Istanbul 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. Istanbul is located in north-western Turkey within the Marmara Region on a total area of . The Bosphorus, which connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, divides the city into a European, Thracian side—comprising the historic and economic centers—and an
History of Istanbul side there was a Phoenician colony. On the site of Lygos, the later Byzantium was located, thus Lygos is accepted as the city which gave rise to Istanbul. "Byzantion" (Βυζάντιον), Latinized as "Byzantium", was the next name of the city. The name is believed to be of Thracian or Illyrian origin and thus to predate the Greek settlement. It may be derived from a Thracian or Illyrian personal name, "Byzas". Ancient Greek legend refers to a legendary king Bizas as the leader of the Megarean colonists and eponymous founder of the city. Cape Moda in Chalcedon was the first location