General Information

TR81 Western Black Sea Region includes Zonguldak and the provinces of Bartın, which was a district of Zonguldak and gained provincial status in 1991, and Karabük, which was a district of Zonguldak and gained provincial status in 1995. In the region with a total surface area of ​​9,814 km2, Zonguldak has a share of 34%, Karabük 42% and Bartın 24% in terms of proportional distribution of the population. According to 2022 TÜİK Address Based Population Registration System data, 588,510 of the region's population of 1,043,919 live in Zonguldak, 252,058 in Karabük and 203,351 in Bartın, and 1.22% of Türkiye's population lives in the Western Black Sea Region.

Although the urban population rate is higher than the rural population rate throughout the region, there has been a significant increase in the urban population, especially in the last 15 years. While the urban population rate of the region was 48.91% in 2007, according to the Address-Based Population Registration System data, this rate was determined to be 65.23% in 2022 data. According to 2022 data, only in Bartın province, the rural population rate (54.2) is higher than the urban population rate. Among the provinces in the region, the province with the highest urban population is Karabük with 77.3%, followed by Zonguldak with 66.8% and Bartın with 45.8%. When we look at the ranking of provinces in Türkiye in terms of rural population, it is seen that Zonguldak is ranked 33rd, Karabük is 58th and Bartın is ranked 3rd.

According to 2022 data, when we look at the age distribution of the region's population, the elderly dependency ratio (65+) is 21.13%, well above the Türkiye average of 14.55%. In terms of youth dependency ratio (0-14), the regional average is 22.85%, which is below the Türkiye average of 32.25%. Based on the age dependency ratios in question, it is seen that the young population in the region is decreasing and the elderly population is increasing; In other words, it is concluded that the population of the region is gradually aging.

According to 2022 data, the Western Black Sea Region has a value above the Türkiye average in terms of population density. In terms of the number of people per km2, Zonguldak has 178 people, Karabük has 61 people and Bartın has 98 people, while Türkiye's average has been determined as 111 people. With these values, Zonguldak ranks 12th, Karabük 45th and Bartın 28th in Turkey.

According to 2022 TÜİK data, there are a total of 40 municipalities, 18 districts and 920 villages in the region. When we look at their distribution, there are 25 municipalities, 8 districts and 380 villages in Zonguldak; 7 municipalities, 6 districts and 277 villages in Karabük; It is seen that there are 8 municipalities, 4 districts and 263 villages in Bartın.

In Turkey, which does not have a homogeneous structure in terms of development, it is very important to analyze the development levels of provinces and regions and produce policies appropriate to this result in order to reduce intra-regional and inter-regional development differences. Within the scope of development analysis, Socio-Economic Development Ranking Research (SEGE) stands out as one of the monitoring and evaluation tools of regional development policies. These researches are important studies that provide the opportunity to detect and compare the development levels and trends of districts, provinces and regions. In this regard, the SEGE study, the first of which was conducted in Turkey in 2003, was updated by developing method and variable sets in 2011 and 2017.

According to the "Socio-Economic Development Ranking Research of Provinces and Regions" report conducted by the General Directorate of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology in 2017, TR81 Western Black Sea Region is ranked 12th among 26 regions. Among 81 provinces, Karabük is ranked 22nd, Zonguldak is ranked 28th and Bartın is ranked 46th.

In this study, as a result of the analysis made with 52 variables selected by establishing a balance between regional capacity and potential and individual welfare, 6 levels were determined based on the natural breakdown of the Socio-Economic Development Ranking index values ​​of the provinces. The levels are from 1 to 6, the most developed provinces are in the 1st level and the least developed provinces are in the 6th level. Among the provinces in the TR 81 Region, Zonguldak is in the 3rd level, Karabük is in the 2nd level and Bartın is in the 4th level.

