The population growth and distribution of the foreign-borns in Turkey

In the beginning of the 20th century the migrations into Turkey from abroad in conjunction with the process of becoming a nation-state have changed correspondingly to the political and economic conditions which have changed on a global scale towards the end of this century. The migration of people of Turkish descent at the beginning of the century has turned into foreign migration towards the end of the century. The aim of this study was to analyze the development and distribution of the overseas borne population from a spatial aspect in order to describe the migration process from abroad into Turkey and its dimensions. Although the overseas borne population has displayed an uneven development depending on the waves of migration from the Balkans a rapid increased trend has taken place after 1980 contributed with the impact of the foreign nationals. It has been determined that the overseas borne population is mainly concentrated in the western part of Turkey and particularly on the coast as well as metropolitan municipalities. Nevertheless the areas of concentration for overseas borne Turkish population and foreign nationals display differences. While the migrant Turkish population from the Balkans has settled/been settled in certain areas since the 19th century to date, the foreign nationals have gathered in the tourism centers on the western coast of Turkey.