Istanbul Province , also the
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (Istanbul Büyüksehir Belediyesi) is a
province located in north-west
Turkey. It has an area of 5,343.02 km² and a population of 14,377,018 as of 2014. It is surrounded by the provinces of
Tekirdag to the west,
Kocaeli to the east, the
Black Sea to the northern part and the
Sea of Marmara to the south. The
Bosphorus Strait divides the province in two parts: the
European side and the
Asian side. Out of a population of 12.9 million in 2009, roughly 8 million lived on the European side and the remaining 5 million lived on the Asian.