Small Turkish cities outrank large metropolises in living quality


According to the annual provincial living quality index prepared by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), small provinces outranked large metropolises in living quality, education and working conditions.Central province of Isparta received the highest points in living quality index, followed by northwestern Sakarya and Bolu provinces. Muş, Mardin and Ağrı provinces in eastern and southeastern Turkey stood at the bottom of the list.Isparta was again the leading province in health quality index, followed by Bolu and Rize. Ağrı, Kilis and Şırnak stood at the bottom of the list.Eastern province of Tunceli led the education quality index, followed by Isparta and Amasya. Hakkari, Şırnak and Ağrı performed the worst in this index.Zonguldak, Bilecik and Kütahya provinces were the three leading provinces in working conditions index, while Batman, Mardin and Şırnak ranked at the bottom.Kastamonu, Karabük and Bilecik stood at the top of the environment index, with Iğdır, Muş and Hakkari performing the worst.Artvin, Sinop and Gümüşhane were ranked as the most secure provinces, whereas Antalya, Kilis and Muğla stood at the bottom.Sakarya took the first place in civic engagement index, followed by Kocaeli and Sivas. Hakkari, Ağrı and Muş placed at the bottom of this index.Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, Turkey's largest provinces in terms of population and economic activity, maintained the top three ranking in income and wealth index. Ardahan, Ağrı and Adıyaman provinces had the lowest ranks in this index.Turkey's top three provinces were again leading access to infrastructure services index with Istanbul taking the first place, this time followed by Izmir and then Ankara. Hakkari, Muş and Ardahan had the worst access to infrastructure according to the index.Istanbul took the first place in social life index, Uşak and Bolu following it in this category. Şırnak, Mardin and Adıyaman ranked at the bottom of this index.People in Sinop were the ones most satisfied with their lives as the province was ranked first in this category, followed by Afyonkarahisar and Bayburt. Despite its strong performance in education, Tunceli was ranked worst in life satisfaction index, followed by Osmaniye and Diyarbakır.