There are 81 provinces in Turkey (Turkish: il). Among the 81 provinces, 30 provinces are designated metropolitan municipalities[1] (Turkish: büyükşehir belediyeleri). Metropolitan municipalities are subdivided into districts (Turkish: ilçe), where each district includes a corresponding district municipality, which is a second tier municipality.[2]

History

The first metropolitan municipalities were established in 1984.[3] These were the three most populous cities in Turkey, namely; Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir. In each metropolitan municipality a number of second level municipalities (ilçe municipality) were established. In 1986, four new metropolitan municipalities were established: Adana,[4] Bursa,[5] Gaziantep[6] and Konya.[7] Two years later the total number was increased to eight with the addition of Kayseri.[8] In 1993, seven new metropolitan municipalities were established: Antalya, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Mersin, Kocaeli and Samsun.[9] Following the earthquake of 1999, Sakarya was also declared a metropolitan municipality.[10]

Before 2004, only the urban centers with populations of more than 750,000 were declared metropolitan centers. However, in 2004, the concept of metropolitan municipality was redefined in Istanbul and Kocaeli, where thenceforth metropolitan municipality borders would overlap with provincial borders. In 2012, this was extended to other metropolitan municipalities.[11] Thus, all provinces with a population in excess of 750,000 were declared metropolitan municipality and accordingly the number of metropolitan municipalities has sharply increased. The following 13 cities became metropolitan municipalities:[11]

With the addition of Ordu in 2013,[12] the total number of the metropolitan municipalities increased to 30.[13]

List of metropolitan areas

(Dark blue: Those provinces before 2012, light blue those after 2012)

Metropolitan municipalities Date of establishment Population (2013)[14] Population (2019)[15] Number of districts
Adana05.06.19862,149,1602,237,94015
Ankara23.03.19845,045,0835,639,07625
Antalya09.09.19932,158,2652,511,70019
Aydın06.12.20121,020,9571,110,97217
Balıkesir06.12.20121,162,7611,228,62020
Bursa18.06.19862,740,9703,056,12017
Denizli06.12.2012963,4641,037,20819
Diyarbakır09.09.19931,607,4371,756,32317
Erzurum09.09.1993766,729762,06220
Eskişehir09.09.1993799,724887,47514
Gaziantep20.06.19861,844,4382,069,3649
Hatay06.12.20121,503,0661,628,89415
Mersin[Note 1]09.09.19931,705,7741,840,42513
İstanbul23.03.198414,160,46715,519,26739
İzmir23.03.19844,061,0744,367,25130
Kayseri07.12.19881,295,3551,407,40916
Kocaeli[Note 2]09.09.19931,676,2022,033,44112
Konya20.06.19862,079,2252,232,37431
Malatya06.12.2012762,538800,16513
Manisa06.12.20121,359,4631,440,61117
Kahramanmaraş06.12.20121,075,0761,154,10211
Mardin06.12.2012779,738838,77810
Muğla06.12.2012866,6651,000,77313
Ordu14.03.2013731,452[Note 3]754,19819
Sakarya[Note 4]06.03.2000917,3731,029,65016
Samsun09.09.19931,261,8101,348,54217
Tekirdağ06.12.2012874,4751,055,41211
Trabzon06.12.2012758,237808,97418
Şanlıurfa06.12.20121,801,9802,073,61413
Van06.12.20121,070,1131,136,75713
Total 58,999,701 64,669,459 519

Since the total population of Turkey is 83,154,997, the population in the 30 provinces make up 77% of the population of the country.

See also

Notes

  1. Formerly named İçel.
  2. Formerly the center city of Kocaeli Province was İzmit, which is now a district
  3. The population of Ordu Province was more than 750,000 limit in 2013
  4. Formerly the center city of Sakarya Province was Adapazarı, which is now a district

        References

        1. Statistical Institute page
        2. Law act no 5216 (in Turkish)
        3. Belleten of legislation (in Turkish)
        4. Art no 3306 (in Turkish)
        5. "Art no 3391" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        6. "Art no.3398" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        7. "Art no 3399" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        8. "Art no 3508" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        9. "Decree no 504" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        10. "Art no 593" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
        11. 1 2 "Art no 6360" (in Turkish).
        12. "North-eastern province of Ordu becomes metropolitan municipality". Anadolu Ajansı. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
        13. CNN Turk news (in Turkish)
        14. "Statistical Institute 2013". Archived from the original on 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
        15. "Statistical Institute 2014". Archived from the original on 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
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