Ankara is the

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören,

Altındağ Altındağ is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 123 km2, and its population is 413,994 (2022). It covers the northeastern part of the city of Ankara. Its elevation is . Demographics ...

, Pursaklar, Mamak, Gölbaşı, Sincan) and 5,864,049 in

Ankara Province Ankara Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey with the capital city Ankara. Its area is 25,632 km2, and its population is 5,782,285 (2022). History The site of the modern city has been home to settlements ...

(total of 25 districts). Ankara is

's second-largest city by population after

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, first by urban land area, and third by metro land area after

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

and

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

. Ankara was historically known as Ancyra and Angora. Serving as the capital of the ancient

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic state of

Galatia Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here ...

(280–64 BC), and later of the Roman province with the same name (25 BC–7th century), Ankara has various Hattian, Hittite,

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

n, Galatian,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Persian, Roman,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, and Ottoman

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s. The Ottomans made the city the capital first of the Anatolia Eyalet (1393 – late 15th century) and then the Angora Eyalet (1827–1864) and the

Angora Vilayet The Vilayet of Angora () or Ankara was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, centered on the city of Angora (Ankara) in north-central Anatolia, which included most of ancient Galatia. Demographics At the beginni ...

(1867–1922). On 23 April 1920, the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

was established in Ankara, which became the headquarters of the

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

. Ankara became the new Turkish capital upon the establishment of the Republic on 29 October 1923, succeeding in this role as the former Turkish capital Istanbul following the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The historical center of Ankara is a rocky hill rising over the left bank of the

Ankara River Ankara River () is a small river (stream) to the west of Ankara, Turkey. It is a tributary of the Sakarya River. One of its tributaries, the Çubuk Brook, splits Ankara almost in half and crosses through many neighborhoods. There are many bridg ...

, a tributary of the Sakarya River. The hill remains crowned by the ruins of

Ankara Castle Ankara Castle () is a historic fortification in the city of Ankara, Turkey, constructed in or after the 7th century. The earliest fortification on the site was constructed in the 8th century BC by the Phrygians and rebuilt in 278 BC by the Gala ...

. Although few of its outworks have survived, there are well-preserved examples of Roman and

Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century an ...

throughout the city. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

is a prominent employer, but Ankara is also an important commercial and industrial city located at the center of Turkey's road and railway networks. The city gave its name to the Angora wool shorn from Angora rabbits, the long-haired

Angora goat The Angora or Ankara is a Turkish breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the sa ...

(the source of

mohair Mohair (pronounced ) originated from the Arabic word �هيرand it is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat (not Angora wool from the fur of the Angora rabbit). Both durable and resilient, mohair is lustrous with high shee ...

), and the Angora cat. The area is also known for its pears, honey and

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

grapes. Although situated in one of the driest regions of Turkey and surrounded mostly by

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

vegetation (except for the forested areas on the southern periphery), Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, at per head. Home to numerous universities, Ankara is among the top 100 science and technology clusters in the world.

Etymology

The orthography of the name ''Ankara'' has varied over the ages. It has been identified with the Hittite cult center , although this remains a matter of debate.Gorny, Ronald L. "Zippalanda and Ankuwa: The Geography of Central Anatolia in the Second Millennium B.C." ''The Journal of the American Oriental Society''. Vol. 117 (1997). In classical antiquity and during the medieval period, the city was known as (, ) in

and in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; the Galatian Celtic name was probably a similar variant. Following its annexation by the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

in 1073, the city became known in many European languages as ''Angora''; it was also known in

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

as (). The form "Angora" is preserved in the names of breeds of many different kinds of animals, and in the names of several locations in the US (see Angora).

History

The region's history can be traced back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Hattic

civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

, in the 10th century BC by the

ns, and later by the

ns,

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns,

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

ns, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks (the Seljuk

Sultanate of Rûm The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and finally republican Türkiye).

Ancient history

The oldest settlements in and around the city center of Ankara belonged to the Hattic

which existed during the

and was gradually absorbed c. 2000 – 1700 BC by the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

. The city grew significantly in size and importance under the

ns starting around 1000 BC, and experienced a large expansion following the mass migration from Gordion, (the capital of

), after an earthquake which severely damaged that city around that time. In Phrygian tradition, King

Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but Pausanias mentions that the city was actually far older, which accords with present archeological knowledge. Phrygian rule was succeeded first by

n and later by

n rule, though the strongly Phrygian character of the peasantry remained, as evidenced by the gravestones of the much later Roman period. Persian sovereignty lasted until the Persians' defeat at the hands of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

who conquered the city in 333 BC. Alexander came from Gordion to Ankara and stayed in the city for a short period. After his death at

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

in 323 BC and the subsequent division of his empire among his generals, Ankara, and its environs fell into the share of Antigonus. Another important expansion took place under the

of Pontos who came there around 300 BC and developed the city as a trading center for the commerce of goods between the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

ports and Crimea to the north; Assyria, Cyprus, and Lebanon to the south; and Georgia, Armenia and Persia to the east. By that time, the city also took its name Ἄγκυρα (''Ánkyra'', meaning ''

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

'' in

) which, in slightly modified form, provides the modern name of ''Ankara''. Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük on black background.jpg, Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük on display at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Celtic history

In 278 BC, the city, along with the rest of central Anatolia, was occupied by a

ic group, the

ns, who were the first to make Ankara one of their main tribal centers, the headquarters of the Tectosages tribe. Other centers were Pessinus, today's Ballıhisar, for the Trocmi tribe, and Tavium, to the east of Ankara, for the Tolistobogii tribe. The city was then known as ''Ancyra''. The Celtic element was probably relatively small in numbers; a warrior aristocracy which ruled over Phrygian-speaking peasants. However, the

Celtic language The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yves ...

continued to be spoken in Galatia for many centuries. At the end of the 4th century, St. Jerome, a native of Dalmatia, observed that the language spoken around Ankara was very similar to that being spoken in the northwest of the Roman world near

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

Roman history

The city was subsequently passed under the control of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. In 25 BC, Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

raised it to the status of a ''

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

'' and made it the capital city of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

. Ankara is famous for the '' Monumentum Ancyranum'' (''Temple of Augustus and Rome'') which contains the official record of the ''Acts of Augustus'', known as the ''

Res Gestae Divi Augusti ''Res Gestae Divi Augusti'' (Eng. ''The Deeds of the Divine Augustus'') is a monumental inscription composed by the first Roman emperor, Augustus, giving a first-person record of his life and accomplishments. The ''Res Gestae'' is especially sig ...

