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
History of Istanbul was moved from Istanbul to Ankara. As a consequence, population collapsed, from an estimated 1,125,000 in 1914 to about 500,000 in 1924; but population steadily grew during the later 20th century, the metropolitan population surpassing 10 million in the year 2000. The city's name "İstanbul" is a shortened version with a Turkish character of the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" [is tin ˈpolin], meaning "into the city", which had long been in vernacular use by the local population. The international name "Constantinople" also remained in use until Turkey adapted the Latin alphabet in 1928 and urged other countries to