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,
Names of Istanbul Names of Istanbul The city of Istanbul has been known by a number of different names. The most notable names besides the modern Turkish name are "Byzantium", "Constantinople", and "Stamboul". Different names are associated with different phases of its history and with different languages. According to Pliny the Elder the first name of Byzantium was "Lygos". This may have been the name of a Thracian settlement situated on the site of the later city, near the point of the peninsula (Sarayburnu). "Byzantion" (Βυζάντιον), Latinized as "Byzantium", was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC. The name is believed