Provincial SEGE-2017 Development Levels Map

In the SEGE-2017 study, the relative rankings and levels of the districts were also determined by using a total of 32 variables in 7 dimensions: demography, employment, education, health, competitiveness, financial and quality of life. It is seen that there is 1 first stage, 4 second stage, 5 third stage, 5 fourth stage and 3 fifth stage districts in the TR81 Western Black Sea Region, which has 18 districts, including 8 in Zonguldak, 6 in Karabük and 4 in Bartın.

2017 SEGE Western Black Sea Region District Grading 

TR81 Western Black Sea Region has multi-modal transportation and transport infrastructure. The Western Black Sea Region is approximately 250 km from Ankara and 320 km from Istanbul. The region is approximately 100 km away from the Ankara-Istanbul highway. A population of more than 30 million can be reached within a 300 km radius from the Region by land.

Zonguldak Airport, which is a regional airport and located in Zonguldak, has the status of an international airport and there are flights to Istanbul Airport on international flights to Germany and domestic flights. Zonguldak Airport, the only airport in the region, is operated by a private company controlled by DHMI. The airport, which has the potential to serve all three provinces due to its location, has an annual passenger capacity of 500 thousand. It is 55 km from Zonguldak, 36 km from Bartın and 87 km from Karabük. Additionally, Filyos Port is located 5-6 km away from the Filyos Industrial Zone areas. Zonguldak Airport was built for military use during the Second World War, and the building and landscaping works were carried out in 1999.

Railway transportation infrastructure is available in the regional provinces of Zonguldak and Karabük. The line called Irmak-Karabük-Zonguldak (IKZ) passes through the region. Raw material and final product transportation of hard coal mines and heavy industry organizations has been provided more easily and economically by railways, which have existed in the region since ancient times. Today, important industrial organizations such as Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise (TTK), Kardemir and thermal power plants continue to use the railway. The existing railway on the Zonguldak – Kozlu – Üzülmez line is used by TTK and its maintenance work is also carried out by this institution. According to the data announced by TCDD, as of 2022, there are a total of 198 km of railway lines in the region, including 71 km in Zonguldak province and 127 km in Karabük province. The existing railway line is integrated with Zonguldak Port and Eren Port. While freight transportation by railway line can be carried out between Zonguldak-Karabük and outside the region, passenger transportation can only be carried out between Zonguldak-Karabük and the districts where the railway stations are located. Karabük province is on an important route that carries approximately 15 percent of the railway freight throughout the country.

There are currently a total of 8 important commercial ports in the region, 5 in Zonguldak and 3 in Bartın. Erdemir Port, Ereğli Bozhane Port, TTK Port, Eren Port and Filyos Port flow within the borders of Zonguldak province, while Bartın Port, Amasra Port and Akkonak Port flow within the borders of Bartın province. These ports are used only for freight transportation, and the cruise port in Amasra is used for passenger transportation.

According to the results of the Socio-Economic Development Ranking Research of Provinces and Regions (SEGE-2017) study, Zonguldak, Karabük and Bartın in the TR81 Western Black Sea Region ranked 48th, 19th and 39th respectively in education and 24th, 22nd and 41st in health. Karabük has values ​​well above Türkiye's averages in terms of YGS average success score in education (218.4) and general secondary education schooling rate variables (92.6 percent). Bartın ranks second in vocational and technical high schools enrollment rate with 57.2 percent. Türkiye's average in this variable is 44 percent.

In terms of net schooling rate, the provinces of the region are above the Turkish average. According to the official statistics of the 2021-2022 Directorate of National Education, there is a decrease in the net schooling rates of primary school, secondary school, vocational and technical secondary education compared to previous years; There was an increase in secondary education and general secondary education levels. It is considered that the reason for the decrease in the net schooling rate is that 5-year-old students started primary school in the 2012-2013 academic year, which was the year of transition to the 4+4+4 education system, and in the following years, 5-year-old students were directed to pre-school with the change in regulation and the decrease in enrollment due to the Covid-19 epidemic. However, although there is no significant difference between the net enrollment rates of men and women at the primary, secondary and secondary education levels throughout the region, there is an increase in favor of women in general secondary education and in favor of men in vocational and technical secondary education.

