Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_denizen
Istanbul (Constantinople) is a 2000 year old city; for hundreds of years, it was the largest and most developed city in the western world; in fact arguably it was the heart of the western world after the fall of Rome until around 800 a.d. It was a Greek city and the heart of the Greek world for much of its history, and only recently (1492 a.d.) was conquered by Muslims Turks.
Not sure I would classify is as a "developing" city, it's always been extremely important no matter who (Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Turks) had control of it.
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Ok, but these issues aren't why Istanbul is on this list.
Turkey has extreme income inequality and a pretty big economy, so many billionaires, and it's a highly centralized nation, so they're all in Istanbul. It doesn't really speak to Istanbul's greatness but rather Turkey's relative economic stratification and considerable might.
I mean, the fact that Rome has none and Dallas has many doesn't really speak to their relative importance.