Antalya has recently revealed that close to 13,000 foreign nationals reside within its southern province.

According to figures released by the Antalya Police Department, 12,876 foreigners from 190 different countries have official residence permits to dwell in Antalya; those from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Germany top the list of foreigners who have received residence permits. According to official figures, Antalya is home to 2,987 Russians, 1,416 Ukrainians, 1,050 Germans, 1,017 Kazakhs, 972 Danes, 854 Azerbaijanis, 929 Kyrgyz, 434 Moldavians, 352 British, 304 Dutch and three Jordanians. Several foreign nationals from Guatemala, Kenya, Colombia, Korea, Latvia, Jordan, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Egypt, Norway, Thailand, Peru and Senegal have also settled in Antalya.

Officials have noted that the main reasons foreign nationals prefer the southern city of Antalya are the ease of buying real estate and the incentives to invest in the city. According to official figures, the proportion of real estate owned by foreigners in Antalya is 23 percent, which means that 14,610 properties have been sold to foreigners. According to a the “International Direct Investment” report by the Treasury, a total of 14,955 companies with international capital came to Turkey between 1954 and 2006, and Antalya took second place after İstanbul in terms of the destinations fro this influx with 1,764 companies. Antalya is the leading city in real estate sales to foreigners, with 60 percent of these in the Alanya district, where 9,300 properties have been sold to foreigners.

Source: Today's Zaman