Increase in the Number of Syrian Refugees from 2011 to 2015

Reading time: 1 minute

As of August 15, 2015, there were 262,134 Syrian refugees in the 25 state-run refugee camps set up by the Turkish government close to the border with Syria. All the camps were full. The remaining 85% of the refugee population is scattered in provinces and districts across the country, as “urban refugees.” The largest concentrations are found in the Southeastern Anatolian region, where the populations of certain cities close to the border have increased by 10% or more. Syrian refugees have also settled down in large cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir. As of January 2015, İstanbul‘s population of Syrian refugees is said to have reached 330,000. İstanbul was followed by Antep with 253,000 people, Urfa with 240,000, and the Hatay with 204,000. There are 86,000 refugees in Kilis, 78,000 in Mardin, and over 60,000 each in Adana and Maraş.