Waterfront houses in Istanbul

Photo: The traditional waterfront houses (2007) in the Yeniköy neighborhood lining up the shores on the European side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

The Bosphorus (Bosporus or the Istanbul Strait) is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits along with the Dardanelles. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation and about 30 km long, it connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea. The shores of the Bosphorus are thickly populated, with Istanbul alone, with a metropolitan area in excess of 11 million inhabitants, straddles it.