From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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-	{{Template}}	+	#REDIRECT [[Bosphorus]]
-	'''Istanbul''' (formerly '''[[Constantinople]]''' and '''[[Byzantium]]''') is the largest city of [[Turkey]], and also one of the [[Largest cities of the world|largest cities]] in [[Europe]] (although most of Turkey is not in Europe), with 11,000,000 inhabitants. It is also the administrative capital of the [[Istanbul Province|Istanbul]] [[Provinces of Turkey|Province]]. Founded by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] emperor [[Constantine I of the Roman Empire|Constantine]] on the site of the ancient [[Hellenic civilization|Greek]] colony of [[Byzantium]], and called [[Constantinople]] after him (only on [[March 28]], [[1930]], did the name ''Istanbul'' become official), it became the eastern capital of the [[Roman Empire]] and later the capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. After the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in [[1453]] it became part of and soon capital of the [[Ottoman Empire]].	+
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-	The old city is mainly located on the [[Bosporus]] strait, which separates [[Europe]] from [[Asia]] and the [[Black Sea]] from the [[Marmara Sea]]. However, the modern city is much larger and covers both European and Asian sides of the Bosporus. Famous tourist places include Sariyer, Eyüp and Taksim on the European side, and Beykoz, Üsküdar, Kadiköy, Moda, Bostanci and Adalar (the Princes Islands) on the Asian side. Although Istanbul is no longer the capital of Turkey, it is still the major city in Turkey's industry, commerce and culture and the most important import and export center.	+
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-	For the history of Istanbul pre-1930s, see the articles at [[Byzantium]] and [[Constantinople]].	+
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-	On [[November 20]], [[2003]], two bombs exploded in Istanbul, destroying the Turkish HQ of [[HSBC Holdings]], a bank headquartered in [[London]]. The second bomb destroyed the British Consulate, killing the Consulate General, [[Robert Short]]. The attacks came only weeks after suicide blasts at two synagogues in the city.	+
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-	For Istanbul cymbals, see [[Istanbul cymbals]].	+
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-	== [[Etymology]] of the name ==	+
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-	It is sometimes said that the name Istanbul comes from the Greek words ''stin poli'' which means "at the City". This is a historical myth. The name is merely a Turkish contraction of Con'''stan'''tinou'''pol'''is. The sound rendered by '''"i"''' is prepended by the virtue of the language. Many [[Turkic languages]] forbid certan combinations of consonants at the beginning of the word, hence certain borrowed words asquire a vowel chosen according to the rule of [[vowel harmony]]. In this way Smyrna became [[Izmir]] and [[Nicaea]] became [[Iznik]], just as "machine" became "amashina" in e.g., [[Abkhaz language]]. The intermediate form ''Stamboul'' was commonly used in the 19th century.	+
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-	== Places to visit ==	+
-	*[[Topkapi Palace]]	+
-	*[[The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul]]	+
-	*[[Golden Horn]]	+
-	*[[Hagia Sophia]]	+
-	*[[Istiklal Avenue]]	+
-	*[[Sultan Ahmed Mosque|Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Blue Mosque]]	+
-	*[[Galata Tower]]	+
-	*[[Prince's Islands]]	+
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-	{{GFDL}}	+

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Revision as of 10:19, 28 June 2013

1. REDIRECT Bosphorus