VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

The U.N. declared November 15, 2022, as the 8-Billion-Day all over the World. This number is undoubtedly the highest growth the World has ever witnessed. However, although the World population continues to increase, it does so at a much slower rate than in previous periods. In a similar vein, in a 100-year period, Turkey has rapidly transitioned from a rural society, where 80% of the population lives in the countryside, to an urban society, where more than 80% of the population lives in the city. Although the proportion of urban dwellers is increasing rapidly in Turkey, the rate of urbanization is decreasing. While child dependency rates are falling rapidly in the country, elderly dependency rates are increasing. On this ground, this research analyzes the change and transformation of the demographic structure in Turkey through population redistribution patterns and global comparisons. In doing this, not only the growth patterns of the population but also the ability to produce modern practices are evaluated. In the research, modern demographic indicators such as changes in urbanization rates, population growth rate, women’s social position, educational status, household structure are analyzed from a socio-geographic perspective. It is also possible to interpret this geography of demographic change obtained as Turkey’s “geography of modernization”. In the research, Turkey’s census data by year was used, and basic statistics and mapping methods were applied. One of the findings of the research is that Turkey’s modernization and demographic transition processes are geography dependent, and modernization is uneven in geographical space.