Ankara << ANG kuh ruh >> is the capital of Turkey and one of its largest cities. The metropolitan municipality of Ankara has a population of 4,630,735. A metropolitan municipality may include rural areas as well as the urban center. Ankara lies at the center of Anatolia in west-central Turkey.
Ankara has an old section and a modern section. The old section is on a hill and consists of a fortress that is hundreds of years old. After Ankara became Turkey’s capital in 1923, a modern section began to grow at the base of the hill. It has merged with the old section. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara has an outstanding collection of Hittite art. Many Turks and other travelers come to the city to visit the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Ankara is the home of Ankara University, the Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University, and Hacettepe University. The National Library of Turkey is also in the city.
The Turkish government employs more of Ankara’s people than does any other kind of business. The city serves as a market for grain, Angora wool and mohair, and other farm products of the area. Ankara’s industries process food and produce building materials, farm equipment, and various kinds of machinery.
People probably lived in what is now the Ankara area during the Stone Age, which began about 21/2 million years ago. By about 700 B.C., Ankara had become an important town of Phrygia (now central Turkey). Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered Ankara in the 330’s B.C. The Romans took over the town in 25 B.C. During the Middle Ages (about the A.D. 400’s through the 1400’s), several groups gained and lost control of Ankara.
By 1360, the Ottomans had captured the city and made it part of the Ottoman Empire. The empire was defeated in World War I (1914-1918). Atatürk established a nationalist government in Ankara in 1920. Ankara became the capital of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, replacing Istanbul, the old Ottoman capital.
