Subdivisions of Turkey

After a brief period of sunshine and warm weather, the temperature in the northern and central parts of the country is likely to decline again starting April 26, with particularly western provinces of Türkiye to witness a sharp temperature drop, the Turkish State Meteorology Service has announced.

Precipitation will continue to stay in effect throughout the week in the country.

Six more provinces, including Bingöl, Kayseri, Mardin, Tunceli, Niğde and Batman, have been declared as disaster zone as they were damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes, the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) has announced.

The Turkish State Meteorology Services has issued alerts for 17 of Türkiye's all 81 provinces as harsh weather continues to wreak havoc in the country and temperatures drop by 8 to 12 degrees.

Türkiye is grappling with extreme weather emergencies as torrential rains once again cause floods in the southern quake-hit province of Hatay's Iskenderun district, while heavy snowfall forces schools to close in nine out of all 81 provinces in the country.

Turkey continues to rank third in the list of "countries with the most blue-flagged beaches" this year, with the number of blue-flagged beaches increasing from 519 to 531 currently.

Like in 2021, Spain topped the ranking, while Greece was runner-up this year. Italy and France followed Turkey in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

More than 50 million people, or 60 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, while this rate was around nearly 81 percent for the citizens aged 18 and above, according to the country's health minister.

A recent report by Turkey's statistical authority has revealed a trend of declining birth rates in the country.

Nearly 1.12 million new births were registered in 2020, down from 1.18 million the year before, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced on May 18.

According to TÜİK, 51.3 percent of babies born last year were boys, while 48.7 percent were girls.

The amount of total exports from Turkey's 87 Technology Development Zones has reached $5.8 billion in 21 years, according to data by the Industry and Technology Ministry.

More than 6,500 companies, including 322 firms with foreign capital, have been operating in these zones as of the end of April, data showed.

Turkey's elderly population has risen by 22.5 percent over the past five years, according to statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on March 18.

TÜİK stated that the population of people over the age of 65 in Turkey had risen to 7.95 million in 2020, up from 6.49 million in 2015.

A two-day curfew in 15 provinces in Turkey begun at midnight on May 29 as part of measures to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The curfew will effect Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Balıkesir, Bursa, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Sakarya, Samsun, Van and Zonguldak.