| Istanbul, Turkey: The Crossroads of Europe and Asia: This
metropolis of 15 million people occupies both sides of the entrance
to the narrow, 20-mile long Bosporus Strait connecting the
Mediterranean and Sea of Marmara (south) to the Black Sea (north).
From its founding as Byzantium by the Greeks in 600 B.C., this
strategically located city has been a focus of maritime trade and
commerce as well as an outpost and threshold for cultural exchange
and conflict between Europe and Asia. The modern city’s layout and
architecture show the influences of both the Roman-Byzantine era when
it became Constantinople, the world’s first Christian capital, as
well as that of the conquering Ottoman Turks, from 1453, when it
became the seat of the world’s largest Muslim Empire. Today Istanbul
is Turkey’s economic capital and home to nearly half the country’s
wealth. This digital camera image was taken by the crew of the
International Space Station on April 16, 2004. When this image was
taken, strong currents carried turbid coastal waters from the Black
Sea through the Strait and into the Sea of Marmara. The rugged
uplands to the north of the city are forested and contain vital
reservoirs. Note Ataturk airport southwest of the city near the
bottom of the image, the picturesque Prince Islands in the Sea of
Marmara, and the sinuous waterway and harbor on the western shore
known as the Golden Horn. |
