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Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, straddling the Bosporus Strait, the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is considered the country's economic, cultural and historic capital.
The city was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century BCE by Greek settlers from Megara. 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.
In 2024, Euromonitor International ranked Istanbul as the second most visited city in the world, welcoming 23 million visitors. The historic centre of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
