Let your self experience a great city where the Continents meet.
Latest News
New openings in 2024
The St. Saviour in Chora (Kariye) is re-opened after years of restorations as a mosque and a museum.
Entrance fees in 2024
As of 1st of March 2024, many State museums' fees are set in Euros, to be paid its equivalent in Turkish Liras.
Museum Pass
You can buy the "Museum Pass" for foreigners which is valid for 5 days in various museums of Istanbul.
Museums open 7 days
Many State museums in Istanbul operate 7 days a week, except Topkapi Palace.
Istanbul in numbers
Geography
Coordinates: 41.09 north, 29.42 east
Area: 5.461 square km
- 17% is good for agriculture
- 47% is forested area
- 36% open for housing
- 1,1 m2 green for 1.000 people
Neighborhoods: 936
Districts: 39
Demography
Population: 15,655,924 as of 1st of January 2024 (10.041.477 in 2000), that is 18.34% of the total population of Turkey (85,372,377 as of 1st January 2024).
Density: 3,013 person/km2 (27 times of Turkey, which is 111 person per square km)
Population growth rate: 1 % yearly
- Around 5 million (35 %) lives on the Asian side (Anatolia), around 10 million (65 %) on the European side (Thrace)
- 50.1 % of the population is men (in Turkey the rate is 50.1 %)
- 84.2 % are born outside of Istanbul (mostly in Sivas)
Climate
Average temperature: 13,6 degrees Celsius
Average relative humidity: 79 %
Average sea temperature: 15-16 Celsius
Building
Housing: 1.166.433 buildings or 4,5 million single units (approximate in 2020)
Islamic Mosques: 3.555 (as of August 2023)
Christian Churches: 143
Jewish Synagogues: 16
Traffic
Plate number: 34
Motor vehicles: 5.065.301 (1 vehicle for each 4 person) as of April 2023
- 1/5 of the cars in Turkey (26.482.847 as of end of January 2023) are in Istanbul
- about 30.000 new cars join in every month !!!
Police: 37.979 (2015)
Taxis: 17.395 (2020)
Public buses: 6.135 (2015)
Suspension Bridges: 3 over the Bosphorus, making around 350.000 US Dollars daily income total from them, around 370.000 vehicles daily (as of 2016).
Tunnels: There are 2 underwater tunnels at the bottom of the Bosphorus; The Marmaray Tunnel was opened in October 2013 and used by subway trains, The Eurasia Tunnel was opened in December 2016 and used by cars and minibusses. There are also several small and mid-size tunnels under the hills of the city for motor vehicles in order to ease the traffic in the center.
Airports: 2 international, 1 Cargo & State, 1 private, several military.
Fishing boats: 2,058
Education
Literacy rate: 97.3 % (over 6 years of age), it's over the country's average (95,8 % in Turkey)
Elementary schools: 2.981 (as of 2015)
Middle schools: 1.190 (2015)
High schools: 914
Students: over 3 million (2018)
Teachers: 165.940 (2018)
Universities: 52 (29% of total universities of Turkey are in Istanbul)
- 70% of students are in State universities
- 30% in Private universities
Health
Hospitals: 234 (in 2021), 71% of them are private hospitals
Hospital beds: 46,960 (in 2021)
Doctors: 31,885 (1.617 patients for each doctor)
Pharmacies: 4,937 (2015)
Blood centers: 31
Dialysis centers: 70
X-ray labs: 350
Cemetaries: 555 muslim + 65 non-muslim, around 4 million tombs (2015)
Elderly homes: 61 (33 of them are private), with 5.535 beds (in 2004)
Homeless children: 236
Culture
Libraries: 72
Cultural centers: 62
Fair/Congress centers: 8
Concerts halls: 28
Movie theaters: 70
Theaters: 23
Art galleries: 68
Newspapers: 337 local and 28 national papers
Media: 15 TV stations and 130 radio stations
Sports
Licensed sportsmen: 105.009 (61.708 active)
Stadiums: 16 with grass (139.729 capacity) and 11 with firm ground
Olympic shooting range: 1
Bowling saloons: 9
Golf courses: 2
Football (Soccer) teams: 5 teams in Super League, 2 teams in 1st League, 10 teams in League C (as of 2020-2021 Season)
Sports clubs: 470 football clubs, 190 basketball, 92 volleyball, 16 handicapped, 251 karate/judo/tekwandoo, 68 boxing
Tourism
Tourists: 17,3 million in 2023. It was dropped to 5 million in 2020 due to global Covid-19 Pandemic! Was 15 million in 2019 (Turkey: 49,2 million in 2023)
Hotels: 719 (130+ five star, 170+ four star, 160+ three star, 45+ two star, 9 one star, 180+ special category)
Beds: 146,000 (as of Jan 2021)
Travel agents: 3,524 (in 2018)
Sites: 63 museums, 64 historic mosques, 66 historic medresse, 49 historic churches, 1 historic synagogue, 17 palaces
Tourist entertainment installations: 349
Utilities
Fixed phones: 4.385.401
Electricity consumption: 29 billion 720 million Kw/h per year
Natural gas consumption: 3.757.000.000 m3
Natural gas subscribers: 5.931.345 (as of 2015) (It was 5,120 in 1990)
Water consumption: 3 million m3 per day (2016), 174 liters per person per day
Economy
Municipality budget: 43,6 billion TL (2022)
Contribution to national budget: 6.454.947 x million TL
GNP per capita: 3.063 USD (7th in Turkey, first being Kocaeli province with 6,165 USD)
Share in national GNP: 23 %
Share in national bank deposits: 35%
Share in national tax collected: 40%
Bank branches: 1.730 (approximately 29% of total banks in Turkey)
Free Trade Zones: 4 (Thrace, Ataturk airport, Leather and Industrial, Stock Exchange)
Import/Export: 57% of national export and 60% of national import was made from Istanbul (in 2005), major export is textile
Commercial firms: 267.248 (63.31 % are Limited), 29,5 % of total firms of Turkey are in Istanbul
- 99% of workers are in private sector
- 1% are in State offices (30,5 % of total workers of Turkey are in Istanbul)
- 53.3 % of the population work in services
- 32.2 % in industry
- 8.1 % in agriculture
- 6.2 % in construction (in 2000)
Social security: 4.057.090 people, that makes around 90% of the population insured considering parenthood such as husband-wife or parents-children etc.
- 75% are insured with SGK
- 14% with Bagkur
- 11% with Emekli Sandigi
- 3% holds Green card (324.980 people)
Hope to see you soon in Istanbul.
