Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, straddling the Bosporus Strait, the boundary between Europe and Asia. It has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey and is the most populous city in Europe and the world’s sixteenth-largest city.

The city was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century BCE by Greek settlers from Megara.^[9] In 330 CE, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great made it his imperial capital, renaming it first as New Rome and then finally as Constantinople after himself. In 1930, the city’s name was officially changed to Istanbul.

The city served as an imperial capital for almost 1600 years: during the Byzantine (330–1204), Latin (1204–1261), late Byzantine (1261–1453), and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires.^[12] The city was on the Silk Road and one of the most important cities in history. The city played a key role in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before its transformation to an Islamic stronghold following the fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE.

Istanbul was the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The city has surpassed London and Dubai to become the most visited city in the world, with more than 20 million foreign visitors in 2023.