– How is the Orient Express?
It’s Istanbul, Türkiye. The city, which has about 12 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, is divided in two by the Bosphorus Strait, which is also one of the dividing marks of the European and Asian continents. This makes the western part of the city in Europe and the eastern part in Asia. Because of this division, Turkey is considered a transcontinental nation, as well as Russia (which belongs to Asia and Europe), Egypt (Asia and Africa), among other countries. Today, most of Istanbul’s population lives in the Asian part and goes to the European part for work. The city is the result of a long history that began with Byzantium (founded in 657 BC), on the European side, and with Chalcedon, on the Asian side. The two cities only joined in the 15th century, when they were conquered by the Ottoman Turks. The site was only officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.