GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY; CLIMATE
LOCATION
"Located on a horn-shaped peninsula astride the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, ... Constantinople dominated the narrow waterway that divides Europe from Asia. The complexities of that geography provided both advantages and challenges to the site's defense. A steep and rugged shoreline and the Sea of Marmara's swift currents protected the southern coast. To the north the Golden Horn, an inlet that bordered the peninsula, was a natural anchorage and harbor. The ancient Lycus River ran diagonally northwest to southeast across the peninsula, forming a narrow valley that sectioned the city into two distinct areas-a chain of six hills running along the Golden Horn to the north, and a single, larger hill to the south." (From here)
INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION
Originally a city with formidable walls, which kept it safe for centuries, with the development of new siege weaponry and tactics many of the walls were breached. The wall still provides an important physical delineation of the city proper and only citizens and subjects are allowed (officially) to live within the city walls. But the original walled city is of course not big enough to hold everyone, and so sprawling suburbs have grown up just outside the city; the further out you get, the more like shanty towns they look. The exception to this is the part of the city that is on the other side of the water; this is where rich families build their large mansions to get out of the dirt and noise of the city, though many important people still keep a city centre house or apartment too. I'll work on a map with place names and so on but for now this is Istanbul in 1922, which should give you a sense of the scale of the city.
The most popular form of cross-country travel is steam train, and there is a railway station in the city. There is also an airport for dirigibles on the other side of the water. The port is extremely important for both commercial and leisure travel as well as trade and is full of steamships and steamboats.
The city officially has a population of 1 million, though it's actually rather larger - the census data records only citizens and subjects and their families. The city has an extremely diverse racial and cultural profile (see also here).
ECONOMY
The city is massively significant as an international trading point - as well as being an important site of commerce in its own right, it's also a junction of land and sea trading routes. In terms of local industry, the province is famed for its tobacco, silk, olive oil, cotton and fruit. Any luxury can be bought in the city, either made by local artisans or brought in by merchants. There's also a huge service industry: household servants, beauty industry, restaurants... The currency of the city is the Kostantiniyee pound (£), which is made up of 100 qirsh. (I have borrowed this from Egypt!) Here's average salaries:
Member of the Common Council: £2000 per year (set by the City), plus an entertainment and expenses allowance
Merchant: likely to turn a profit, after expenses (taxes, loss of goods etc) of between £500 and £5000 a year, depending on the scale of their interests (e.g. level of trade - international scope, type of goods traded, risk)
University professors and religious leaders: £150 - 1000 p.a., depending on rank and skills
Craftsman of a prestigious guild (such as the Goldsmiths): £500 - 1000 p.a.
Craftsman of a less prestigious guild (such as the Tanners): £150 - 500 p.a.
Unskilled worker: £50-100 p.a. (less if they are a domestic servant and live in the employer's household)
Everyone pays taxes of one kind or another. There are:
PROPERTY TAXES: on ownership of private property, and on ownership OR rental of commercial property (i.e. if you rent a property for commercial purposes, you are liable for the taxes on it too, not the owner)
INCOME TAXES: these are fairly unsophisticated - there is a flat fee of £50 a year for citizens and £15 for subjects (see here for these terms)
TAXES ON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS: these are kept fairly low, which is part of the reason the city is a very important trading route.
CLIMATE QUICKNOTES: I'm just gonna c&p from Wikipedia here, y'all:
"Summer weather in Istanbul is moderately warm, with the temperature in July and August averaging 24 °C (75 °F).Extreme heat, however, is uncommon, as temperatures rise above 32 °C (90 °F) on only five days per year on average. Rainfall is also uncommon during the summer, with only four or five rainy days per month. Winters are cold, wet and often snowy, with the temperature in January and February averaging 4 °C (39 °F). Snowfalls tend to be heavy, but snowcover and temperatures below freezing rarely last more than a few days. Spring and autumn are mild, but often wet and unpredictable; chilly winds from the northwest and warm gusts from the south-sometimes in the same day-have the tendency to cause fluctuations in temperature."
