Provinces of Turkey

Turkey is divided into 81 provinces (Turkish: il). Each province is divided into a number of districts (ilçe). Each provincial government is seated in the central district (merkez ilçe). For non-metropolitan municipality designated provinces, the central district bears the name of the province (e.g. the city/district of Rize is the central district of Rize Province). In the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the vilayet.

Each province is administered by an appointed governor (vali) from the Ministry of the Interior.

Background

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After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the official establishment of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, changes were made to the administrative system. Two years later, Ardahan, Beyoğlu, Çatalca, Dersim, Ergani, Gelibolu, Genç, Kozan, Oltu, Muş, Siverek and Üsküdar provinces were transformed into districts. In 1927, Doğubayazıt was transformed into a district and was made a part of Ağrı. In 1929, Muş became a province again and Bitlis became a district. Four years later, Aksaray, Cebelibereket, Hakkâri and Şebinkarahisar became districts, Mersin and Silifke were merged to form a new province called İçel, and Artvin and Rize were merged to form a new province called Çoruh, bringing the number down to fifty-six. In 1936, Rize, Dersim and Hakkâri became provinces again, in the same year Dersim was renamed Tunceli; 3 years later in 1939, Hatay was annexed to Turkey and became a province. In 1953, it was decided that Uşak would become a province and that Kırşehir would be transformed into a district, one year later in 1954 Adıyaman, Nevşehir and Sakarya gained province status. In 1956, the name of Çoruh province was changed to Artvin, and in 1957 Kırşehir's province status was restored. After this year, there were no changes in the number of provinces for the next 32 years until Aksaray, Bayburt, Karaman and Kırıkkale became provinces in 1989 along with Batman and Şırnak in 1990; Bartın in 1991; Ardahan and Iğdır in 1992; Yalova, Karabük and Kilis in 1995; Osmaniye in 1996, and Düzce in 1999.

Provinces of Turkey
Türkiye'nin İlleri (Turkish)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationRepublic of Turkey
Number81 Provinces
Populations83,645 (Tunceli) – 15,840,900 (Istanbul)
as at 31 December 2021
Areas850 km2 (327 sq mi) (Yalova) – 38,260 km2 (14,771 sq mi) (Konya)
Government
Subdivisions

List of provinces

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Below is a list of the 81 provinces of Turkey, sorted according to their license plate codes. Initially, the order of the codes matched the alphabetical order of the province names. After Zonguldak (code 67), the ordering is not alphabetical, but in the order of the creation of provinces, as these provinces were created more recently and thus their plate numbers were assigned after the initial set of codes had been assigned.

