Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul (, or or ; ), historically known as Byzantium and before 1924 as Constantinople, is the most populous city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural, and historic center. Istanbul is a transcontinental city in Eurasia, straddling the Bosporus strait (which separates Europe and Asia) between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side. The city is the administrative center of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (coterminous with Istanbul Province), both hosting a population of around 15
Marine life of the Strait of Messina important in the Mediterranean Sea in terms of whale species diversity. Worthy of note, besides the several species of Dolphins are the Fin Whale ("Balaenoptera physalus") and particularly the Sperm Whales which migrate to the Strait to their breeding area, probably the Aeolian Islands. Sharks migrate through the Strait of Messina, including the Great White Shark ("Carcharodon carcharias") and the Bluntnose Sixgill Shark ("Hexanchus griseus"). The abundant presence of marine fauna in the Straits, though noted by much earlier zoologists was first effectively publicised by the Italian scientist Anastasio Cocco (1799–1854) and following this in the second half of the