MURAT YILDIRIM IN THE ARABIC MAGAZINES Turkey Encyclopedia | Page 15

Administrative divisions

List of regions of Turkey, Provinces of Turkey, Districts of Turkey, and List of cities in Turkey

The capital city of Turkey is Ankara. The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes; however, they do not represent an administrative structure. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 923 districts.

Provinces usually bear the same name as their provincial capitals, also called the central district; exceptions to this custom are the provinces of Hatay (capital: Antakya), Kocaeli (capital: zmit) and Sakarya (capital: Adapazar). Provinces with the largest populations are Istanbul (13 million), Ankara (5 million), zmir (4 million), Bursa (3 million) and Adana (2 million).

The biggest city and the pre-Republican capital Istanbul is the financial, economic and cultural heart of the country.[76] An estimated 75.5% of Turkey's population live in urban centers.[77] In all, 19 provinces have populations that exceed 1 million inhabitants, and 20 provinces have populations between 1 million and 500,000 inhabitants. Only two provinces have populations less than 100,000.