- ISTANBUL
- ISTANBUL AREA
- HOW TO GET THERE
- CLIMATE
- GALLERY
Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople is the largest city of Turkey. According to the address-based birth recording system of the Turkish Statistical Institute, the metropolitan municipality (province) of the city had a population of 13.26 million as of 2010, which is 17.98% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest in Europe(including its Asian half) after London and Moscow.
The areas around Istiklal Avenue, Nisantasi, Bebek and Kadikoy offer all sorts of cafés, restaurants, pubs and clubs as well as art galleries, theaters and cinemas.
Apart from being the largest city and former political capital of the country, Istanbul has always been the centre of Turkey's economic life because of its location as a junction of international land and sea trade routes. Istanbul is also Turkey's largest industrial centre. It employs approximately 20% of Turkey's industrial labour and contributes 38% of Turkey's industrial workspace.
By plane
Istanbul has two international airports: The larger one is the Atatürk International Airport located in the Yeşilkoy district on the European side, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) west from the city centre.
In summer the weather in Istanbul is hot and humid, with the temperature in July and August averaging 23 °C (73 °F). Summers are relatively dry, but rainfall is significant during that season. Extreme heat, however, is uncommon, as temperatures rise above 32 °C (90 °F) on only five days per year on average.During winter it is cold, wet and often snowy, with the temperature in January and February averaging 4 °C (39 °F).
| Climate data for Istanbul Turkey | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 8.7 (47.7) |
9.1 (48.4) |
11.2 (52.2) |
16.5 (61.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
26.0 (78.8) |
28.4 (83.1) |
28.5 (83.3) |
25.0 (77) |
20.1 (68.2) |
15.3 (59.5) |
11.1 (52) |
18.8 (65.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) |
2.8 (37) |
3.9 (39) |
7.7 (45.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
16.0 (60.8) |
18.5 (65.3) |
18.7 (65.7) |
15.5 (59.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
5.3 (41.5) |
10.5 (50.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 98.4 (3.874) |
80.2 (3.157) |
69.9 (2.752) |
45.8 (1.803) |
36.1 (1.421) |
34.0 (1.339) |
38.8 (1.528) |
47.8 (1.882) |
61.4 (2.417) |
96.9 (3.815) |
110.7 (4.358) |
123.9 (4.878) |
843.9 (33.224) |
| % Humidity | 80 | 78 | 76 | 74 | 74 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 78 | 80 | 80 | 75 |
| Avg. precipitation days | 17.7 | 15.3 | 13.6 | 10.3 | 7.8 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 10.3 | 12.9 | 16.9 | 123.8 |
| Sunshine hours | 93 | 112 | 124 | 180 | 279 | 330 | 372 | 330 | 240 | 186 | 120 | 93 | 2,459 |