Provinces of the Republic of Turkey
Name Capital Area Population
census
22.10.2000
Population
census
2.11.2011
Population
estimate
31.12.2021[1]
km2 sq mi
01 Adana Adana 14,045.56 5,423.02 1,849,478 2,102,375 2,263,373
02 Adıyaman Adıyaman 7,606.16 2,936.75 623,811 594,163 632,148
03 Afyonkarahisar Afyonkarahisar 14,718.63 5,682.89 812,416 701,461 744,179
04 Ağrı Ağrı 11,498.67 4,439.66 528,744 553,241 524,069
05 Amasya Amasya 5,703.78 2,202.24 365,231 323,331 335,331
06 Ankara Ankara 25,401.94 9,807.74 4,007,860 4,868,418 5,747,325
07 Antalya Antalya 20,790.56 8,027.28 1,719,751 2,035,563 2,619,832
08 Artvin Artvin 7,367.10 2,844.45 191,934 166,177 169,543
09 Aydın Aydın 7,904.43 3,051.92 950,757 999,131 1,134,031
10 Balıkesir Balıkesir 14,472.73 5,587.95 1,076,347 1,155,216 1,250,610
11 Bilecik Bilecik 4,306.77 1,662.85 194,326 203,157 228,334
12 Bingöl Bingöl 8,253.51 3,186.70 253,739 261,276 283,112
13 Bitlis Bitlis 7,094.50 2,739.20 388,678 336,226 352,277
14 Bolu Bolu 8,323.39 3,213.68 270,654 276,976 320,014
15 Burdur Burdur 7,134.95 2,754.82 256,803 250,984 273,716
16 Bursa Bursa 10,886.38 4,203.25 2,125,140 2,640,128 3,147,818
17 Çanakkale Çanakkale 9,950.43 3,841.88 464,975 489,298 557,276
18 Çankırı Çankırı 7,491.89 2,892.63 270,355 175,716 196,515
19 Çorum Çorum 12,796.21 4,940.64 597,065 534,825 526,282
20 Denizli Denizli 11,804.19 4,557.62 850,029 940,532 1,051,056
21 Diyarbakır Diyarbakır 15,204.01 5,870.30 1,362,708 1,561,110 1,791,373
22 Edirne Edirne 6,097.91 2,354.42 402,606 400,554 412,115
23 Elazığ Elazığ 9,281.45 3,583.59 569,616 559,063 588,088
24 Erzincan Erzincan 11,727.55 4,528.03 316,841 214,863 237,351
25 Erzurum Erzurum 25,330.90 9,780.32 937,389 781,626 756,893
26 Eskişehir Eskişehir 13,902.03 5,367.60 706,009 778,421 898,369
27 Gaziantep Gaziantep 6,844.84 2,642.81 1,285,249 1,739,569 2,130,432
28 Giresun Giresun 6,831.58 2,637.69 523,819 420,433 450,154
29 Gümüşhane Gümüşhane 6,437.01 2,485.34 186,953 129,045 150,119
30 Hakkâri Hakkâri 7,178.88 2,771.78 236,581 271,405 278,218
31 Hatay Antakya 5,831.36 2,251.50 1,253,726 1,472,282 1,670,712
32 Isparta Isparta 8,871.08 3,425.14 513,681 412,039 445,678
33 Mersin Mersin 15,512.25 5,989.31 1,651,400 1,660,522 1,891,145
34 Istanbul 5,315.33 2,052.26 10,018,735 13,565,798 15,840,900
35 İzmir İzmir 12,015.61 4,639.25 3,370,866 3,952,036 4,425,789
36 Kars Kars 10,139.09 3,914.72 325,016 306,238 281,077
37 Kastamonu Kastamonu 13,157.98 5,080.32 375,476 360,694 375,592
38 Kayseri Kayseri 17,109.33 6,605.95 1,060,432 1,251,907 1,434,357
39 Kırklareli Kırklareli 6,299.78 2,432.36 328,461 340,977 366,363