'', an inscription cut in marble on the walls of this temple. The ruins of Ancyra still furnish today valuable

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s, inscriptions and other architectural fragments. Two other Galatian tribal centers, Tavium near

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Pessinus (Balhisar) to the west, near Sivrihisar, continued to be reasonably important settlements in the Roman period, but it was Ancyra that grew into a grand metropolis. An estimated 200,000 people lived in Ancyra in good times during the Roman Empire, a far greater number than was to be the case from after the fall of the Roman Empire until the early 20th century. The small

ran through the center of the Roman town. It has now been covered and diverted, but it formed the northern boundary of the old town during the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Çankaya, the rim of the majestic hill to the south of the present city center, stood well outside the Roman city, but may have been a summer resort. In the 19th century, the remains of at least one

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

or large house were still standing not far from where the Çankaya Presidential Residence stands today. To the west, the Roman city extended until the area of the Gençlik Park and Railway Station, while on the southern side of the hill, it may have extended downward as far as the site presently occupied by Hacettepe University. It was thus a sizeable city by any standards and much larger than the Roman towns of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

. Ancyra's importance rested on the fact that it was the junction point where the roads in northern Anatolia running north–south and east–west intersected, giving it major strategic importance for Rome's eastern frontier. The great imperial road running east passed through Ankara and a succession of emperors and their armies came this way. They were not the only ones to use the Roman highway network, which was equally convenient for invaders. In the second half of the 3rd century, Ancyra was invaded in rapid succession by the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

coming from the west (who rode far into the heart of

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, taking slaves and pillaging) and later by the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s. For about a decade, the town was one of the western outposts of one of Palmyrean empress Zenobia in the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

, who took advantage of a period of weakness and disorder in the Roman Empire to set up a short-lived state of her own. The town was reincorporated into the Roman Empire under Emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

in 272. The

tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

, a system of multiple (up to four) emperors introduced by

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

(284–305), seems to have engaged in a substantial program of rebuilding and of road construction from Ancyra westwards to Germe and Dorylaeum (now

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

). In its heyday, Roman Ancyra was a large market and trading center but it also functioned as a major administrative capital, where a high official ruled from the city's Praetorium, a large administrative palace or office. During the 3rd century, life in Ancyra, as in other Anatolian towns, seems to have become somewhat militarized in response to the invasions and instability of the town. Museum of Anatolian Civilizations116.jpg, Marble head of a Roman woman on display at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Res Gestae.jpg, The ''

'' is the self-laudatory autobiography completed in 13 AD, just before his death, by the first Roman emperor

. Most of the text is preserved on the walls of the Monumentum Ancyranum. Ankara Thermen05.jpg, The Roman Baths of Ankara were constructed by the Roman emperor

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

(212–217) in honor of Asclepios, the God of Medicine, and built around three principal rooms: the ''

caldarium image:Caldarium.JPG, 230px, ''Caldarium'' from the Roman baths at Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor. A (also called a ''calidarium'', ''cella ca ...

'' (hot bath), the ''

tepidarium The ''tepidarium'' was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the thermae, Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a ''tepidarium'' is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat, which directly affects the ...

'' (warm bath) and the '' frigidarium'' (cold bath) in a typically laid-out classical complex.

Byzantine history

The city is well known during the 4th century as a center of Christian activity (see also below), due to frequent imperial visits, and through the letters of the pagan scholar

Libanius Libanius (; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a critical source of history of the Greek ...

. Bishop Marcellus of Ancyra and Basil of Ancyra were active in the theological controversies of their day, and the city was the site of no fewer than three church synods in 314, 358 and 375, the latter two in favor of

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

. The city was visited by Emperor

Constans I Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), also called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was made ''a ...

(r. 337–350) in 347 and 350, Julian (r. 361–363) during his Persian campaign in 362, and Julian's successor Jovian (r. 363–364) in winter 363/364 (he entered his

consulship The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

while in the city). After Jovian's death soon after,

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

(r. 364–375) was acclaimed emperor at Ancyra, and in the next year his brother

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

(r. 364–378) used Ancyra as his base against the usurper

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

. When the province of Galatia was divided sometime in 396/99, Ancyra remained the civil capital of Galatia I, as well as its ecclesiastical center (

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

). Emperor Arcadius (r. 383–408) frequently used the city as his summer residence, and some information about the ecclesiastical affairs of the city during the early 5th century is found in the works of

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia () was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the '' Lausiac History.'' He was also the author of the ''Dialo ...

and Nilus of Ancyra. In 479, the rebel

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

attacked the city, without being able to capture it. In 610/11, Comentiolus, brother of Emperor

Phocas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the East Roman army, Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the cour ...

(r. 602–610), launched his own unsuccessful rebellion in the city against

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

(r. 610–641). Ten years later, in 620 or more likely 622, it was captured by the

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

ns during the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Although the city returned to Byzantine hands after the end of the war, the Persian presence left traces in the city's archeology, and likely began the process of its transformation from a late antique city to a medieval fortified settlement. In 654, the city, also known in Arabic sources as ''Qalat as-Salasil'' ("fortress of the chains"), was captured for the first time by the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

of the

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to Political aspects of Islam, represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the ...

, under Muawiyah, the future founder of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

. At about the same time, the themes were established in Anatolia, and Ancyra became capital of the Opsician Theme, which was the largest and most important theme until it was split up under Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V (; July 718 – 14 September 775) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able military leader, Constantine took advantage of Third Fitna, civil war ...

(r. 741–775); Ancyra then became the capital of the new Bucellarian Theme. The city was captured at least temporarily by the Umayyad prince Maslama ibn Hisham in 739/40, the last of the Umayyads' territorial gains from the Byzantine Empire. Ancyra was attacked without success by

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

forces in 776 and in 798/99. In 805, Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811) strengthened its fortifications, a fact which probably saved it from sack during the large-scale invasion of Anatolia by Caliph

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

in the next year. Arab sources report that Harun and his successor

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

(r. 813–833) took the city, but this information is later invention. In 838, however, during the Amorium campaign, the armies of Caliph

al-Mu'tasim Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd (; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. ...

(r. 833–842) converged and met at the city; abandoned by its inhabitants, Ancara was razed to the ground, before the Arab armies went on to besiege and destroy

Amorium Amorium, also known as Amorion (), was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Sack of Amorium, Arab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine m ...

reaching as far as

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

. In 859, Emperor

Michael III Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...

(r. 842–867) came to the city during a campaign against the Arabs, and ordered its fortifications restored. In 872, the city was menaced, but not taken, by the Paulicians under Chrysocheir. The last Arab raid to reach the city was undertaken in 931, by the Abbasid governor of Tarsus, Thamal al-Dulafi, but the city again was not captured.

