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Ankara

Administration
Full nameAnkara
Official nameAnkara
Settlement typeCity
CountryTurkey
RegionCentral Anatolia
ProvinceAnkara
Government
MayorMelih Gökçek
GovernorAlaaddin Yüksel
Geography
Total Area971.2 sq mi (2516.00 km2)
Elevation3077.4 ft (938 m)
Demography
Density (pop.)1551.00/km2 (4017.1/sq mi)
Metro (pop.)4431719
Other information
Time zoneEET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code06xxx
Area code312
Licence plate06

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Ankara (-trˈan.ka.ɾa) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 938 m (3077.4 ft), and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.

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. It is an important crossroads of trade, strategically located at the centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city was famous for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), white rabbits and their prized wool (Angora wool), pears, honey, and the region's muscat grapes.

The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a rocky hill, which rises 150 m (492.1 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East ( ), about 450 km (279.6 mi) to the southeast of Istanbul, the country's largest city. Although situated in one of the driest places of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation except for the forested areas on the southern periphery, Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, which is 72 m2 per head.

Ankara is a very old city with various Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites. The hill which overlooks the city is crowned by the ruins of the old castle, which adds to the picturesqueness of the view, but only a few historic structures surrounding the old citadel have survived to the present day. There are, however, many finely preserved remains of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture, the most remarkable being the Temple of Augustus and Rome (20 BC) which is also known as the Monumentum Ancyranum.


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