According to data from the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) compiled by an Anadolu Agency reporter, Istanbul has the highest number of university students in Turkey with more than 50 universities. The number of university students in Istanbul has reached 511,360 and exceeds the population of 41 provinces in Turkey. In terms of the number of university students, Istanbul is followed by Ankara with 258,773 students and İzmir with 145,557 students. Conversely, the data revealed that Hakkari is home to the least number of university students in Turkey. While Hakkari has 2,576 university students, Şırnak has 3,136 students and Ardahan has 3,733 students. When the number of university students is assessed on the basis of regions, the Marmara Region stands out among seven regions of Turkey with 879,890 university students. The Central Anatolia Region follows Marmara with 636,852 students, the Aegean Region with 450,340 students, the Black Sea Region with 343,500 students, East Anatolia Region with 226,633 students, the Mediterranean Region with 207,565 students and the Southeast Anatolia Region with 132,806 students. In total, two million university students are currently attending 181 universities in Turkey. In the past 10 years, Turkey has progressed in terms of hosting international students. The findings of the website "Study in Turkey" show that Turkey doubled its number of international students from 15,000 to 30,000 between 2006 and 2011. Among 155 countries from which Turkey hosts students, Azerbaijani students ranked first on the list with 4,200 students. The Azerbaijani students are followed by those from Turkmenistan with 4,100 students, and those from North Cyprus with 3,800 students. There has been a significant increase in the number of European students as well, with Greece and Germany being the two countries that send the most students to Turkey – 1,300 students in total.Turkey is also increasing its international scholarships in an effort to become a global education hub, according to officials. There are presently more than 54,000 international students from around the world enrolled in Turkish universities, with over 13,000 receiving funding from government educational programs. Afghanistan has the largest number of students in Turkey with a scholarship, followed by Azerbaijan and Kosovo. Africa's share has increased in the last three years due to Turkey's changing policy toward the continent, which involves outreach and financial aid, Serdar Gündoğan, the head of the Turkish Prime Ministry's International Students Department, said. Nearly 90,000 applications from 176 countries have been filed for the coming academic year, which is the highest number so far. There were 56,000 international applications in 2013 and 44,000 in 2012.