Istanbul is located in Turkey. It is the largest city in Turkey and serves as the countrys economic, cultural, and historic hub. Istanbul is a transcontinental city, straddling the Bosphorus strait in northwestern Turkey between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. The city lies in both Europe and Asia, with its commercial and historical center on the European side and about a third of its population living on the Asian side. Istanbul is the capital of Istanbul Province, which has a population of around 14.7 million residents. The city is the largest urban agglomeration in Europe as well as the largest in the Middle East, and the sixth-largest city proper in the world.