KOCAELI-CENTERED EIGHTH REGION BECOMES RICHEST REGION
ANKARA - Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 2001 was 4 thousand 109 U.S. dollars in the 8th region centered on northwestern province of Kocaeli while GDP per capita was 730 U.S. dollars in the 21st region centered on eastern province of Agri.
According to State Institute of Statistics (DIE) data, Istanbul was the biggest region among 26 regions in Turkey with a population of 10 million 243 thousand and with its GDP of 31.4 billion U.S. dollars.
Numbers of 26 regions, regional development centers, GDP per capita (U.S. dollars), population (thousand), area in square kilometres and GDP (million U.S. dollars) are as follows:

. Regional
. Development GDP
. Region Center per capita Population Area GDP
------ --------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -------- --------
1- 8th Region Kocaeli 4,109 2,735 20,212 11,235.7
2- 4th Region Izmir 3,215 3,436 11,973 11,047.9
3- 1st Region Istanbul 3,063 10,243 5,220 31,378.3
4- 9th Region Ankara 2,752 4,061 25,706 11,174.9
5- 2nd Region Tekirdag 2,733 1,368 19,047 3,739.7
6- 7th Region Bursa 2,513 3,048 28,850 7,661.6
7- 5th Region Aydin 2,427 2,535 33,213 6,152.6
8- 12th Region Adana 2,393 3,572 29,883 8,546.1
9- 16th Region Zonguldak 2,324 1,016 8,960 2,360.0
10- 3rd Region Balikesir 2,105 1,548 24,130 3,258.6
11- 11th Region Antalya 2,030 2,546 36,471 5,167.6
12- 6th Region Manisa 1,891 3,067 45,270 5,801.6
13- 14th Region Kirikkale 1,819 1,704 31,340 3,098.9
14- 10th Region Konya 1,599 2,496 47,420 3,991.3
15- 13th Region Hatay 1,589 2,718 23,497 4,317.3
16- 18th Region Samsun 1,559 2,998 37,878 4,673.7
17- 17th Region Kastamonu 1,497 865 26,358 1,293.0
18- 22nd Region Malatya 1,429 1,782 37,365 2,548.0
19- 19th Region Trabzon 1,428 3,151 35,551 4,500.4
20- 15th Region Kayseri 1,422 2,507 59,528 3,563.7
21- 24th Region Gaziantep 1,398 2,059 15,256 2,877.9
22- 25th Region Sanliurfa 1,156 2,852 33,939 3,296.9
23- 20th Region Erzurum 1,081 1,361 40,621 1,471.2
24- 26th Region Mardin 993 1,806 26,217 1,792.9
25- 23rd Region Van 749 1,987 41,093 1,489.6
26- 21st Region Agri 730 1,159 30,217 845.5

Regions and provinces in these regions are as follows:

Name of Number of Provinces
Region Region
------- --------- ---------
ISTANBUL 1 Istanbul
WESTERN MARMARA 2 Tekirdag, Edirne, Kirklareli
3 Balikesir, Canakkale
AEGEAN 4 Izmir
5 Aydin, Denizli, Mugla
6 Manisa, Afyon, Kutahya, Usak
EASTERN MARMARA 7 Bursa, Eskisehir, Bilecik
8 Kocaeli, Sakarya, Duzce, Bolu, Yalova
WESTERN ANATOLIA 9 Ankara
10 Konya, Karaman
MEDITERRANEAN 11 Antalya, Isparta, Burdur
12 Adana, Mersin
13 Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Osmaniye
CENTRAL ANATOLIA 14 Kirikkale, Aksaray, Nigde, Nevsehir,
Kirsehir
15 Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat
WESTERN BLACK SEA 16 Zonguldak, Karabuk, Bartin
17 Kastamonu, Cankiri, Sinop
18 Samsun, Tokat, Corum, Amasya
EASTERN BLACK SEA 19 Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Rize, Artvin,
Gumushane
NORTHEASTERN ANATOLIA 20 Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt
21 Agri, Kars, Igdir, Ardahan
EASTERN ANATOLIA 22 Malatya, Elazig, Bingol, Tunceli
23 Van, Mus, Bitlis, Hakkari
SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA 24 Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Kilis
25 Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir
26 Mardin, Batman, Sirnak, Siirt

(UK-MS) 31.05.2003