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,
History of Istanbul to Ankara. Since 1930, the native name "Istanbul" has been the sole official name of the city in Turkish and has since replaced the traditional name "Constantinople" in most western languages as well. Humans have lived in the area now known as Istanbul since at least the Neolithic period. The earliest known settlement dates from 6700 BC, discovered in 2008, during the construction works of the Yenikapı subway station and the Marmaray tunnel at the historic peninsula on the European side. The first human settlement on the Anatolian side, the Fikirtepe mound, is from the Copper Age period, with artifacts