Ecclesiastical history

Early Christian martyrs of Ancyra, about whom little is known, included Proklos and Hilarios who were natives of the otherwise unknown nearby village of Kallippi, and suffered repression under the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

(98–117). In the 280s we hear of Philumenos, a Christian corn merchant from southern Anatolia, being captured and martyred in Ankara, and Eustathius. As in other Roman towns, the reign of

marked the culmination of the persecution of the Christians. In 303, Ancyra was one of the towns where the co-emperors Diocletian and his deputy

Galerius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; Greek: Γαλέριος; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. He participated in the system of government later known as the Tetrarchy, first acting as '' caesar'' under Emperor Diocletian. In th ...

launched their anti-Christian persecution. In Ancyra, their first target was the 38-year-old Bishop of the town, whose name was Clement. Clement's life describes how he was taken to Rome, then sent back, and forced to undergo many interrogations and hardship before he, and his brother, and various companions were put to death. The remains of the church of St. Clement can be found today in a building just off Işıklar Caddesi in the Ulus district. Quite possibly this marks the site where Clement was originally buried. Four years later, a doctor of the town named Plato and his brother Antiochus also became celebrated martyrs under Galerius. Theodotus of Ancyra is also venerated as a saint. However, the persecution proved unsuccessful and in 314 Ancyra was the center of an important council of the

early church Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...

; its 25 disciplinary canons constitute one of the most important documents in the early history of the administration of the

Sacrament of Penance The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which the faithful are absolved from si ...

. The synod also considered ecclesiastical policy for the reconstruction of the

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

after the persecutions, and in particular the treatment of '' lapsi''—

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

who had given in to forced

paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

(sacrifices) to avoid

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...

during these persecutions. Though paganism was probably tottering in Ancyra in Clement's day, it may still have been the majority religion. Twenty years later, Christianity and

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

had taken its place. Ancyra quickly turned into a Christian city, with a life dominated by monks and priests and theological disputes. The town council or senate gave way to the bishop as the main local figurehead. During the middle of the 4th century, Ancyra was involved in the complex theological disputes over the nature of Christ, and a form of

seems to have originated there. In 362–363, Emperor Julian passed through Ancyra on his way to an ill-fated campaign against the Persians, and according to Christian sources, engaged in a persecution of various holy men. The stone base for a statue, with an inscription describing Julian as "Lord of the whole world from the British Ocean to the barbarian nations", can still be seen, built into the eastern side of the inner circuit of the walls of Ankara Castle. The Column of Julian which was erected in honor of the emperor's visit to the city in 362 still stands today. In 375, Arian bishops met at Ancyra and deposed several bishops, among them St. Gregory of Nyssa. In the late 4th century, Ancyra became something of an imperial holiday resort. After

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

became the East Roman capital, emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries would retire from the humid summer weather on the

Bosporus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

to the drier mountain atmosphere of Ancyra.

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...

(408–450) kept his court in Ancyra in the summers. Laws issued in Ancyra testify to the time they spent there. The Metropolis of Ancyra continued to be a residential see of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

until the 20th century, with about 40,000 faithful, mostly Turkish-speaking, but that situation ended as a result of the 1923

Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations The Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations (, ), also known as the Lausanne Convention, was an agreement between the Greece, Greek and Turkey, Turkish governments signed by their representatives in Lausanne on 30 Janua ...

. The earlier

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

put an end to the residential eparchy of Ancyra of the

Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...

, which had been established in 1850.Bull ''Universi Dominici gregis''
, in Giovanni Domenico Mansi, ''Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio'', vol. XL, coll. 779–780F. Tournebize, v. ''II. Ancyre, évêché arménien catholique'', i
''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''
, vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 1543–1546 It is also a titular metropolis of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

. Both the Ancient Byzantine Metropolitan archbishopric and the 'modern' Armenian eparchy are now listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

s, with separate

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

Seljuk and Ottoman history

After the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

in 1071, the

overran much of Anatolia. By 1073, the Turkish settlers had reached the vicinity of Ancyra, and the city was captured shortly after, at the latest by the time of the rebellion of Nikephoros Melissenos in 1081. In 1101, when the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

under Raymond IV of Toulouse arrived, the city had been under Danishmend control for some time. The Crusaders captured the city, and handed it over to the Byzantine emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

(r. 1081–1118). Byzantine rule did not last long, and the city was captured by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum at some unknown point; in 1127, it returned to Danishmend control until 1143, when the Seljuks of Rum retook it. After the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243, in which the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

defeated the Seljuks, most of Anatolia became part of the dominion of the Mongols. Taking advantage of Seljuk decline, a semi-religious cast of craftsmen and trade people named '' Ahiler'' chose Angora as their independent city-state in 1290.

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

, the second Bey of the

, captured the city in 1356.

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

defeated

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and took the city, but in 1403 Angora was again under Ottoman control. The

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

maintained a factory in the town from 1639 to 1768. In the 19th century, its population was estimated at 20,000 to 60,000. It was sacked by

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

s under Ibrahim Pasha in 1832. From 1867 to 1922, the city served as the capital of the

, which included most of ancient Galatia. Prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the town had a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

and a population of around 28,000, roughly of whom were Christian.

Turkish republican capital

Following the Ottoman defeat in

, the Ottoman capital

(modern Istanbul) and much of

was occupied by the Allies, who planned to share these lands between

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the United Kingdom, leaving for the Turks the core piece of land in central Anatolia. In response, the leader of the Turkish nationalist movement,

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, established the headquarters of his

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

in Angora in 1920. After the

was won and the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...

was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the Turkish nationalists replaced the Ottoman Empire with the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 29 October 1923. A few days earlier, Angora had officially replaced Constantinople as the new Turkish capital city, on 13 October 1923, and Republican officials declared that the city's name is Ankara. After Ankara became the capital of the newly founded Republic of Turkey, new development divided the city into an old section, called ''Ulus'', and a new section, called ''Yenişehir''. Ancient buildings reflecting Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman history and narrow winding streets mark the old section. The new section, now centered on Kızılay Square, has the trappings of a more modern city: wide streets, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, and high-rises. Government offices and foreign embassies are also located in the new section. Ankara has experienced a phenomenal growth since it was made Turkey's capital in 1923, when it was "a small town of no importance". In 1924, the year after the government had moved there, Ankara had about 35,000 residents. By 1927 there were 44,553 residents and by 1950 the population had grown to 286,781. After 1930, the city officially became known in Western languages as Ankara. By the late 1930s, the English name "Angora" was no longer in popular use. Library Main Hall Columns

Ankara continued to grow rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century and eventually outranked

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

as Turkey's second-largest city, after

. Ankara's urban population reached 4,587,558 in 2014, while the population of

reached 5,150,072 in 2015. The Presidential Palace of Türkiye is situated in Ankara. This building serves as the main residence of the president.

