The Çatalca Peninsula lies in the European section of Turkey ( Thrace), extending from the southeast Balkans and separating the Black Sea from the Sea of Marmara on the western side of the strait of Bosphorus. Approximately two thirds of Istanbul, one of the most populous cities of the world, occupy its eastern part.

Geography

The peninsula is roughly rectangular. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, Sea of Marmara to the south and

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

to the east. The west border is more or less arbitrary, but usually taken to correspond with the western border of

İstanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. Thus defined, its north to south width is about and the west to east length is about . Çatalca Peninsula is almost a mirror image of the

Kocaeli Peninsula The Kocaeli Peninsula ( tr, Kocaeli Yarımadası) lies in the northwest corner of Anatolia, Turkey, separating the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the Asian side of the strait of Bosphorus. Approximately one-third of Istanbul, one of the most ...

on the other side of the Bosphorus. In fact, the geographers consider it to be a part of the ''Kocaeli–Çatalca subregion''. There are several natural and artificial lakes in the Çatalca peninsula including

Lake Durusu Lake Durusu (also called Lake Terkos or Targus) is a lake in Thrace region of Turkey. It would be eliminated by the planned Istanbul Canal. Description The lake lies in İstanbul Province. The midpoint of the lake is at about . It is situated to ...

, Lake Büyükçekmece and

Lake Küçükçekmece Lake Küçükçekmece ( tr, Küçükçekmece Gölü) is a lagoon located between the Küçükçekmece, Esenyurt and Avcılar districts of the European portion of Istanbul Province, northwestern Turkey. The lake is neighbored in the south by stat ...

History

During the reign of Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (491-518) a defense wall had been constructed between Evcik beach at the north and

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...

at the south to defend İstanbul (then known as'' Constantinople'') from Huns and other attackers. The wall was one of the longest ramparts of Europe. But even then such attackers as Avars (616), Bulgarians (813) and Pechenegs (1090) were able to lay siege to İstanbul. After 1371, most of Çatalca Peninsula fell to

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. The whole peninsula became a part of Ottoman Empire by the conquest of İstanbul in 1453. Since then Çatalca Peninsula is a Turkish land except for Bulgarian attack during the first Balkan war and temporary occupation by Greece at the end of the First World War.

Population and economy

Çatalca Peninsula (together with Kocaeli Peninsula at the other side of Bosphorus) is the most industrialised region of Turkey. Approximately two thirds of İstanbul, one of the most populous cities of the world with 13.120.596 inhabitants Statistical Institute page
/ref> constitute the population of Çatalca Peninsula . The population density of the peninsula exceeds 2000/km² (5180/ mi²).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catalca Peninsula Peninsulas of Turkey Marmara Region Landforms of Istanbul Province