"The Most Important City in the World " a Istanbul Travel Page by dentremo

One could argue that Istanbul is the historical, geographical, cultural, and even economical center of the world. From the 5th century AD until 1918, Istanbul (or Constantinople as it was known for most of its history) was the capital of two of the most powerful and influential empires in history. This history is still visible in this magnificent city of 12 million people.

The most interesting aspects of Istanbul are it's contrasts. Geographically, it stradles the border of Europe and Asia and culturally, it is the nexus of the struggle between traditionalism and modernism, and secularism and religion. You'll find european and islamic architecture, and multinational companies and bazars. You'll hear Arabic in the Mosques, English in the financial district, German in torist areas, and Turkish everywhwere. Almost all of it's residents are Muslim, but it is home of the head of the Greek Orthodox church.

Although one may think of New York, Tokoyo, or London, when one thinks of financial centers, but one can not underestimate the value of the oil that passes through the city everyday and its importance to the world-wide economy. One can not look out at the Bosphourous and not see a handfull of supertankers headin to or from the Black Sea. This explains why they wanted to explode a Nuclear weapon in Istanbul in the James Bond movie 'The World is not Enough.'