Istanbul

City and chief seaport of Turkey, on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance into the Sea of Marmara; population (2003 est) 9,419,00, urban agglomeration 10,048,900. It produces textiles, shoes, motor vehicles, ships, chemicals, food products, tobacco, cement, glass, and leather. The city is visited by many tourists and is a popular resort. One of the great historic cities of the world, it was founded as Byzantium in about 660 BC, was renamed Constantinople (AD 330) by Constantine the Great, and was the capital of the Byzantine Empire until captured by the Turks in 1453. As Istamboul it was capital of the Ottoman Empire until 1922; its name was officially changed from Constantinople to Istanbul in 1930.

features the harbour of the Golden Horn; Hagia Sophia (Emperor Justinian's church of the Holy Wisdom (537), later a mosque and since 1922 a museum), one of the world's most renowned works of architecture; Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, from its tiles; Topkapi Palace of the Sultans, with a harem of 400 rooms (now a museum), and the Grand Bazaar, the world's largest covered market, were built during the Ottoman period. The Selimye Barracks in the suburb of Usküdar (Scutari) was used as a hospital in the Crimean War; the rooms used by Florence Nightingale, with her personal possessions, are preserved as a museum. The Istanbul International Film Festival awarded its first prizes in 1985 and the Istanbul Biennial, one of the world's biggest art shows, began in 1987. Among several theatre venues is the Süreyya Opera House, home of the Istanbul Opera and Ballet.