"Located on a horn-shaped peninsula astride the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, ... Constantinople dominated the narrow waterway that divides Europe from Asia. The complexities of that geography provided both advantages and challenges to the site's defense. A steep and rugged shoreline and the Sea of Marmara's swift currents protected the southern coast. To the north the Golden Horn, an inlet that bordered the peninsula, was a natural anchorage and harbor. The ancient Lycus River ran diagonally northwest to southeast across the peninsula, forming a narrow valley that sectioned the city into two distinct areas-a chain of six hills running along the Golden Horn to the north, and a single, larger hill to the south." (From here)
INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION
Originally a city with formidable walls, which kept it safe for centuries, with the development of new siege weaponry and tactics many of the walls were breached. The wall still provides an important physical delineation of the city proper and only citizens and subjects are allowed (officially) to live within the city walls. But the original walled city is of course not big enough to hold everyone, and so sprawling suburbs have grown up just outside the city; the further out you get, the more like shanty towns they look. The exception to this is the part of the city that is on the other side of the water; this is where rich families build their large mansions to get out of the dirt and noise of the city, though many important people still keep a city centre house or apartment too. I'll work on a map with place names and so on but for now this is Istanbul in 1922, which should give you a sense of the scale of the city.
The most popular form of cross-country travel is steam train, and there is a railway station in the city. There is also an airport for dirigibles on the other side of the water. The port is extremely important for both commercial and leisure travel as well as trade and is full of steamships and steamboats.
The city officially has a population of 1 million, though it's actually rather larger - the census data records only citizens and subjects and their families. The city has an extremely diverse racial and cultural profile (see also here).
ECONOMY
The city is massively significant as an international trading point - as well as being an important site of commerce in its own right, it's also a junction of land and sea trading routes. In terms of local industry, the province is famed for its tobacco, silk, olive oil, cotton and fruit. Any luxury can be bought in the city, either made by local artisans or brought in by merchants. There's also a huge service industry: household servants, beauty industry, restaurants... The currency of the city is the Kostantiniyee pound (£), which is made up of 100 qirsh. (I have borrowed this from Egypt!) Here's average salaries:
Member of the Common Council: £2000 per year (set by the City), plus an entertainment and expenses allowance
Merchant: likely to turn a profit, after expenses (taxes, loss of goods etc) of between £500 and £5000 a year, depending on the scale of their interests (e.g. level of trade - international scope, type of goods traded, risk)
University professors and religious leaders: £150 - 1000 p.a., depending on rank and skills
Craftsman of a prestigious guild (such as the Goldsmiths): £500 - 1000 p.a.
Craftsman of a less prestigious guild (such as the Tanners): £150 - 500 p.a.
Unskilled worker: £50-100 p.a. (less if they are a domestic servant and live in the employer's household)
Everyone pays taxes of one kind or another. There are:
PROPERTY TAXES: on ownership of private property, and on ownership OR rental of commercial property (i.e. if you rent a property for commercial purposes, you are liable for the taxes on it too, not the owner)
INCOME TAXES: these are fairly unsophisticated - there is a flat fee of £50 a year for citizens and £15 for subjects (see here for these terms)
TAXES ON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS: these are kept fairly low, which is part of the reason the city is a very important trading route.
CLIMATE QUICKNOTES: I'm just gonna c&p from Wikipedia here, y'all:
"Summer weather in Istanbul is moderately warm, with the temperature in July and August averaging 24 °C (75 °F).Extreme heat, however, is uncommon, as temperatures rise above 32 °C (90 °F) on only five days per year on average. Rainfall is also uncommon during the summer, with only four or five rainy days per month. Winters are cold, wet and often snowy, with the temperature in January and February averaging 4 °C (39 °F). Snowfalls tend to be heavy, but snowcover and temperatures below freezing rarely last more than a few days. Spring and autumn are mild, but often wet and unpredictable; chilly winds from the northwest and warm gusts from the south-sometimes in the same day-have the tendency to cause fluctuations in temperature."