40 Kırşehir Kırşehir 6,530.32 2,521.37 253,239 221,935 242,944
41 Kocaeli İzmit 3,625.29 1,399.73 1,206,085 1,595,643 2,033,441
42 Konya Konya 40,813.52 15,758.19 2,192,166 2,033,227 2,277,017
43 Kütahya Kütahya 12,013.57 4,638.47 656,903 564,403 578,640
44 Malatya Malatya 12,102.70 4,672.88 853,658 749,225 808,692
45 Manisa Manisa 13,228.50 5,107.55 1,260,169 1,337,731 1,456,626
46 Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş 14,456.74 5,581.78 1,002,384 1,052,336 1,171,298
47 Mardin Mardin 8,806.04 3,400.03 705,098 758,181 862,757
48 Muğla Muğla 12,949.21 4,999.72 715,328 837,804 1,021,141
49 Muş Muş 8,067.16 3,114.75 453,654 412,430 405,228
50 Nevşehir Nevşehir 5,391.64 2,081.72 309,914 284,150 308,003
51 Niğde Niğde 7,365.29 2,843.75 348,081 337,456 363,725
52 Ordu Ordu 5,952.49 2,298.27 887,765 712,998 760,872
53 Rize Rize 3,921.98 1,514.28 365,938 322,367 345,662
54 Sakarya Adapazarı 4,880.19 1,884.25 756,168 886,382 1,060,876
55 Samsun Samsun 9,364.10 3,615.50 1,209,137 1,250,598 1,371,274
56 Siirt Siirt 5,473.29 2,113.25 263,676 309,599 331,980
57 Sinop Sinop 5,816.55 2,245.78 225,574 203,288 218,408
58 Sivas Sivas 28,567.34 11,029.91 755,091 627,195 636,121
59 Tekirdağ Tekirdağ 6,342.30 2,448.78 623,591 824,223 1,113,400
60 Tokat Tokat 10,072.62 3,889.06 828,027 592,481 602,567
61 Trabzon Trabzon 4,664.04 1,800.80 975,137 757,857 816,684
62 Tunceli Tunceli 7,685.66 2,967.45 93,584 84,896 83,645
63 Şanlıurfa Şanlıurfa 19,336.21 7,465.75 1,443,422 1,701,127 2,143,020
64 Uşak Uşak 5,363.09 2,070.70 322,313 340,636 373,183
65 Van Van 19,414.14 7,495.84 877,524 1,059,734 1,141,015
66 Yozgat Yozgat 14,074.09 5,434.04 682,919 465,214 418,500
67 Zonguldak Zonguldak 3,309.86 1,277.94 615,599 614,775 589,684
68 Aksaray Aksaray 7,965.51 3,075.50 396,084 379,163 429,069
69 Bayburt Bayburt 3,739.08 1,443.67 97,358 76,859 85,042
70 Karaman Karaman 8,868.90 3,424.30 243,210 234,441 258,838
71 Kırıkkale Kırıkkale 4,569.76 1,764.39 383,508 276,847 275,968
72 Batman Batman 4,659.21 1,798.93 456,734 520,883 626,319
73 Şırnak Şırnak 7,151.57 2,761.24 353,197 453,828 546,589
74 Bartın Bartın 2,080.36 803.23 184,178 187,129 201,711
75 Ardahan Ardahan 4,967.63 1,918.01 133,756 107,776 94,932
76 Iğdır Iğdır 3,587.81 1,385.26 168,634 187,842 203,159
77 Yalova Yalova 850.46 328.36 168,593 205,664 291,001
78 Karabük Karabük 4,108.80 1,586.42 225,102 220,401 249,287
79 Kilis Kilis 1,427.76 551.26 114,724 124,276 145,826
80 Osmaniye Osmaniye 3,195.99 1,233.98 458,782 483,639 553,012
81 Düzce Düzce 2,592.95 1,001.14 314,266 342,281 400,976