There are three state universities in the region. Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University was established in 1992, Karabük University in 2007 and finally Bartın University in 2008. In higher education, there are 86,821 associate and undergraduate students in a total of 3 universities in the region in the 2022-2023 academic year, constituting 1.4 percent of the total number of higher education associate and undergraduate students in Turkey. The total number of graduate students in the region is 7,652 and constitutes 1.8 percent of the total number of graduate students in Turkey. The number of doctoral students studying in the region is 1,525 and constitutes 1.3 percent of the number of doctoral students in Turkey. The total number of teaching staff in the region has reached 3,189 and constitutes 1.7 percent of the total number of teaching staff in Turkey.

There are 32,560 associate, undergraduate and graduate students at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, 45,358 at Karabük University, and 18,080 at Bartın University. Although the region has shown a continuous increase in terms of the number of students compared to previous years, it still constitutes 1.38 percent of Türkiye's total. However, for the same period, the number of faculty members was stated as 1,329 at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, 1,169 at Karabük University and 691 at Bartın University.

In health, when the total number of healthcare personnel is examined, it is seen that the highest number of healthcare personnel is in Zonguldak, and Zonguldak is followed by Karabük and Bartın, respectively. Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Hospital, which has been serving the region for a long time, creates a significant capacity in the region. The fact that there is no university affiliated hospital in Bartın province yet has a negative impact on the health capacity. Health services provided by the private sector in the region are not yet at the desired level. It is thought that one of the main reasons for this situation is the region's proximity to metropolises such as Ankara and Istanbul, where integrated and private health services are intensively provided.

In the "Interprovincial Competition Index 2021-2022" report published by Istanbul University City Policy Application and Research Center in 2023, Zonguldak was ranked 30th, Karabük 11th and Bartın 52nd in the health sector. In the social life ranking of the same report, Zonguldak is ranked 34th, Karabük is 35th and Bartın is 59th. Looking at these results, it can be said that the health sector is in a relatively better condition compared to social life.

8 public, 1 university and 3 private in Zonguldak; 5 state and 1 private in Karabük; There are 3 public and 1 private hospitals in Bartın. There are a total of 1,547 hospitals in Turkey, and 0.91 percent of the country's total hospital bed capacity is located in Zonguldak, 0.30 percent is in Karabük and 0.17 percent is in Bartın. This situation is parallel to the population of the provinces; Zonguldak is above the average, Karabük is around the average and Bartın is below the average.

Although the number of hospital beds per hundred thousand people is increasing day by day, according to the latest TÜİK (2021) data, Türkiye's average is calculated as 301 beds. When we look at the number of hospital beds per hundred thousand people in the provinces of the Western Black Sea Region, Zonguldak is 392, Karabük is 291, Bartın is 214, and the regional average is 333. The number of beds in Karabük and Bartın provinces is below the Türkiye average.

The Western Black Sea Region is a region that has continued its existence with mining activities and the iron and steel industry that has developed accordingly, and has developed and grown with this feature. Since the 1940s, the mining sector and the iron and steel sector have been the sectors that enabled the development of the region and provided the most employment opportunities. In the 1990s, problems began to occur in employment and regional development due to the dependent sectoral structure of the region and the contraction in dominant sectors.

Although industrial activities in the region are still mainly based on mining and iron and steel industry today, employment rates in this sector have started to decrease over time due to the problems experienced in mining. Contrary to the stagnation in the mining sector, the share of the iron and steel and related sub-industry products sector in the regional economy is gradually increasing. This sector, which has been developing more rapidly in recent years, is becoming a great hope for the region. When we look at the sectoral structure in the export figures of the TR81 region, it is seen that the largest proportion is made up of iron and steel exports. Apart from these two dominant sectors, the shares of furniture, forest products and energy sectors in the regional economy have also begun to increase.

