Turkey’s population rises to over 77 million

Turkey’s population rose to 77.7 million people in 2014, an increase of 1.28 million over the course of the year, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute on Jan. 28, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Some 50.2 percent (38.98 million) of the population is male, while 49.8 percent (38.71 million) is female.

The proportion of the Turkish population living in cities increased to 91.8 percent in 2014, from 91.3 percent in 2013.

The most populated province in the country is Istanbul with 18.5 percent of Turkish citizens (14.38 million people). Istanbul is followed by Ankara with 6.6 percent (5.15 million people); İzmir with 5.3 percent (4.11 million people); Bursa with 3.6 percent (2.79 million people); and Antalya with 2.9 percent (2.22 million people). The least populated of Turkey’s 81 provinces is the northeastern province of Bayburt, which has just 80,607 inhabitants.

The median age of Turkey’s population increased to 30.7 in 2014, from 30.4 percent in 2013. The median age for males was 30.1, while for females it was 31.3. The provinces with the highest median ages in the country were Sinop at 39.1, Balıkesir at 38.6, and Edirne and Kastamonu at 38.0. The provinces with the lowest median ages were all in the southeast of the country, with Şırnak at 19.1, Şanlıurfa at 19.2, and Ağrı at 20.

The working age population between 15-64 increased by 0.1 points to 67.8 percent of the total - or 52.64 million people. The population aged 0-14 fell to 24.3 percent of the total (18.86 million people), while the population aged 65 and over rose to 8.0 percent of the total (6.19 million people).

The population density across Turkey - calculated by the average number of people per square kilometer - increased by 1 person in 2014, reaching 101.

The province with the highest population density was Istanbul, with 2,767 people per square kilometer. Istanbul was followed by Kocaeli with 477, İzmir with 342, Gaziantep with 277, and both Bursa and Yalova with 267. The eastern province of Tunceli had the smallest population density, with just 12 people per square kilometer.