Geography

Geographically, Ankara is located in between the Kızılırmak and Sakarya rivers, and the Sakarya River forms its border with

in the west. Ankara shares its borders with Bolu and

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is a city in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. It is the seat of Çankırı Province and of Çankır ...

in the north;

in the south and Kırıkkale in the east. Ankara and its province are located in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The Çubuk Brook flows through the city center of Ankara. It is connected in the western suburbs of the city to the

, which is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the Sakarya River.

Climate

Ankara has a cold semi-arid climate under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

(''BSk''), while under the

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

, the city is classified as humid continental (''Dc''). Due to its elevation and inland location, Ankara has cold and snowy winters, and hot and dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and autumn. The city lies in

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

7b, and its annual average precipitation is fairly low at , nevertheless precipitation can be observed throughout the year. Monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of . Ankara's overall temperature regime is very similar to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Demographics

Ankara had a population of 75,000 in 1927. There were 74,632 male residents and 48,882 female residents in Ankara according to the 1935 census. As of 2022, the population of the Ankara Province was 5,782,285. When Ankara became the capital of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it was designated as a planned city for 500,000 future inhabitants. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the city grew in a planned and orderly pace. However, from the 1950s onward, the city grew much faster than envisioned, because unemployment and poverty forced people to migrate from the countryside into the city to seek a better standard of living. As a result, many illegal houses called gecekondu were built around the city, causing the unplanned and uncontrolled urban landscape of Ankara, as not enough planned housing could be built fast enough. Although precariously built, the vast majority of them have electricity, running water and modern household amenities. Nevertheless, many of these gecekondus have been replaced by huge public housing projects in the form of

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s such as Elvankent, Eryaman and Güzelkent; and also as mass housing compounds for military and civil service accommodation. Although many gecekondus still remain, they too are gradually being replaced by mass housing compounds, as empty land plots in the city of Ankara for new construction projects are becoming impossible to find. Çorum and

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Central Anatolia and whose population is decreasing, are the provinces with the highest net migration to Ankara. About one third of the Central Anatolia population of 15,608,868 people resides in Ankara. The

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

in the whole province for people who are 15 years old or older is 98.18% according to 2020 TÜİK data. Ankara Province also has the highest percentage of tertiary education graduates in Turkey with 29.08% of the population having either an undergraduate, master's or doctor's degree.

Economy and infrastructure

Ankara has long been a productive agricultural region in Anatolia. In the Ottoman period, Ankara was well known for producing grain, cotton, and fruits. The city has exported

(from the

) and Angora wool (from the Angora rabbit) internationally for centuries. In the 19th century, the city also exported substantial amounts of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

and cat skins, gum, wax,

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

, berries, and madder root. It was connected to

by railway before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, continuing to export mohair, wool, berries, and grain. The Central Anatolia Region is one of the primary locations of grape and wine production in Turkey, and Ankara is particularly famous for its

Kalecik Karası Kalecik Karası is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine produced from this grape. This grape and wine are called by the name of area, the Kalecik district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Kalecik Karası grows successfully near Kalecik. In its ...

and Muscat grapes; and its Kavaklıdere wine, which is produced in the Kavaklıdere neighborhood within the Çankaya district of the city. Ankara is also famous for its pears. Another natural product of Ankara is its indigenous type of

(''Ankara Balı'') which is known for its light color and is mostly produced by the Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo in the Gazi district, and by other facilities in the Elmadağ, Çubuk and Beypazarı districts. Çubuk-1 and Çubuk-2 dams on the Çubuk Brook in Ankara were among the first dams constructed in the Turkish Republic. Ankara is the center of the state-owned and private Turkish defence and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

companies, where the industrial plants and headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries, MKE, ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN, FNSS, Nurol Makina, and numerous other firms are located. Exports to foreign countries from these defense and aerospace firms have steadily increased in the past decades. The IDEF in Ankara is one of the largest international expositions of the global arms industry. A number of the global automotive companies also have production facilities in Ankara, such as the German bus and truck manufacturer

MAN SE MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg- Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin ...

. Ankara hosts the OSTIM Industrial Zone, Turkey's largest

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

. A large percentage of the complicated employment in Ankara is provided by the state institutions; such as the

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, subministries, and other administrative bodies of the Turkish government. There are also many foreign citizens working as diplomats or clerks in the embassies of their respective countries.

Transportation

The ''Electricity, Gas, Bus General Directorate'' (EGO) operates the

Ankara Metro The Ankara Metro () is the rapid transit system serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey. At present, Ankara's rapid transit system consists of three metro lines – the ''Ankaray (A1)'', the ''M1 - M2 - M3'' and the ''M4''. The Ankaray, M1, M2, M3 ...

and other forms of public transportation. Ankara is served by a suburban railway named Başkentray (B1), 1 light rail transit line named Ankaray (A1) and 2 Metro lines (M1-M2-M3, M4) of the Ankara Metro with about 400,000 total daily commuters, while additional lines (A2, M5, M6, M7, M8) are planned. Ankara Central Station is a major rail hub in Turkey. The

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

operates passenger train service from Ankara to other major cities, such as:

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

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, Kars, Elazığ,

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

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, Karabük,

Zonguldak Zonguldak () is a List of cities in Turkey, city of about 100 thousand people in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Zonguldak Province and Zonguldak District.Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

. Commuter rail also runs between the stations of Sincan and Kayaş. On 13 March 2009, the new

Yüksek Hızlı Tren Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT () is a high-speed rail service operated by TCDD Transport in Turkey. Branded as "YHT", they are TCDD Transport's flagship passenger train service and the only high-speed rail service in the country. As of 2025, the ...

(YHT) high-speed rail service began operation between Ankara and Eskişehir. On 23 August 2011, another YHT high-speed line commercially started its service between Ankara and Konya. On 25 July 2014, the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed line of YHT entered service. Ankara Esenboğa Airport, located in the north-east of the city, is Ankara's main airport. Whilst the AŞTİ is the main coach terminal.

Ankara public transportation statistics

The average amount of time people spend commuting on public transit in Ankara on a weekday is 71 minutes. 17% of public transit passengers, ride for more than two hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is sixteen minutes, while 28% of users wait for over twenty minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is , while 27% travel for over in a single direction.

Politics

Since 8 April 2019, the mayor of Ankara is

Mansur Yavaş Mansur Yavaş (; born 23 May 1955) is a Turkish lawyer and politician who is currently the Mayor of Ankara, holding the office since April 2019. He was elected in the 2019 Ankara mayoral election as the candidate of the Nation Alliance (Turkey), ...

from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP), who won the mayoral election in 2019 and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Ankara is politically a triple battleground between the ruling conservative

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

, the opposition Kemalism, Kemalist center-left

(CHP) and the nationalist far-right Nationalist Movement Party, MHP. The Ankara Province, province of Ankara is divided into 25 districts. Historically, the CHP's key and almost only political stronghold in Ankara lied within the central area of Çankaya, Ankara (district), Çankaya, which is the city's most populous district. While the CHP has always gained between 60 and 70% of the vote in Çankaya since 2002, political support elsewhere throughout Ankara was minimal. The high population within Çankaya, as well as Yenimahalle to an extent, has allowed the CHP to take overall second place behind the AK Party in both local and general elections, with the MHP a close third, despite the fact that the MHP was politically stronger than the CHP in almost every other district. Overall, the AK Party enjoyed the most support throughout the city. The electorate of Ankara thus tended to vote in favor of the political right, far more so than the other main cities of

and

. In retrospect, the 2013–14 protests in Turkey, 2013–14 protests against the AK Party government were particularly strong in Ankara, proving to be fatal on multiple occasions. The city suffered from a series of terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016, most notably on 2015 Ankara bombings, 10 October 2015; February 2016 Ankara bombing, 17 February 2016; and March 2016 Ankara bombing, 13 March 2016. The city was also one of the sites of the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, coup attempt on 15 July 2016. Melih Gökçek was the Metropolitan Mayor of Ankara between 1994 and 2017. Initially elected in the 1994 Turkish local elections, 1994 local elections, he was re-elected in 1999 Turkish local elections, 1999, 2004 Turkish local elections, 2004 and 2009 Turkish local elections, 2009. In the 2014 Turkish local elections, 2014 local elections, Gökçek stood for a fifth term. The MHP's metropolitan mayoral candidate for the 2009 local elections,

, stood as the CHP's candidate against Gökçek in 2014. In a heavily controversial election, Gökçek was declared the winner by just 1% ahead of Yavaş amid allegations of systematic electoral fraud. With the Supreme Election Council (Turkey), Supreme Electoral Council and courts rejecting his appeals, Yavaş declared his intention to take the irregularities to the European Court of Human Rights. Although Gökçek was inaugurated for a fifth term, most election observers believe that Yavaş was the winner of the election. Gökçek resigned on 28 October 2017 and was replaced by the former mayor of Sincan district, Mustafa Tuna; who was succeeded by

of the Republican People's Party, CHP, the current mayor of Ankara, 2019 Ankara mayoral election, elected in 2019.

Main sights

Ancient/archeological sites

Ankara Citadel

The foundations of the Ankara Castle, Ankara castle and citadel were laid by the Galatians on a prominent lava outcrop (), and the rest was completed by the Romans. The Byzantines and Seljuks further made restorations and additions. The area around and inside the citadel, being the oldest part of Ankara, contains many fine examples of traditional architecture. There are also recreational areas to relax. Many restored traditional Turkish houses inside the citadel area have found new life as restaurants, serving local cuisine. The citadel was depicted in various Turkish banknotes during 1927–1952 and 1983–1989.

Roman Theater

The remains, the stage, and the backstage of the Antique Rome theatre of Ankara can be seen outside Ankara Castle, the castle. Roman statues that were found here are exhibited in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The seating area is still under excavation.

Temple of Augustus and Rome

The Augusteum, now known as the Temple of Augustus and Rome, was built 25 20 BC following the conquest of Central Anatolia by the

. Ancyra then formed the capital of the new Roman province, province of

. After the death of

in AD 14, a copy of the text of the ''

'' (the '' Monumentum Ancyranum'') was inscribed on the interior of the temple's ' in Latin and a Greek translation on an exterior wall of the '. The temple on the ancient acropolis of Ancyra was enlarged in the 2nd century and converted into a church in the 5th century. It is located in the Ulus quarter of the city. It was subsequently publicized by the Austrian Empire, Austrian ambassador Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq in the 16th century.

Roman Baths

The Roman Baths of Ankara have all the typical features of a classical Thermae, Roman bath complex: a '' frigidarium'' (cold room), a ''

'' (warm room) and a ''

'' (hot room). The baths were built during the reign of the Roman emperor

in the early 3rd century to honor Asclepius, Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Today, only the basement and first floors remain. It is situated in the Ulus quarter.

Roman Road

The Roman Road of Ankara or ''Cardo Maximus'' was found in 1995 by Turkish archeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu. It is long and wide. Many ancient artifacts were discovered during the excavations along the road and most of them are displayed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Column of Julian

The Column of Julian or Julianus, now in the Ulus district, was erected in honor of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate's visit to Ancyra in 362.

Mosques

Kocatepe Mosque

Kocatepe Mosque is the largest mosque in the city. Located in the Kocatepe quarter, it was constructed between 1967 and 1987 in classical Ottoman architecture, Ottoman style with four minarets. Its size and prominent location have made it a landmark for the city.

Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque

Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque is located near the Presidency of Religious Affairs on the

Road. Built in the Turkish neoclassical style, it is one of the largest new mosques in the city, completed and opened in 2013. It can accommodate 6 thousand people during general prayers, and up to 30 thousand people during funeral prayers. The mosque was decorated with Anatolian Seljuk architecture, Anatolian Seljuk style patterns.

Yeni (Cenab Ahmet) Mosque

It is the largest Ottoman mosque in Ankara and was built by the famous architect Sinan in the 16th century. The mimber (pulpit) and mihrap (prayer niche) are of white marble, and the mosque itself is of Ankara stone, an example of very fine workmanship.

Hacı Bayram Mosque

This mosque, in the Ulus quarter next to the Monumentum Ancyranum, Temple of Augustus, was built in the early 15th century in Seljuk style by an unknown architect. It was subsequently restored by architect Mimar Sinan in the 16th century, with

tiles being added in the 18th century. The mosque was built in honor of Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, whose tomb is next to the mosque, two years before his death (1427–28). The usable space inside this mosque is on the first floor and on the second floor.

Ahi Elvan Mosque

It was founded in the Ulus quarter near the Ankara Citadel and was constructed by the Ahis, Ahi fraternity during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The finely carved walnut mimber (pulpit) is of particular interest.

Alâeddin Mosque

The Alâeddin Mosque is the oldest mosque in Ankara. It has a wood carving, carved Juglans, walnut minbar, mimber, the inscription on which records that the mosque was completed in early Islamic calendar, AH 574 (which corresponds to the summer of 1178 AD) and was built by the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk prince Muhiddin Mesud Şah (died 1204), the Bey of Ankara, who was the son of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate, Anatolian Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan II, Kılıç Arslan II (reigned 1156–1192.)

