Istanbul Province Istanbul Province Istanbul Province (), also the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality ("İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi") is a province of Turkey. It has an area of and is located in the Marmara region in the north-west of the country, bordered by Tekirdağ Province to the west and Kocaeli Province to the east. The Bosphorus Strait between the Black Sea to the north and the Sea of Marmara to the south divides Istanbul Province into European and Asian sides, which makes it one of only two transcontinental provinces in Turkey, along with Çanakkale Province. Istanbul Province has a population of 14,804,116 as of 2016,
Piracy in the Strait of Hormuz Piracy in the Strait of Hormuz Piracy has taken place in a maritime area bounded by the Suez and the Strait of Hormuz. Approximately 35 percent of all crude oil shipped by sea and one-third of all liquefied natural gas pass through the strait. High Risk Areas for piracy (HRA) have been declared in different parts of the world to reflect precautions to be taken when ships transit them. These include the following: As per the Contact group of Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), the HRA (updated on 8 October 2015) is an area bounded by the following: