Constantinople Vilayet
The Vilayet of Constantinople or Istanbul was a first-level administrative division of the Ottoman Empire, encompassing the imperial capital, Constantinople.
It had a special organisation, as it was placed under the immediate authority of the Minister of Police, who filled a role equivalent to the governor in other vilayets.
It included Stamboul and the quarters of Eyüp, Kassim Pacha, Pera and Galata, and all the suburbs from Silivri on the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea on the European side, and from Ghili on the Black Sea to the end of the Gulf of İzmit on the Asiatic side.
In 1878, a provincial structure, with a governor and provincial officers, was established to perform the same functions within Constantinople that provincial authorities performed elsewhere in the Empire.Administrative divisions
Sanjaks and kazas, circa 1877:
