The urbanization rate in Turkey
Widy-kwiatkowska, J.
Prace i Studia Geograficzne 15: 91-101
1994
PMID: 12291543 Document Number: 299360
Data from the annual statistical report on Turkey for 1990 and the results of research from 1985 and 1990 were utilized and compared with the trends of urbanization observed in the 1969 work of Z. Siemek on Turkey. In 1990, Turkey had about 56.5 million people with an average annual natural growth rate of 2.6% and an unemployment rate of 16%. The rural population made up 41% of the total populace. Urbanization was on the increase, from 47% in 1980, to 55% in 1985, and 59% in 1990. Urbanization in Ankara, because of its location in the center of Turkey, was particularly active in the regions of Anatolia, although it was still isolated in terms of intensified development. Istanbul's The population of Istanbul numbered 6,754,000 people in 1990. It is the major industrial center of the country with about 20% of industrial plants and 17% of the work force in the manufacturing industry. The largest degree of urbanization was demonstrated by Ankara: in 1927 its population numbered only 74,500 people, in 1965 about 902,000 inhabitants, and in 1990 about 2,837,000 people. During the period 1985-90, only 2 out of 73 provinces experienced a decline of the urban population: Kirikkale from 70.4% to 69.7% (because of the dynamic development of the Central region) and Istanbul from 95.4% to 92.4%. During this same period, Kirikkale's urban population, compared with the nation's total urban population, also declined from 0.9% to 0.7% because of immigration of both urban and rural people to other, more attractive provinces. The growth of urban population in the province of Istanbul varied from 1% to 10% during the period and made up 20.3% of the entire urban population. The Central region underwent a large degree of urbanization characterized by industrial-agricultural development. The city of Sivas became a center of communication. In the Central and Kurd regions, urbanization proceeded fast owing to the development of the Black Sea region and the immigration of Kurds from Iraq and Iran.