Modern monuments

There are at least 50 monuments and reliefs throughout the city. Some notables are;

Victory Monument

The Victory Monument (Ankara), Victory Monument (Turkish language, Turkish: '':tr:Ankara Zafer Anıtı, Zafer Anıtı'') was crafted by Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel in 1925 and was erected in 1927 at Ulus Square. The monument is made of marble and bronze and features an equestrian statue of

, who wears a Republic era modern military uniform, with the rank Field Marshal.

Statue of Atatürk

Located at Zafer(Victory) Square (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Zafer Meydanı''), the marble and bronze statue was crafted by the Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica in 1927 and depicts a standing Atatürk who wears a Republic era modern military uniform, with the rank Field Marshal.

Monument of Security

The Security Monument, located in Güvenpark near Kızılay Square, was erected in 1935 and bears Atatürk's advice to his people: "Turk! Be proud, work hard, and believe in yourself." (There is debate on whether or not Atatürk actually said "Use your mind"(Turkish: öğün) instead of "Be proud"(Turkish: övün)) The monument was depicted on the Obverse and reverse, reverse of the Turkish 5 Turkish lira, lira banknote of 1937–1952 and of the 1000 lira banknotes of 1939–1946.

Hatti Monument

Erected in 1978 at Sıhhiye Square, this impressive monument symbolizes the Hattians, Hatti Sun Disc (which was later adopted by the

) and commemorates Anatolia's earliest known civilization. The Hatti Sun Disc has been used in the previous logo of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. It was also used in the previous logo of the Ministry of Culture & Tourism.

Korean War Monument

The Monument to Turkish Soldiers Fighting in Korea opened in 1973 to commemorate the veterans and martyrs of the Turkish Brigade.

Inns

Suluhan

Suluhan is a historical Inn in Ankara. It is also called the ''Hasanpaşa Han''. It is about southeast of Ulus Square and situated in the Hacıdoğan neighborhood. According to the ''vakfiye'' (inscription) of the building, the Ottoman era ''han'' was commissioned by Hasan Pasha, a regional beylerbey, and was constructed between 1508 and 1511, during the final years of the reign of Sultan Bayezid II. There are 102 rooms (now shops) which face the two yards. In each room there is a window, a niche and a chimney.

Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum

Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum is a museum of industrial technology situated in :tr:Çengel Han, Çengel Han, an Ottoman era Inn which was completed in 1523, during the early years of the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The exhibits include industrial/technological artifacts from the 1850s onwards. There are also sections about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey; Vehbi Koç, Rahmi Koç's father and one of the first industrialists of Turkey, and Ankara city.

Shopping

Foreign visitors to Ankara usually like to visit the old shops in ''Çıkrıkçılar Yokuşu'' (Weavers' Road) near Ulus, where myriad things ranging from traditional fabrics, hand-woven carpets and leather products can be found at bargain prices. ''Bakırcılar Çarşısı'' (Bazaar of Coppersmiths) is particularly popular, and many interesting items, not just of copper, can be found here like jewelry, carpets, costumes, antiques and embroidery. Up the hill to the castle gate, there are many shops selling a huge and fresh collection of spices, dried fruits, nuts, and other produce. Ankara_asv2021-10_img15_Atakule

Modern shopping areas are mostly found in Kızılay, Ankara, Kızılay, or on Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, including the modern mall of List of shopping malls in Turkey#Ankara, Karum (named after the ancient Assyrian merchant colonies called Kültepe#Kârum Kaneš, ''Kârum'' that were established in Central Anatolia Region, central

at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) which is located towards the end of the Avenue; and in Çankaya, the quarter with the highest elevation in the city. Atakule, Atakule Tower next to Atakule#Atrium shopping mall, Atrium Mall in Çankaya has views over Ankara and also has a revolving restaurant at the top. The symbol of the List of shopping malls in Turkey#Ankara, Armada Shopping Mall is an

, and there's a large anchor monument at its entrance, as a reference to the ancient Greek name of the city, Ἄγκυρα (Ánkyra), which means anchor. Likewise, the anchor monument is also related with the Spanish name of the mall, Armada, which means naval fleet. As Ankara started expanding westward in the 1970s, several modern, suburbia-style developments, mini-cities and business districts such as Söğütözü began to rise along the western highway, also known as the

Road. The ''Armada'', ''CEPA'' and ''Kentpark'' malls on the highway, the ''Galleria'', ''Arcadium'' and ''Gordion'' in Ümitköy, and a huge mall, ''Real'' in Bilkent Center, offer North American and European style shopping opportunities (these places can be reached through the Eskişehir Highway.) There is also the newly expanded ''ANKAmall'' at the outskirts, on the Istanbul Highway, which houses most of the well-known international brands. This mall is the largest throughout the Ankara region. In 2014, a few more shopping malls were open in Ankara. They are ''Next Level'' and ''Taurus'' on the Boulevard of Mevlana (also known as

Road).

Culture

The arts

Turkish State Opera and Ballet, the national directorate of opera and ballet companies of Turkey, has its headquarters in Ankara, and serves the city with three venues: *Ankara Opera House (''Opera Sahnesi'', also known as ''Büyük Tiyatro'') is the largest of the three venues for opera and ballet in Ankara.

Music

Ankara is host to five classical music orchestras: *Presidential Symphony Orchestra (Turkish Presidential Symphony Orchestra) *Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is a major symphony orchestra of Turkey. *Hacettepe Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2003 and directed by Erol Erdinç *Başkent Oda Orkestrası (Chamber Orchestra of the Capital) There are four concert halls in the city: *CSO Concert Hall *Bilkent Concert Hall is a performing arts center in Ankara. It is located in the Bilkent University campus. *MEB Şura Salonu (also known as the Festival Hall), It is noted for its tango performances. *Çankaya Çağdaş Sanatlar Merkezi Concert Hall was founded in 1994. The city has been host to several well-established, annual theater, music, film festivals: *Ankara International Music Festival, a music festival organized in the Turkish capital presenting classical music and ballet programs. Ankara also has a number of concert venues such as ''Eskiyeni'', ''IF Performance Hall'', ''Jolly Joker (venues chain), Jolly Joker'', ''Kite'', ''Nefes Bar'', and ''Route'', which host the live performances and events of popular musicians.

Theater

The Turkish State Theatres also has its head office in Ankara and runs the following stages in the city: *125. Yıl Çayyolu Sahnesi *:tr:Ankara Devlet Tiyatrosu, Büyük Tiyatro, *Küçük Tiyatro, *Şinasi Sahnesi, *Akün Sahnesi, *Altındağ Tiyatrosu, *İrfan Şahinbaş Atölye Sahnesi, *Oda Tiyatrosu, *Mahir Canova Sahnesi, *Muhsin Ertuğrul Sahnesi. In addition, the city is served by several private theater companies, among which :tr:Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu, Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu, who have their own stage in the city center, is a notable example.

