Istanbul Province , also the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (Istanbul Büyüksehir Belediyesi) is a province located in north-west Turkey. It has an area of 5,343.02 km² and a population of 14,377,018 as of 2014. It is surrounded by the provinces of Tekirdag to the west, Kocaeli to the east, the Black Sea to the northern part and the Sea of Marmara to the south. The Bosphorus Strait divides the province in two parts: the European side and the Asian side. Out of a population of 12.9 million in 2009, roughly 8 million lived on the European side and the remaining 5 million lived on the Asian.