Turkey is a country of great diversity, in terms of both culture and economics. Big cities usually enjoy a more modern, western-style culture and a wide array of economical options, while this is not always true for smaller eastern and southeastern towns.

The most significant Turkish city is definitely Istanbul, with a population of 15 million, covering different ethnicities, religions and backgrounds. Istanbul is the economical and industrial center of Turkey. Capital Ankara is the second biggest city with a population of 6 million. Ankara is a newer city that hosts many government organizations, and has a more organized structure compared to the two thousand years old city of Istanbul.

Izmir, Antalya, Bursa and Adana are among the other big cities in Turkey, each with unique characteristics and a wide array of attractions. You can browse through our galleries to see and learn more about these cities.

• Adana (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Ankara (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Antalya (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Aydın (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Balıkesir (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Bursa (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Denizli (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Diyarbakır (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Erzurum (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Eskişehir (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)

• Gaziantep (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Hatay (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• İstanbul (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• İzmir (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Kahramanmaraş (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Kayseri (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Kocaeli (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Konya (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Malatya (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Manisa (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)

• Mardin (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Mersin (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Muğla (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Ordu (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Sakarya (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Samsun (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Şanlıurfa (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Tekirdağ (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Trabzon (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)
• Van (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)

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.

Turkey has 81 provinces

Adana, Adıyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bartın, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingöl, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çankırı, Çorum, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hakkâri, Hatay, Iğdır, Isparta, Istanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Karabük, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kırıkkale, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kütahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Niğde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Tekirdağ, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Uşak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak.

A Turkey province fulfils responsibilities of regional importance and is the connection between the national government and the local municipalities.

While not as common as they used to be, possibly because of the widespread use of mobile phones which are virtually used by the whole population in the country, public pay phones can still be found at the sides of central squares and major streets in towns and cities and around post offices (PTT), especially around their outer walls. With the phase-out of old magnetic cards, public phones now operate with chip telekom cards which are available in 30, 60 or 120 units and can be obtained at post offices, newspaper and tobacco kiosks. (However emergency numbers can be called without card or anything from these phones.) You can also use your credit card on these phones, though it may not work in the off chance. All phones in the booths have Turkish and English instructions and menus, many also have German and French in addition.

There are also telephones available in some kiosks and shops where you pay cash after your call. To spot these, look for kontürlü telefon signs. These telephones are more expensive than the ones at the booths, though.

It is estimated that approximately 98% of the population of Turkey lives within the coverage areas of Turkey’s three cell phone line providers. Line providers from most countries have roaming agreements with one or more of these companies.

Pre-paid mobile phone SIM cards can be purchased for approximately 20-50 TL. These can be purchased at the airport on arrival or from the many outlets in Istanbul and other large cities. Providers include Vodaphone.

Here is a quick list of telephone codes for some major cities and towns of touristic importance:

212—Istanbul-European Side
216—Istanbul-Asian Side, and Princes’ Islands
224—Bursa, and Uludağ
232—Izmir, and Çeşme
242—Antalya, Alanya, Kemer, and Kaş
252—Muğla, Bodrum, Marmaris, and Fethiye
256—Aydın, and Kuşadası
258—Denizli, and Pamukkale
286—Çanakkale, and Gallipoli
312—Ankara
332—Konya
384—Nevşehir, and most of Cappadocia (though a few well-known Cappadocian towns which are parts of Aksaray Province have 382 as their area code)
Prior to the telephone code, dial 0 for intercity calls.

Numbers starting with 0800 are pay-free, whereas the ones starting with 0900 are high-fee services. 7-digit numbers starting with 444 (mainly used by companies) are charged as local calls wherever they are dialed in Turkey.

Dial 00 prior to country code for international calls from Turkey. When calling into Turkey, the international country code that should prefix city code and phone number is 90.

Districts of Turkey

List of districts in Turkey

The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 957 districts (ilçeler; sing. ilçe). In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the kaza.

See the list of new Turkish districts