Head of the Demography Department
Asst. Prof. Z. Selen Artan

While the world population is rapidly increasing and aging at the same time, demography has a critical importance in understanding the effects of social, cultural and economic changes on societies, identifying problems, producing solutions and developing social policies. In rapidly developing countries such as Turkey, demography is a fundamental tool for effective planning of sustainable development, resource management, education and health policies. Thus, the effects of demographic changes, labor markets and social security systems can be better understood and more effective and target-oriented policies can be developed.

Turkey's population structure, demographic characteristics and migration movements have a great impact on the country's economic development and the solution of social problems. On the other hand, Istanbul has a privileged importance both in our country and in the world due to its population density and diversity, economic dynamics, and its central location in many areas such as the health and education sector. For this reason, demographic studies are of great importance for Istanbul, which is experiencing a continuous increase in population due to both internal and external migration. However, despite all these dynamic factors, the fact that there is only one institute conducting studies in the field of demography throughout Turkey and the absence of any department in the field of demography in the universities in Istanbul appears as a major deficiency.

The Department of Population, which is planned to be established within Marmara University under the Population and Social Research Institute, aims to understand the basic dynamics of society by focusing on demographic analysis and population science. The establishment of this department aims to contribute to solution-oriented studies on a scientific basis by thoroughly examining the structure, distribution and change of the population, as well as the social, economic and cultural interactions of the society.