The occupants of Istanbul were the Greeks, prior to the Turks. However Istanbul had different inhabitants prior to the Greeks as well. A timeline for Istanbul is as follows:
- 1930 – to date: Istanbul, a city in the Republic of Turkiye
- 1923 -1930: Konstantiniyye, a city in the Republic of Turkiye
- 1453 – 1923: Konstantiniyye, a city in the Ottoman Empire
- 476 – 1453: Constantinople, a city in the Eastern Roman Empire
- 330 – 476: Constantinople, a city in the Roman Empire
- 272 – 330: Byzantium, a city in the Roman Empire
Byzantium (Byzantion) was founded by Greek Megarians in the 7th century, BC and Chalcedon was also founded by Greek Megarians at about the same time. Two different cities on either side of the Bosphorus, the first evolved into Istanbul the other into Uskudar/Kadikoy, both now of “metropolitan” Istanbul. - BC 657 – 272:, Chalcedon (the city only at the Asian side of the Bosphorus), a city in the state of Megara
- BC 1300: Lygos, a city hosting some Thracian people
- Before BC 1300: Many ancient people have lived in this area. Most of them are unnamed due to lack of documentation. During the excavations of Marmaray tunnels, many artifacts have been found, some of which are dated back 6,000 BC.
