APPENDIX A The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) classification for Turkey has been developed to collect regional statistics, to identify the framework of regional policies and to create a statistics database comparable to the European Union Regional Statistics System. This classification has been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey and came into effect on 22 September 2002. Under this classification scheme, Turkish provinces have been defined as Level 3. The neighbouring provinces with economic, social and geographical similarities are hierarchically categorised as Level 1 and Level 2 by considering regional development plans and population. Level 3 classification is at the province level and covers 81 provinces in Turkey. Level 2 is defined by grouping the neighbouring provinces in the context of Level 3, and the quantity is 26. Level 1 is defined based on the grouping of Level 2, and the quantity is 12 (OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, 2002, p. 1). The following table presents the regions defined within the framework of the aforementioned classification. Table A1. NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) classification for Turkey Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 İstanbul İstanbul İstanbul Western Marmara Tekirdağ Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli Balıkesir Balıkesir, Çanakkale Aegean İzmir İzmir Aydın Aydın, Denizli, Muğla Manisa Manisa, Afyon, Kütahya, Uşak Eastern Marmara Bursa Bursa, Eskişehir, Bilecik Kocaeli Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, Yalova Western Anatolia Ankara Ankara Konya Konya, Karaman, Mediterranean Antalya Antalya, Isparta, Burdur Adana Adana, Mersin Hatay Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye Middle Anatolia Kırıkkale Kırıkkale, Aksaray, Niğde, Nevşehir, Kırşehir Kayseri Kayseri, Sivas Yozgat Western Black Sea Zonguldak Zonguldak, Karabük, Bartın Kastamonu Kastamonu, Çankırı, Sinop Samsun Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya Eastern Black Sea Trabzon Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Rize, Artvin, Gümüşhane Northeastern Anatolia Erzurum Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt Ağrı Ağrı, Kars, Iğdır, Ardahan Middle Eastern Anatolia Malatya Malatya, Elazığ, Bingöl, Tunceli Van Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari Southeastern Anatolia Gaziantep Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis Şanlıurfa Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır Mardin Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Siirt .