Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia, a vast city of over 15 million with Bortle 8 light pollution across both sides of the Bosphorus. Darker skies lie inland in Thrace to the west and the forests and hills of Anatolia to the east, reaching Bortle 4 within a couple of hours. The region's climate brings humid, cloudy winters off the Black Sea and clearer, drier summers. At 41°N, Istanbul has classic northern-hemisphere skies. Serious observers head to the dark interior of Anatolia, where the dry Central Plateau offers Bortle 2–3 conditions.