http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul
Istanbul (turkish: İstanbul, pronounced "Istanbul"; Κωνσταντινούπολη modern greek, Latin Constantinopolis) Turkey is the capital of the province. With a population of 12,573,836 inhabitants [1] is the main industrial and cultural center of the country; the municipal center (city's) most populous in Europe [2] (the third in the world), [3] and the second most populous metropolitan area in Europe, after Moscow (the ninth in the world).
Istanbul (Constantinople, ancient Byzantium) was the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261) and Ottoman Empire (1453-1922). Istanbul is chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for 2010. Since 1985, the historic districts of Istanbul were added to the UNESCO list of world heritage.
