Constantinople vilayet

The Vilayet of Constantinople or Istanbul (Vilâyet-i İstanbul, Vilayet de Constantinople) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, encompassing the imperial capital, Constantinople (Istanbul).

History
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 İzmit on the Asiatic side.

In 1878, a provincial structure, with a governor (wāli) 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:
 * Sanjak of Stamboul: kazas of Fatih-Sultan-Mehmet, Eyüp, Kartal, Prince Islands
 * Sanjak of Pera: kazas of Galata, Yeniköy.
 * Sanjak of Scutari: kaza of Beykoz.
 * Sanjak of Büyükçekmece, kaza of Çatalca.