Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey

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 edit

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 edit

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

Metropolitan municipalities Date of establishment Area (km2) GDP (billion US$)[14] Population (2021)[15] Number of districts
Adana 05.06.1986 13,844 15.775 2,263,373 15
Ankara 23.03.1984 25,632 74.285 5,747,325 25
Antalya 09.09.1993 20,177 23.213 2,619,832 19
Aydın 06.12.2012 8,116 7.260 1,134,031 17
Balıkesir 06.12.2012 14,583 10.027 1,250,610 20
Bursa 18.06.1986 10,813 33.641 3,147,818 17
Denizli 06.12.2012 12,134 9.062 1,051,056 19
Diyarbakır 09.09.1993 15,101 6.959 1,791,373 17
Erzurum 09.09.1993 25,006 3.918 756,893 20
Eskişehir 09.09.1993 13,960 9.078 898,369 14
Gaziantep 20.06.1986 6,830 16.545 2,130,432 9
Hatay 06.12.2012 5,524 11.298 1,670,712 15
Mersin[Note 1] 09.09.1993 15,010 15.562 1,891,145 13
İstanbul 23.03.1984 5,343 245.207 15,840,000 39
İzmir 23.03.1984 11,891 51.460 4,425,789 30
Kayseri 07.12.1988 16,970 11.956 1,434,357 16
Kocaeli[Note 2] 09.09.1993 3,397 34.442 2,033,441 12
Konya 20.06.1986 13,844 16.616 2,277,017 31
Malatya 06.12.2012 12,259 4.324 808,692 13
Manisa 06.12.2012 13,339 13.633 1,456,626 17
Kahramanmaraş 06.12.2012 14,520 7.015 1,171,298 11
Mardin 06.12.2012 8,780 4.737 862,757 10
Muğla 06.12.2012 12,654 9.444 1,021,141 13
Ordu 14.03.2013 5,914 3.685 760,872 19
Sakarya[Note 3] 06.03.2000 4,824 9.102 1,060,876 16
Samsun 09.09.1993 9,725 8.332 1,371,274 17
Tekirdağ 06.12.2012 6,190 16.225 1,113,400 11
Trabzon 06.12.2012 4,628 4.897 816,686 18
Şanlıurfa 06.12.2012 19,242 6.413 2,143,020 13
Van 06.12.2012 20,921 3.544 1,141,015 13
  Turkey 783,562 807.143 66,092,128 519

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 edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Formerly named İçel.
  2. ^ Formerly the center city of Kocaeli Province was İzmit, which is now a district
  3. ^ Formerly the center city of Sakarya Province was Adapazarı, which is now a district

References edit

  1. ^ Statistical Institute page[permanent dead link]
  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. ^ a b "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. ^ "Statistics by Theme > National Accounts > Regional Accounts". www.turkstat.gov.tr. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  15. ^ "2021 Türkiye Nüfusu", biruni.tuik.gov.tr

External links edit