Editing Ankara (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Ankara}}
{{For timeline}}
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2017}}<!--many paragraphs have no citations-->
The region's history can be traced back to the [[Bronze Age]] [[Hattians|Hattic]] [[Hattic language|civilization]], which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the [[Hittites]], in the 10th century BC by the [[Phrygia]]ns, and later by the [[Lydia]]ns, [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]]ns, [[Greeks]], [[Galatia]]ns, [[Roman Empire|Romans]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], and [[Turkish people|Turks]] (the [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuk]] [[Sultanate of Rûm]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] and finally republican [[Turkey|Türkiye]]).

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| caption2          = [[Alaca Höyük bronze standards|Alaca Höyük bronze standard]]s on display at the [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], which is considered as the city's symbol.
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===Ancient history===
The oldest settlements in and around the city center of Ankara belonged to the [[Hattians|Hattic]] [[Hattic language|civilization]] which existed during the [[Bronze Age]] and was gradually absorbed c. 2000 – 1700&nbsp;BC by the [[Hittite language|Indo-European]] [[Hittites]]. The city grew significantly in size and importance under the [[Phrygia]]ns starting around 1000&nbsp;BC, and experienced a large expansion following the mass migration from [[Gordium|Gordion]], (the capital of [[Phrygia]]), after an earthquake which severely damaged that city around that time. In Phrygian tradition, King [[Midas]] was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] mentions that the city was actually far older, which accords with present archeological knowledge.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece, 1.4.1., "Ancyra was actually older even than that."''</ref>

Phrygian rule was succeeded first by [[Lydia]]n and later by [[Iran|Persia]]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]] who conquered the city in 333&nbsp;BC. Alexander came from [[Gordium|Gordion]] to Ankara and stayed in the city for a short period. After his death at [[Babylon]] in 323&nbsp;BC and the subsequent division of his empire among his generals, Ankara, and its environs fell into the share of [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]].

Another important expansion took place under the [[Pontic Greeks|Greeks]] of [[Pontus (region)|Pontos]] who came there around 300&nbsp;BC and developed the city as a trading center for the commerce of goods between the [[Black Sea]] ports and Crimea to the north; Assyria, Cyprus, and Lebanon to the south; and Georgia, Armenia and Persia to the east.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} By that time,{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} the city also took its name Ἄγκυρα (''Ánkyra'', meaning ''[[anchor]]'' in [[Greek language|Greek]]) which, in slightly modified form, provides the modern name of ''Ankara''.

<gallery>
Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük on black background.jpg|[[Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük]] on display at the [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]].
</gallery>

===Celtic history===
[[File:Dying gaul.jpg|thumb|right|The ''[[Dying Galatian]]'' was a famous statue commissioned some time between 230 and 220&nbsp;BC by King [[Attalus I|Attalos I]] of [[Pergamon]] to honor his victory over the [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Galatia]]ns in [[Anatolia]]. Roman marble copy of a [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] work of the late 3rd century BC, at the [[Capitoline Museums]], Rome.]]

In 278&nbsp;BC, the city, along with the rest of central Anatolia, was occupied by a [[Celts|Celt]]ic group, the [[Galatia]]ns, who were the first to make Ankara one of their main tribal centers, the headquarters of the [[Tectosages]] tribe.<ref>[[Livy]], xxxviii. 16</ref> 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 language|Phrygian]]-speaking peasants. However, the [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]] continued to be spoken in Galatia for many centuries. At the end of the 4th century, [[Jerome|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]].

===Roman history===
The city was subsequently passed under the control of the [[Roman Empire]]. In 25&nbsp;BC, Emperor [[Augustus]] raised it to the status of a ''[[polis]]'' and made it the capital city of the [[Roman province]] of [[Galatia (Roman province)|Galatia]].<ref name="TIB">{{cite book|last=Belke|first=Klaus|title=Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 4: Galatien und Lykaonien|chapter=Ankyra|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tabulaimperiibyz0000unse/page/126 126–130]|location=Vienna|publisher=Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|year=1984|language=de|isbn=978-3-7001-0634-0|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/tabulaimperiibyz0000unse/page/126}}</ref> 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]]'', an inscription cut in marble on the walls of this temple. The ruins of Ancyra still furnish today valuable [[relief|bas-relief]]s, inscriptions and other architectural fragments. Two other Galatian tribal centers, [[Tavium]] near [[Yozgat]], and [[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 [[Ankara River]] 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]] 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]] or [[Britannia]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

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.<ref name="TIB"/> 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]] coming from the west (who rode far into the heart of [[Cappadocia]], taking slaves and pillaging) and later by the [[Arab people|Arab]]s. For about a decade, the town was one of the western outposts of one of Palmyrean empress [[Zenobia]] in the [[Syrian Desert]], 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]] in 272. The [[tetrarchy]], a system of multiple (up to four) emperors introduced by [[Diocletian]] (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]]).

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.

<gallery>
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations116.jpg|Marble head of a Roman woman on display at the [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]].
Res Gestae.jpg|The ''[[Res Gestae Divi Augusti]]'' is the self-laudatory autobiography completed in 13&nbsp;AD, just before his death, by the first [[Roman emperor]] [[Augustus]]. 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]] (212–217) in honor of [[Asclepios]], the God of Medicine, and built around three principal rooms: the ''[[caldarium]]'' (hot bath), the ''[[tepidarium]]'' (warm bath) and the ''[[frigidarium]]'' (cold bath) in a typically laid-out {{convert|80|x|120|m|adj=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} classical complex.
</gallery>

===Byzantine history===
[[File:AnkaraColumnFar c.JPG|thumb|The ''[[Column of Julianus|Column of Julian]]'' (362) was erected in honor of the Roman emperor [[Julian the Apostate]]'s visit to Ancyra.|281x281px]]

The city is well known during the 4th century as a center of Christian activity (see also [[#Ecclesiastical history|below]]), due to frequent imperial visits, and through the letters of the pagan scholar [[Libanius]].<ref name="TIB"/> 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 [[Synod of Ancyra|314]], 358 and 375, the latter two in favor of [[Arianism]].<ref name="TIB"/>

The city was visited by Emperor [[Constans I]] (r. 337–350) in 347 and 350, [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] (r. 361–363) during his Persian campaign in 362, and Julian's successor [[Jovian (emperor)|Jovian]] (r. 363–364) in winter 363/364 (he entered his [[Roman consul|consulship]] while in the city). After Jovian's death soon after, [[Valentinian I]] (r. 364–375) was acclaimed emperor at Ancyra, and in the next year his brother [[Valens]] (r. 364–378) used Ancyra as his base against the usurper [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]].<ref name="TIB" /> 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]]).<ref name="TIB" /> 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]] and Nilus of Ancyra.<ref name="TIB" />

In 479, the rebel [[Marcian (usurper)|Marcian]] attacked the city, without being able to capture it.<ref name="TIB" /> In 610/11, [[Comentiolus (brother of Phocas)|Comentiolus]], brother of Emperor [[Phocas]] (r. 602–610), launched his own unsuccessful rebellion in the city against [[Heraclius]] (r. 610–641).<ref name="TIB" /> Ten years later, in 620 or more likely 622, it was captured by the [[Sassanid Persia]]ns during the [[Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628]]. Although the city returned to Byzantine hands after the end of the war, the [[Persians|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.<ref name="TIB" />

In 654, the city, also known in Arabic sources as ''Qalat as-Salasil'' ("fortress of the chains"),<ref>{{Cite book |title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 33: Storm and Stress along the Northern Frontiers of the 'Abbasid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Mu'tasim A.D. 833-842/A.H. 218–227 |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780791497210 |pages=99}}</ref> was captured for the first time by the [[Arabs]] of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], under [[Mu'awiya I|Muawiyah]], the future founder of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]].<ref name="TIB" /> At about the same time, the [[theme (Byzantine district)|theme]]s 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]] (r. 741–775); Ancyra then became the capital of the new [[Bucellarian Theme]].<ref name="TIB" /> 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.<ref>{{The End of the Jihad State |page=169}}</ref> Ancyra was attacked without success by [[Abbasid]] 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 [[Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)|large-scale invasion]] of Anatolia by Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] in the next year.<ref name="TIB" /> Arab sources report that Harun and his successor [[al-Ma'mun]] (r. 813–833) took the city, but this information is later invention. In 838, however, during the [[Sack of Amorium|Amorium campaign]], the armies of Caliph [[al-Mu'tasim]] (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]] reaching as far as [[Smyrna]].<ref name="TIB" /> In 859, Emperor [[Michael III]] (r. 842–867) came to the city during a campaign against the Arabs, and ordered its fortifications restored.<ref name="TIB" /> In 872, the city was menaced, but not taken, by the [[Paulicians]] under [[Chrysocheir]].<ref name="TIB" /> The last Arab raid to reach the city was undertaken in 931, by the Abbasid governor of [[Tarsus (city)|Tarsus]], [[Thamal al-Dulafi]], but the city again was not captured.<ref name="TIB" />

=== Ecclesiastical history ===
[[File:Teodot Ankirski.jpg|thumb|160px|[[Theodotus of Ancyra (martyr)|St. Theodotus of Ancyra]]]]

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]] (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 [[Diocletian]] 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]] 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 [[Clement of Ancyra|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 (martyr)|Theodotus of Ancyra]] is also venerated as a saint.

However, the persecution proved unsuccessful and in 314 Ancyra was the center of [[Synod of Ancyra|an important council]] of the [[Early Christianity|early church]];{{sfn|Rockwell|1911}} its 25 disciplinary canons constitute one of the most important documents in the early history of the administration of the [[Confession (religion)|Sacrament of Penance]].{{sfn|Rockwell|1911}} The synod also considered ecclesiastical policy for the reconstruction of the [[Christian Church]] after the persecutions, and in particular the treatment of ''[[Lapsi (Christianity)|lapsi]]''—[[Christians]] who had given in to forced [[paganism]] (sacrifices) to avoid [[martyrdom]] during these persecutions.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911}}

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]] 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 [[Arianism]] seems to have originated there.{{sfn|Parvis|2006|pp=325–345}}

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.<ref name=gibbon>{{cite book|last=Gibbon|first=Edward|title=[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]|author-link=Edward Gibbon|page=Chapter 23}}</ref> 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 [[Gregory of Nyssa|St. Gregory of Nyssa]].

In the late 4th century, Ancyra became something of an imperial [[resort|holiday resort]]. After [[Constantinople]] became the [[Byzantine Empire|East Roman]] capital, emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries would retire from the humid summer weather on the [[Bosphorus|Bosporus]] to the drier mountain atmosphere of Ancyra. [[Theodosius II]] (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 [[episcopal see|see]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] 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 earlier [[Armenian genocide]] put an end to the residential eparchy of Ancyra of the [[Armenian Catholic Church]], which had been established in 1850.<ref name="Bull Universi Dominici gregis">[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51627x/f401.image Bull ''Universi Dominici gregis''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330045229/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51627x/f401.image |date=30 March 2015 }}, in Giovanni Domenico Mansi, ''Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio'', vol. XL, coll. 779–780</ref><ref name="gallica.bnf.fr">F. Tournebize, v. ''II. Ancyre, évêché arménien catholique'', in [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6561037d/f796.image ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628235228/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6561037d/f796.image |date=28 June 2015 }}, vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 1543–1546</ref> It is also a titular metropolis of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]].

Both the Ancient Byzantine Metropolitan archbishopric and the 'modern' Armenian eparchy are now listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as [[titular see]]s,<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 832</ref> with separate [[apostolic succession]]s.

=== