Istanbul is Europe's most populous city and Turkey's cultural and financial center. The city of Istanbul has a population of over 11,000,000.

It is located on the Bosphorus Strait, and encompasses the natural harbor  known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. In its long history, Istanbul served as the capital city of the Roman Empire  (330-395), the Byzantine Empire  (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire  (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire  (1453-1922). 

In the last decades, numerous tall structures were built around the city to accommodate a rapid growth in population. Surrounding towns were absorbed into Istanbul as the city rapidly expanded outwards. The tallest high-rise office and residential buildings are mostly located in the northern areas of the European side, and especially in the business and shopping districts of Levent, Maslak, and Etiler  which are situated between the Bosphorus Bridge  and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge . Levent and Etiler also have numerous upmarket shopping malls, like Kanyon, Metrocity, Akmerkez, Mayadrom and Mayadrom Uptown. The headquarters of Turkey's largest companies and banks are also located in this area.