Our Region | Silkroad Development Agency

Located in Southeast Anatolian Region, TRC 1 region comprises Gaziantep, Adıyaman and Kilis provinces. Spatial area of the region is 15.879 km² . And this is equivalent to 2% of total surface area of Turkey. According to census which is conducted in 2009 the population of region numbered 2.364.249 (Gaziantep: 1.653.670, Adıyaman: 588.475, Kilis: 122.104) people. This constitutes approximately 3.2% of total amount of Turkey’s population. Population density is 155 people per Sq. Km. in the region. This number is above the population density of Turkey, which is 94 people per Sq. Km..

Population density in Adıyaman and Kilis is 84 and 86 people per Sq. Km. respectively. While population density for both Adıyaman and Kilis is below the value of the region, in Gaziantep it is 243 people per Sq. Km. and above the number of the region and country.

Annual population growth rate in the region was 19.6‰ in 2008. While 79% population of the region live in cities, the rest (21%) live in rural areas. Fertility rate is 3.67 in the region, which is above average rate of Turkey (2,53). Consequently, the number of household is above the average of country. In 2009, distribution of employment by category is as follow:

Srevices: 23,9 %

Commerce: 19,4%

Agriculture: 24,7%

Industry: 32%

In the region, unemployment rate was 17,9% in 2009. In case of exluding agricultural sector , unemployment rate was 20,8% in 2009. In comparison with country’s average, unemployment rate without agricultural sector in the region (TRC 1) has higher value.

According to a research, which is carried out to determine socio-economic development order of provinces and regions, conducted by State Planning Organisation in May 2003, TRC 1 region is the 14th among 26 Level-2 regions. Gaziantep is the 20th, Adıyaman is the 65th and Kilis is the 54th in 81 provinces. According to the same research, in health sector development order TRC 1 region is the 21th and in education sector it is the 19th in total 26 Level-2 regions.

The region is located in a transitional zone between Mediterranean and terrestrial climatic territories. Effects of terrestrial climate are seen much more in eastern and northern parts of the region. As for temperature, there are quite high differences between daytime and night.