To test the waters before the official launch in early May, the team produced a charter issue. More than 128,000 people responded. Strong responses to more than 40,000 additional magazines sold at newsstands prompted some creative marketing strategies. Because of the reputation of the U.S. publication, we're fortunate that we don't have to try very hard to attract readers. Each month National Geographic magazine circles the globe with 10 million copies in 18 languages.
Many people live on one continent and work on the other.
Every day they go back and forth by car or by boat. There's so much to see in the city, but visitors shouldn't miss the Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul's great monuments. The domed basilica was built in just six years under the direction of Byzantine emperor Justinian I and completed in A.D. 537. Also visit the Topkapi Palace Museum, which houses an extensive collection of antiquities, textiles, ceramics, armor, and Islamic relics. It also keeps the private papers of various sultans.