The Vilayet of Constantinople or Istanbul () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, encompassing the imperial capital, Constantinople (Istanbul).
It had a special organisation, as it was placed under the immediate authority of the Minister of Police (Zabtiye Naziri), who filled a role equivalent to the governor (wali) in other vilayets.
It included Stamboul (the inner city, known in Turkish as Istanbul) 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 ðzmit on the Asiatic side.
In 1878, a provincial structure, with a governor (wÃÂli) and provincial officers, was established to perform the same functions within Constantinople that provincial authorities performed elsewhere in the Empire.
Sanjaks and kazas, circa 1877: