Sitting in the wheelhouse of Turkey’s economy, the 8,500 year old city, Istanbul, overtook 129 countries with its population exceeding 15 million. Considering that there are 201 countries around the world, Istanbul is home to a population that leaves behind 129 countries, including, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Cuba.
EQUIVALENT TO 41 COUNTRIES
Being one of the world’s largest metropoles, Istanbul’s population is also equivalent to the population of 41 countries put together. 41 countries, including Luxembourg, Montenegro, Malta, Iceland, Dominic Republic, Bahamas and the Virgin Islands put together only make one Istanbul.
A 1,2 MILLION INCREASE
According to statistics provided by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey’s population has increased by 1,2 million and reached 82 million. 18.6 percent of this population lives in Istanbul. In the last 5 years, 868 thousand 764 people joined the population of Istanbul and the city reached its peak with 15 million 29 thousand and
231 people. Istanbul makes up 0,007 of Turkey’s total surface; 5 thousand 462 square kilometers. The number of people per square kilometer in the city is 2 thousand 892. With an intense young population, Istanbul is also a student city. One in every 5 people living in the city is a student.
THE CAPITAL OF TRADE
Alongside its leadership in population density, Istanbul is also the capital of economics and trade. It holds 20 percent of the labor force in Turkey. The business world in Istanbul accounts for 27 percent of national income. Last year Turkey broke its all-time record with a level of 168,1 billion dollars worth of export. 42 percent of this number was from Istanbul. The megacity’s share in exports is 72,1 billion dollars. 37 out of 100 corporate tax payers are located in Istanbul. Therefore, the fact that things are going well in the economy’s locomotive city, which makes us say ‘its paved with gold from its stones to soil,’ is an important illustration of the fact that Turkey’s economy is developing and growing.
HOSTED 13 MILLION TOURISTS
According to statistics provided by the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the megacity hosted 13,4 million foreign tourists in the last year. The largest proportion of visitors were from Germany and accounted to around 1,07 million visitors. Tourists from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UK, France and U.S. are also among the top of the list. The number of tourists from Arab countries exceeded over 3 million.
The number of vehicles in traffic is the same as the number of the total population of 20 provinces
According to the data on motor vehicles, as of December 2018, there are 4 million 173 thousand 312 vehicles registered in Istanbul. When calculating the total population of 20 provinces across Turkey, the resulting figure is equivalent to the number of vehicles in Istanbul.
NUMBER OF ISTANBUL
66 THOUSAND COMPANIES PURSUE GLOBAL BUSINESS
Besides being an inspirational city for other Turkish cities in areas of economy and trade, media, finance, fashion, art, technology, research, entertainment and education, Istanbul is also inspirational for other metropoles. After London and Paris in Europe, Istanbul is the 3rd city that has the most visiting tourists and is ranked 9th in the world for tourist attraction. In the city that provides great trust to global investors, there are 66 thousand companies doing global business.
