The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (ilçeler; sing. ilçe). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the kaza.
Most provinces bear the same name as their respective provincial capital districts. However, many urban provinces, designated as greater municipalities, have a center consisting of multiple districts, such as the provincial capital of Ankara province, The City of Ankara, comprising nine separate districts. Additionally three provinces, Kocaeli, Sakarya, and Hatay have their capital district named differently from their province, as İzmit, Adapazarı, and Antakya respectively.