Museums

There are about 50 museums in the city. Some notables include;

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (''Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi'') is situated at the entrance of the

. It is an old 15th century bedesten (covered bazaar) that has been restored and now houses a collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hittite empire, Hatti, Hittite,

n, Urartu, Urartian and Roman works as well as a major section dedicated to

n treasures.

Anıtkabir

Anıtkabir is located on an imposing hill, which forms the ''Anıttepe'' quarter of the city, where the mausoleum of

, founder of the Republic of Turkey, stands. Completed in 1953, it is a fusion of ancient and modern architectural styles. An adjacent museum houses a wax statue of Atatürk, his writings, letters and personal items, as well as an exhibition of photographs recording important moments in his life and during the establishment of the Republic. Anıtkabir is open every day, while the adjacent museum is open every day except Mondays.

Ankara Aviation Museum

Ankara Aviation Museum (''Hava Kuvvetleri Müzesi Komutanlığı'') is located near the Istanbul Road in Etimesgut. The museum opened to the public in September 1998. It is home to various missiles, avionics, aviation materials and aircraft that have served in the Turkish Air Force (e.g. combat aircraft such as the F-86 Sabre, F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, Northrop F-5, F-5 Freedom Fighter, F-4 Phantom II, F-4 Phantom; and cargo planes such as the Transall C-160.) Also a Hungarian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, MiG-21, a Pakistani Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, MiG-19, and a Bulgarian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, MiG-17 are on display at the museum.

Cer Modern

Cer Modern is the modern-arts museum of Ankara, inaugurated on 1 April 2010. It is situated in the renovated building of the historic Turkish State Railways, TCDD Cer Atölyeleri, formerly a workshop of the

. The museum incorporates the largest exhibition hall in Turkey. The museum holds periodic exhibitions of modern and contemporary art as well as hosting other contemporary arts events.

Ankara Ethnography Museum

Ethnography Museum of Ankara, Ankara Ethnography Museum (''Etnoğrafya Müzesi'') is located opposite to the Ankara Opera House on Talat Paşa Boulevard, in the Ulus district. There is a fine collection of folkloric items, as well as artifacts from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods. In front of the museum building, there is a marble and bronze equestrian statue of

(who wears a Republic era modern military uniform, with the rank Field Marshal) which was crafted in 1927 by the Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica.

Mehmet Akif Literature Museum Library

The Mehmet Akif Literature Museum Library is an important literary museum and archive opened in 2011 and dedicated to Mehmet Akif Ersoy (1873–1936), the poet of the Turkish National Anthem.

METU Science and Technology Museum / Archaeology Museum

Both the METU Science and Technology Museum (''ODTÜ Bilim ve Teknoloji Müzesi'') and the Archaeology Museum (''ODTÜ Arkeoloji Müzesi'') are located inside the METU, Middle East Technical University campus.

Republic & War of Independence Museum

Ankara asv2021-10 img45 Cumhuriyet Street on 29Oct

Both the Republic Museum and War of Independence Museum are located on Ulus Square. They were originally the first and second Parliament building (TBMM) of the Republic of Turkey, respectively. The War of Independence was planned and directed here as recorded in various photographs and items presently on exhibition. In another display, wax sculpture, wax figures of former presidents of the Republic of Turkey are on exhibit.

State Art and Sculpture Museum

Ankara_asv2021-10_img64_Arts_and_Sculpture_Museum

The State Art and Sculpture Museum (''Resim-Heykel Müzesi'') which opened to the public in 1980 is close to the Ethnography Museum and houses a rich collection of Turkish art from the late 19th century to the present day. There are also galleries which host guest exhibitions.

TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum

The TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum is an open-air museum which traces the history of steam locomotives.

Sports

As with all other cities of Turkey, football is the most popular sport in Ankara. The city currently has three football team, football clubs competing in the second tier of Turkish football, the TFF First League: MKE Ankaragücü, Ankaragücü, Gençlerbirliği S.K., Gençlerbirliği and Ankara Keçiörengücü. Ankaragücü, founded in 1910, is the oldest club in Ankara and is associated with Ankara's military arsenal manufacturing company Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, MKE. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1972 and 1981. Gençlerbirliği S.K., Gençlerbirliği, founded in 1923, are known as the ''Ankara Gale'' or the ''Poppies'' because of their colors: red and black. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1987 and 2001. Ankara Keçiörengücü also compete in this tier. They were founded in 1987, and bear purple and white colours on their home kit. Büyükşehir Belediye Ankaraspor also played in the Süper Lig until 2010, when they were expelled. The club was reconstituted in 2014 as Osmanlıspor but have since returned to their old identity as Ankaraspor. Ankaraspor currently play in the TFF Second League at the Etimesgut Belediyesi Atatürk Stadium. Gençlerbirliği's B team, Hacettepe S.K. (formerly known as Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ) played in the Süper Lig but folded in 2023. Ankara Demirspor and Etimesgut Belediyespor also play in the TFF Second League. Ankara has a large number of minor teams, playing at regional levels, including Çankaya FK, Altındağspor, Mamak FK, Çubukspor, and Bağlumspor. In the Basketbol Süper Ligi, Turkish Basketball Super League, Ankara is represented by Türk Telekom B.K., who play at the Ankara Arena. TED Ankara Kolejliler, MKE Ankaragücü, and OGM Ormanspor play in the second-tier Türkiye Basketbol Ligi, Turkish First League. Türk Telekom became the fourth team in the country's history to participate in EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup finals (2022–23 EuroCup Basketball, 22-23). Halkbank Ankara is the leading domestic powerhouse in men's volleyball, having won many championships and cups in the Turkish Men's Volleyball League and even the CEV Cup in 2013. Ankara Ice Palace, Ankara Buz Pateni Sarayı is where the ice skating and ice hockey competitions take place in the city. There are many popular spots for skateboarding which is active in the city since the 1980s. Skaters in Ankara usually meet in the park near the

. The 2012-built THF Sport Hall hosts the Turkish Handball Super League, Handball Super League and Turkish Women's Handball Super League, Women's Handball Super League matches scheduled in Ankara.

