Başakşehir

Başakşehir is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 107 km2, and its population is 514,900 (2022). It is in the European part of Istanbul.

History
Former name of the area was Azatlık. The area specialized in providing gunpowder to the Ottoman army. Later a farm was established in place of Azatlık; the farm was known as Resneli farm referring to Resneli Niyazi, a military officer from Resen, North Macedonia (then a part of Ottoman Empire), who was a hero of Young Turk Revolution in 1908.

In 2008 the district Başakşehir was created from parts of the districts Küçükçekmece, Esenler and Büyükçekmece. The urban part of the new district, 10 neighbourhoods, was established as a municipality. At the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, the rural part of the district was integrated into the municipality, the villages becoming neighbourhoods.

Geography
Başakşehir is situated in the European portion (Rumeli) of İstanbul. Sazlıdere Dam reservoir is to the northwest and Sea of Marmara is to the south. It is surrounded by other second-level districts of Istanbul, such as Eyüpsultan, Sultangazi, Esenler, Bağcılar, Küçükçekmece, Avcılar, Esenyurt and Arnavutköy. (Istanbul is one of the 30 metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders.) The Motorway O.3 (European route E80) starts at Mahmutbey in Başakşehir, and runs through the district in west direction to Edirne.

Composition
There are 10 neighbourhoods in Başakşehir District:


 * Altınşehir
 * Bahçeşehir 1. Kısım
 * Bahçeşehir 2. Kısım
 * Başak
 * Başakşehir
 * Güvercintepe
 * Kayabaşı
 * Şahintepesi
 * Şamlar
 * Ziya Gökalp

Notable buildings

 * Atatürk Olympic Stadium
 * Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium