Ankara


GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REGION

	ANKARA

The city of Ankara lies in the center of Anatolia on the eastern edge of the great, high Anatolian plateau, at an altitude of 850 meters. It is the center of the province of the same name, which is a predominantly fertile wheat steppe land with forested areas in its northeast region. It is bordered by the provinces of Çankırı and Bolu to the north, Eskişehir to the west, Konya and Aksaray to the south, and Kırıkkale and Kırşehir to the east.
The town, once an important trading center on the caravan route to the east, had declined in importance by the nineteenth century. It became an important center again when Kemal Atatürk chose it as the base from which to direct the war of liberation. In consequence of its role in the war and its strategic position, it was declared the capital of the new Turkish republic on the 13th october,1923. Ankara is the country’s second – largest city. It was formerly called Angora. The city is situated on the Ankara River, a tributary of Sakarya, in the heart of Central Anatolian plateau, 220 miles southeast of Istanbul.
It is spread out at the foot and along the slope of a mountain that rises to 3208 feet (978 meters) above sea level. Ankara is a cosmopolitan city with impressive public building, wide avenues, parks, an opera, and an international Esenboğa airport.
	Because of its location in central Turkey, Ankara is an important commercial city. It is the processing and marketing center for the surrounding agricultural area, which has long been celebrated for breeding of long- haired goats and for the production of Ankara wool (mohair). Textiles, cement, tiles, leather goods, and beer are manufactured there. History: known to ancients as Ancyra, the city was from the 200 ‘s b.c. the capital of Galatia, which after 25 b.c., was a Roman province. The city was occupied successively by the Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and Crusaders. In the 1360’s it was captured by the Ottoman Turks. Sultan Bajazeti was defeated in the area in 1402 by Timarlane, the Mongol Conqueror.
Recovered by the Turks in 1431, the city remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the empire’s collapse after World War I. The name was officially changed from Angora to Ankara in 1930.