On this day, March 28, in 1930, after the Turkish republic formed from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, the most most famous city in Turkey lost its capital status and was renamed Istanbul, which derives from the ancient Greek word for “the city.”

When did Istanbul change the name?

On this day in 1930, the name of the city Constantinople was officially changed to Istanbul by Ataturk's government, which requested all countries to use the Turkish names for their cities.

Why did Istanbul change from Constantinople?

The U.S. State Department began using "Istanbul" in May 1930. Names other than استانبول (İstanbul) had become obsolete in the Turkish language after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. However, at that point Constantinople was still used when writing the city's name in Latin script.