Codes

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The province's ISO code suffix number, the first two digits of the vehicle registration plates of Turkey, and the first digits of the postal codes in Turkey are the same. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) codes are different.

Name ISO 3166-2 NUTS Phone
prefix
Statistical Region
(NUTS-1)
Adana TR-01 TR621 322 Mediterranean
Adıyaman TR-02 TRC12 416 Southeast Anatolia
Afyonkarahisar TR-03 TR332 272 Aegean
Ağrı TR-04 TRA21 472 Northeast Anatolia
Aksaray TR-68 TR712 382 Central Anatolia
Amasya TR-05 TR834 358 West Black Sea
Ankara TR-06 TR510 312 West Anatolia
Antalya TR-07 TR611 242 Mediterranean
Ardahan TR-75 TRA24 478 Northeast Anatolia
Artvin TR-08 TR905 466 East Black Sea
Aydın TR-09 TR321 256 Aegean
Balıkesir TR-10 TR221 266 West Marmara
Bartın TR-74 TR813 378 West Black Sea
Batman TR-72 TRC32 488 Southeast Anatolia
Bayburt TR-69 TRA13 458 Northeast Anatolia
Bilecik TR-11 TR413 228 East Marmara
Bingöl TR-12 TRB13 426 Central East Anatolia
Bitlis TR-13 TRB23 434 Central East Anatolia
Bolu TR-14 TR424 374 East Marmara
Burdur TR-15 TR613 248 Mediterranean
Bursa TR-16 TR411 224 East Marmara
Çanakkale TR-17 TR222 286 West Marmara
Çankırı TR-18 TR822 376 West Black Sea
Çorum TR-19 TR833 364 West Black Sea
Denizli TR-20 TR322 258 Aegean
Diyarbakır TR-21 TRC22 412 Southeast Anatolia
Düzce TR-81 TR423 380 East Marmara
Edirne TR-22 TR212 284 West Marmara
Elazığ TR-23 TRB12 424 Central East Anatolia
Erzincan TR-24 TRA12 446 Northeast Anatolia
Erzurum TR-25 TRA11 442 Northeast Anatolia
Eskişehir TR-26 TR412 222 East Marmara
Gaziantep TR-27 TRC11 342 Southeast Anatolia
Giresun TR-28 TR903 454 East Black Sea
Gümüşhane TR-29 TR906 456 East Black Sea
Hakkari TR-30 TRB24 438 Central East Anatolia
Hatay TR-31 TR631 326 Mediterranean
Iğdır TR-76 TRA23 476 Northeast Anatolia
Isparta TR-32 TR612 246 Mediterranean
Istanbul-I (Thrace) TR-34 TR100 212 Istanbul
Istanbul-II (Anatolia) TR-34 TR100 216 Istanbul
İzmir TR-35 TR310 232 Aegean
Kahramanmaraş TR-46 TR632 344 Mediterranean
Karabük TR-78 TR812 370 West Black Sea
Karaman TR-70 TR522 338 West Anatolia
Kars TR-36 TRA22 474 Northeast Anatolia
Kastamonu TR-37 TR821 366 West Black Sea
Kayseri TR-38 TR721 352 Central Anatolia
Kilis TR-79 TRC13 348 Southeast Anatolia
Kırıkkale TR-71 TR711 318 Central Anatolia
Kırklareli TR-39 TR213 288 West Marmara
Kırşehir TR-40 TR715 386 Central Anatolia
Kocaeli (İzmit) TR-41 TR421 262 East Marmara
Konya TR-42 TR521 332 West Anatolia
Kütahya TR-43 TR333 274 Aegean
Malatya TR-44 TRB11 422 Central East Anatolia
Manisa TR-45 TR331 236 Aegean
Mardin TR-47 TRC31 482 Southeast Anatolia
Mersin TR-33 TR622 324 Mediterranean
Muğla TR-48 TR323 252 Aegean
Muş TR-49 TRB22 436 Central East Anatolia
Nevşehir TR-50 TR714 384 Central Anatolia
Niğde TR-51 TR713 388 Central Anatolia
Ordu TR-52 TR902 452 East Black Sea
Osmaniye TR-80 TR633 328 Mediterranean
Rize TR-53 TR904 464 East Black Sea
Sakarya (Adapazarı) TR-54 TR422 264 East Marmara
Samsun TR-55 TR831 362 West Black Sea
Şanlıurfa TR-63 TRC21 414 Southeast Anatolia
Siirt TR-56 TRC34 484 Southeast Anatolia
Sinop TR-57 TR823 368 West Black Sea
Sivas TR-58 TRC33 346 Central Anatolia
Şırnak TR-73 TR722 486 Southeast Anatolia
Tekirdağ TR-59 TR211 282 West Marmara
Tokat TR-60 TR832 356 West Black Sea
Trabzon TR-61 TR901 462 East Black Sea
Tunceli TR-62 TRB14 428 Central East Anatolia
Uşak TR-64 TR334 276 Aegean
Van TR-65 TRB21 432 Central East Anatolia
Yalova TR-77 TR425 226 East Marmara
Yozgat TR-66 TR723 354 Central Anatolia
Zonguldak TR-67 TR811 372 West Black Sea

Defunct provinces

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A 1927 map of the provinces of Turkey which was published before the alphabet reform

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "İllerin aldığı, verdiği göç, net göç ve net göç hızı, 1980-2018" [Provincial in-migration, out-migration, net migration, rate of net migration, 1980-2018] (in English and Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved March 6, 2019.