About Istanbul (Page Nine
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Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart.
With a population of 14.1 million, the city forms the largest urban agglomeration in Europe, second largest in the Middle East and the fifth-largest city in the world by population within city limits.
Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is the administrative capital.[c] Istanbul is a transcontinental city, straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.
Its commercial and historical centre lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives in Asia.
