Istanbul — province population
Istanbul has a recorded base population of 15,907,951 for the province definition (Population reference date not supplied in local record). GeoNames administrative-unit record; the moving counter uses World Bank national growth (2025); not measured local growth, not new population observations.
At a glance
Separate UN urban-centre definition
Istanbul UN urban centre: 15,014,763 people (2025), smaller than the displayed province figure of 15,907,951. Separate GeoNames settlement record: 15,701,602; the UN value is smaller (different boundaries; GeoNames population date unavailable). UN WUP 2025 Degree of Urbanisation; not a municipal/province boundary. Association: name/country/coordinates matched; boundary relationship unverified. No containment claim is made.
Administrative units of Istanbul
39 of 39 district memberships verified against reference_il_ilce.csv; reference date not supplied. 38 of 39 population values available; population values and dates not independently verified.
Available-value subtotal: 15,139,637; not a reconciled total. Shares use the displayed province denominator 15,907,951; mixed/unknown dates are not comparable. An em dash means missing, not zero.
| Unit | Population | Share | Membership |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esenyurt | 983,571 | 6.18% | Verified membership |
| Pendik | 750,435 | 4.72% | Verified membership |
| Küçükçekmece | 740,090 | 4.65% | Verified membership |
| Bağcılar | 740,069 | 4.65% | Verified membership |
| Ümraniye | 723,760 | 4.55% | Verified membership |
| Bahçelievler | 602,931 | 3.79% | Verified membership |
| Sultangazi | 542,531 | 3.41% | Verified membership |
| Maltepe | 528,544 | 3.32% | Verified membership |
| Üsküdar | 524,452 | 3.30% | Verified membership |
| Gaziosmanpaşa | 495,006 | 3.11% | Verified membership |
| Sancaktepe | 489,848 | 3.08% | Verified membership |
| Kartal | 483,418 | 3.04% | Verified membership |
| Kadıköy | 467,919 | 2.94% | Verified membership |
| Esenler | 461,621 | 2.90% | Verified membership |
| Kâğıthane | 455,943 | 2.87% | Verified membership |
| Fatih | 425,875 | 2.68% | Verified membership |
| Eyüpsultan | 422,913 | 2.66% | Verified membership |
| Avcılar | 407,240 | 2.56% | Verified membership |
| Ataşehir | 405,974 | 2.55% | Verified membership |
| Sarıyer | 335,598 | 2.11% | Verified membership |
| Başakşehir | 333,047 | 2.09% | Verified membership |
| Arnavutköy | 326,452 | 2.05% | Verified membership |
| Sultanbeyli | 309,347 | 1.94% | Verified membership |
| Çekmeköy | 296,066 | 1.86% | Verified membership |
| Zeytinburnu | 292,616 | 1.84% | Verified membership |
| Tuzla | 288,878 | 1.82% | Verified membership |
| Güngören | 282,692 | 1.78% | Verified membership |
| Şişli | 274,420 | 1.73% | Verified membership |
| Bayrampaşa | 269,677 | 1.70% | Verified membership |
| Beykoz | 248,056 | 1.56% | Verified membership |
| Beylikdüzü | 244,760 | 1.54% | Verified membership |
| Beyoğlu | 225,920 | 1.42% | Verified membership |
| Bakırköy | 220,974 | 1.39% | Verified membership |
| Silivri | 217,163 | 1.37% | Verified membership |
| Beşiktaş | 186,570 | 1.17% | Verified membership |
| Çatalca | 77,468 | 0.49% | Verified membership |
| Şile | 41,627 | 0.26% | Verified membership |
| Adalar | 16,166 | 0.10% | Verified membership |
| Büyükçekmece | — | — | Verified membership |
Recorded localities
Gazetteer associations; boundary membership not independently verified.
Eminönü (55,548), Kavaklı (50,502), Mimarsinan (31,002), Gürpınar (29,411), Yakuplu (28,811), Zekeriya (22,558), Tepecik (21,699), Çubuklu (20,698), Tarabya (17,852), Kumburgaz (11,949), Boyalık (11,835), İmrahor (11,706), Selimpaşa (10,563), Uskumruköy (9,864), Ağva (8,750), Aksaray (8,541), Bolluca (8,274), Celâliye (7,788), Çanta (5,470)
Comparable database records
Same definition label: province. Dates/boundaries may still differ; this is not a harmonised international city ranking. Ratios use 15,907,951 as denominator.
| Place | Population | vs Istanbul |
|---|---|---|
| Ankara | 5,782,285 | −63.7% |
| İzmir | 4,493,242 | −71.8% |
| Bursa | 3,194,720 | −79.9% |
| Antalya | 2,688,004 | −83.1% |
| Konya | 2,296,347 | −85.6% |
About these numbers
Source: GeoNames administrative-unit record. Reference: Population reference date not supplied in local record; GeoNames record modified 2026-04-16 (not the population date). Live method: exponential projection from modelling anchor 2025-07-01 using World Bank national growth (2025); not measured local growth (+0.42% per year). This anchor is a modelling convention, not an observed population date. Tiles, ranks and comparisons use the recorded base figure 15,907,951, not the ticking estimate. Country/world denominators are World Bank values and can differ in date and method from local/UN values. Ranks cover only records with the same definition label in this database, not all cities in the world.
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The local administrative record is 15,907,951; the separate UN urban-centre estimate is 15,014,763 for 2025. These are not two measurements of an identical boundary. The first record's population reference date is not supplied, so its modification date must not be described as a census year.
The reference list contains all 39 district names. Only 38 district population values are available; Büyükçekmece remains unknown. Adding a missing name repaired membership coverage, not population coverage.
For a cross-country urban comparison, choose UN urban centres on both sides. For municipal or provincial services, the administrative definition may answer a different question. See Istanbul and Sydney side by side.