Parks

Ankara has many parks and open spaces mainly established in the early years of the Republic and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: Gençlik Parkı (houses an amusement park with a large pond for rowing), the Botanical garden, Seğmenler Park, Anayasa Park, Kuğulu Park (famous for the swans received as a gift from the PRC, Chinese government), Abdi İpekçi Park, Esertepe Parkı, Güven Park (see above for the monument), Kurtuluş Park (has an ice-skating rink), Altınpark (also a prominent exposition/fair area), Harikalar Diyarı (claimed to be Biggest Park of Europe inside city borders) and Göksu Park. Dikmen Vadisi (Dikmen Valley) is a park and recreation area situated in Çankaya district. Gençlik Park was depicted on the Obverse and reverse, reverse of the Turkish 100 Turkish lira, lira banknotes of 1952–1976. Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo (''Atatürk Orman Çiftliği'') is an expansive recreational farming area which houses a zoo, several small agricultural farms, greenhouses, restaurants, a dairy farming, dairy farm and a brewery. It is a pleasant place to spend a day with family, be it for having picnics, hiking, biking or simply enjoying good food and nature. There is also an exact replica of the house where Atatürk was born in 1881, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Visitors to the "Çiftlik" (farm) as it is affectionately called by Ankarans, can sample such famous products of the farm such as old-fashioned beer and ice cream, fresh dairy products and meat rolls/kebabs made on charcoal, at a traditional restaurant (''Merkez Lokantası'', Central Restaurant), cafés and other establishments scattered around the farm.

Education

Universities

Ankara is noted, within Turkey, for the multitude of universities it is home to. These include the following, several of them being among the most reputable in the country: *Ankara University *Atılım University *Başkent University *Bilkent University *Çankaya University *Gazi University *:tr:Gülhane Askerî Tıp Akademisi, Gülhane Military Medical Academy * Hacettepe University *Middle East Technical University *TED University *TOBB University of Economics and Technology *:tr:Türk Hava Kurumu Üniversitesi, Turkish Aeronautical Association University *Turkish Military Academy *Turkish National Police Academy *Ufuk University *Yıldırım Beyazıt University

Fauna

Angora cat

Ankara is home to a world-famous domestic cat breed – the Turkish Angora, called ''Ankara kedisi'' (Ankara cat) in Turkish. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, naturally occurring cat breeds, having originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia. They mostly have a white, silky, medium to long length coat, no undercoat and a fine bone structure. There seems to be a connection between the Angora Cats and Persian (cat), Persians, and the Turkish Angora is also a distant cousin of the Turkish Van. Although they are known for their shimmery white coat, there are more than twenty varieties including black, blue and reddish fur. They come in tabby cat, tabby and tabby-white, along with smoke varieties, and are in every color other than pointed, lavender, and cinnamon (all of which would indicate breeding to an outcross.) Eyes may be blue, green, or amber, or even one blue and one amber or green. The Cat coat genetics#White spotting and epistatic white, W gene which is responsible for the white coat and blue eye is closely related to the hearing ability, and the presence of a blue eye can indicate that the cat is deaf to the side the blue eye is located. However, a great many blue and odd-eyed cat, odd-eyed white cats have normal hearing, and even deaf cats lead a very normal life if kept indoors. Ears are pointed and large, eyes are almond shaped and the head is massive with a two plane profile. Another characteristic is the tail, which is often kept parallel to the back.

Angora goat

The

() is a breed of goat, domestic goat that originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia. This breed was first mentioned in the time of Moses, roughly in 1500 BC. The first Angora goats were brought to Europe by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, about 1554, but, like later imports, were not very successful. Angora goats were first introduced in the United States in 1849 by James P. Davis. Seven adult goats were a gift from Sultan Abdülmecid I in appreciation for his services and advice on the raising of cotton. The Pile (textile), fleece taken from an Angora goat is called

. A single goat produces between of hair per year. Angoras are shorn twice a year, unlike Domestic sheep, sheep, which are shorn only once. Angoras have high nutritional requirements due to their rapid hair growth. A poor quality diet will curtail mohair development. The United States,

, and South Africa are the top producers of mohair. For a long period of time, Angora goats were bred for their white coat. In 1998, the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association was set up to promote breeding of colored Angoras. Today, Angora goats produce white, black (deep black to greys and silver), red (the color fades significantly as the goat gets older), and brownish fiber. Angora goats were depicted on the Obverse and reverse, reverse of the Turkish 50 Turkish lira, lira banknotes of 1938–1952.

Angora rabbit

The Angora rabbit () is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia, along with the Angora cat and

. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid-18th century, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century. They are bred largely for their long Angora wool, which may be removed by sheep shearing, shearing, combing, or plucking (hair removal), plucking (gently pulling loose wool). Angoras are bred mainly for their wool because it is silky and soft. They have a humorous appearance, as they oddly resemble a fur ball. Most are calm and docile but should be handled carefully. Grooming is necessary to prevent the fiber from matting and felting on the rabbit. A condition called "wool block" is common in Angora rabbits and should be treated quickly. Sometimes they are shorn in the summer as the long fur can cause the rabbits to overheat.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Ankara is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Seoul, South Korea (since 1971) * Islamabad, Pakistan (since 1982) * Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (since 1984) * Beijing, China (since 1990) * Amman, Jordan (since 1992) * Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (since 1992) * Budapest, Hungary (since 1992) * Khartoum, Sudan (since 1992) * Moscow, Russia (since 1992) * Sofia, Bulgaria (since 1992) * Havana, Cuba (since 1993) * Kyiv, Ukraine (since 1993) * Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (since 1994) * Kuwait City, Kuwait (since 1994) * Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (since 1994) * Tirana, Albania (since 1995) * Tbilisi, Georgia (since 1996) * Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia (since 1997) * Alanya, Turkey * Bucharest, Romania (since 1998) * Hanoi, Vietnam (since 1998) * Manama, Bahrain (since 2000) * Mogadishu, Somalia (since 2000) * Santiago, Chile (since 2000) * Astana, Kazakhstan (since 2001) * Dushanbe, Tajikistan (since 2003) * Kabul, Afghanistan (since 2003) * Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (since 2003) * Cairo, Egypt (since 2004) * Chișinău, Moldova (since 2004) * Sana'a, Yemen (since 2004) * Tashkent, Uzbekistan (since 2004) * Pristina, Kosovo (since 2005) * Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia (since 2005) * Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (since 2005) * Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (since 2006) * Minsk, Belarus (since 2007) * Zagreb, Croatia (since 2008) * Damascus, Syria (since 2010) * Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (since 2011) * Washington, D.C., US (since 2011) * Bangkok, Thailand (since 2012) * Tehran, Iran (since 2013) * Doha, Qatar (since 2016) * Podgorica, Montenegro (since 7 March 2019) * North Nicosia, Northern Cyprus * Djibouti City, Djibouti (since 2017)

Partner cities

* Skopje, North Macedonia (since 1995) * Vienna, Austria

List of notable people

Notes

References

Sources

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Attribution

* *

External links

Governorate of Ankara

Municipality of Ankara

Ankara Development Agency

Esenboğa International Airport
* {{Authority control Ankara, Capitals in Europe Capitals in Asia Populated places in Ankara Province Metropolitan areas of Turkey