazhane in Kadıköy is the first climate change museum in Turkey.

Further information: Climate change in Turkey

As with virtually every part of the world, climate change is causing more heatwaves,
[116]
 droughts,[117] storms,[118] and flooding[119][120] in Istanbul. Furthermore, as Istanbul is a large
and rapidly expanding city, its urban heat island has been intensifying the effects of
climate change.[95] Considering past data,[121] it is very likely that these two factors are
responsible for urban Istanbul's shift, from a warm-summer climate to a hot-summer one
in the Köppen climate classification, and from the cool temperate zone to the warm
temperate/subtropical zone in the Trewartha climate classification.[122][123][124] If trends
continue, sea level rise is likely to affect city infrastructure, for example Kadıkoy metro
station is threatened with flooding.[125] Xeriscaping of green spaces has been suggested,
[126]
 and Istanbul has a climate-change action plan.[127]