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The city covers 25 districts of the Istanbul province.
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It is located at 41° N 28° E, on the Bosphorus strait, and
encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the
country.
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It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian
(Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus.
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It is thereby the only metropolis in the world which is situated
on two continents.
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In its long history, Istanbul (Constantinople) served as the
capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Byzantine Empire (395-1204 and
1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922).
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Its has been the Holy See for the Patriarch of Constantinople
since Saint Andrew installed Saint Stachys as the first Bishop of
Byzantium.
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The Holy See has been a Patriarchate since the Council of
Chalcedon in 451
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The city was chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for
2010.
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The "Historic Areas of Istanbul" were added to the UNESCO World
Heritage List in 1985.
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