According to 2022 data received from the Provincial Directorates of Industry and Technology, there are 1,373 industrial facilities registered in the industrial registry system in the region. Approximately 49.5 percent of the industrial facilities are located in Zonguldak, 32.6 percent in Karabük and 18 percent in Bartın. Most industrial facilities; Karabük center with 215 facilities and Kdz with 203 facilities, respectively. Ereğli is located in Bartın center with 191 facilities, Çaycuma with 160 facilities and Safranbolu with 138 facilities. The fewest industrial facilities in the region are in Ovacık, Amasra, Eflani, Ulus and Kozlu, respectively. 67,357 people are employed in industrial facilities in the region. Approximately 57.6 percent of those employed are in Zonguldak, 24.4 percent in Karabük and 18.01 percent in Bartın. In terms of the number of employment, respectively; Kdz with 15,518 people. Ereğli, Karabük Center with 12,322 people, Bartın Center with 10,343 people, Kilimli with 6,352 people, Çaycuma with 5,676 people and Zonguldak Center with 3,560 people are among the prominent settlements. The lowest number of employment in industry in the region is in Ovacık, Kurucaşile, Eflani and Eskipazar, Yenice and Ulus, respectively.

Maps regarding the distribution of industrial facilities in the region and the number of people employed in industrial facilities are given below.

Number of Industrial Facilities (2022)

Number of People Employed in the Industrial Sector (2022)

It is seen that the average annual export amount in the Western Black Sea Region between 2013 and 2022 is approximately 791.1 million USD. In the same period, Türkiye's annual export average was at the level of 180.0 billion dollars. While the increase and decrease in the exports of Zonguldak and Karabük have a similar appearance, the export of Bartın province is seen to be far below the regional average, and the increase in export data for 2021 is noteworthy. In the Western Black Sea Region, Zonguldak made the most exports in 2022 with 597.9 million USD, while Bartın made the least exports with 32.8 million USD. Region's exports increased in parallel with the increase in Türkiye's exports in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2021, and broke a record especially in 2021. The year 2015 was recorded as a year in which exports decreased for both the regional provinces and Türkiye.

While the export-import coverage ratio is 73.83 percent in Türkiye and 39.02 percent in the region, according to the average of 2013-2021, it is 31.07 percent in Zonguldak and 51.46 in Karabük. In Bartın, this rate was 285.86 percent, different from both the regional provinces and the country as a whole. It is also known that in Bartın, where export figures are higher than import figures, imports and exports are at lower levels compared to the provinces in the region. The share of the Western Black Sea Region in the country's exports is 0.38 percent as of 2022. When examined between 2013 and 2021, it is seen that this rate varies between 0.27 percent and 0.69 percent. Bartın's share in the country's exports, one of the provinces in the region, has the lowest share among the provinces in the region.

Zonguldak province is under the influence of the temperate Black Sea climate and there is no dry season. Although it rains in every season, the most rainfall occurs in autumn and winter. As you move from the sea to the inland areas, the climate becomes harsher and rainfall decreases. The monthly average temperature varies between 6 and 22 degrees, and 145 days of the year are rainy.

Since Karabük is located inland from the coast, it cannot benefit sufficiently from the humid air of the Black Sea, and the characteristics of the continental climate predominate. Transitional type climate is effective in Karabük, which is in the transition area from the Black Sea climate to the continental climate. The monthly average temperature varies between 2.9 and 24 degrees, and 112 days of the year are rainy.

While summers are hot and winters are cool in Bartın province, a temperate maritime climate (Black Sea climate) prevails in the city. Its proximity to the sea and the fact that mountain ranges are parallel to the coast generally cause temperature differences on the coastline to decrease and humidity to increase. The monthly average temperature varies between 4.1 and 22.1 degrees, and 139 days of the year are rainy.