Turkey, Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a population (as of 2007) of 4,140,890 (Province 4,466,756), and a mean elevation of 850 m (2800 ft). It was formerly known as Angora. The Hittites gave it the name Ankuwash before 1200 BC, the Galatians and Romans called it Ancyra, and in the classical, Hellenistic, and Byzantine periods it was known as Ánkyra. Ankara also serves as the capital of the Province of Ankara.

Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city. It is the center of the Turkish Government, and houses all foreign embassies.

Ankara is situated upon a steep and rocky hill, which rises 150 m above the plain on the left bank of the Enguri Su, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East. Ankara is one of the driest places in Turkey and is surrounded by a barren steppe vegetation, with various Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites.

History

The region's vibrant history can be traced back to the Bronze Age Hatti civilization, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the Hittites, in the 10th century BC by the Phrygians, and later by the Lydians, Persians, Macedonians, Galatians, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks (Seljuk Empire then Ottoman Empire and then Turkey).

The oldest settlements in and around the city center of Ankara belong to the Hatti civilization which lived during the Bronze Age. Artifacts discovered in the city have revealed that the Hittites called Ankara with the name Ankuwash prior to 1200 BC.

The city was subsequently conquered by Augustus in 25 BC and passed under the control of the Roman Empire. Now the capital city of the Roman province of Galatia, Ancyra continued to be a center of great commercial importance.

The town was reincorporated into the Roman Empire under the Emperor Aurelian in 272. The tetrarchy, a system of multiple (up to four) emperors introduced by Diocletian (284-305), seems to have engaged in a substantial programme of rebuilding and of road construction from Ankara westwards to Germe and Dorylaeum (now Eskisehir).

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 Yenisehir.

Culture

Turkish State Opera and Ballet, the national directorate of opera and ballet companies of Turkey, has its headquarters in Ankara.

Sports

Like in all the other cities of Turkey, football is the most popular sport in Ankara. The city has four football clubs currently competing in the Turkcell Super League: Gençlerbirligi (finished 5th in the league on the 2006-07 season), Büyüksehir Belediye Ankaraspor (finished 7th in the league on the 2006-07 season), and Ankaragücü (finished 13th in the league on the 2006/2007 season).

Transportation

Esenboga International Airport, located in the north-east of the city, is the main airport of Ankara.

Ankara Intercity Bus Terminal is an important part of the bus network which covers every neighbourhood in the city.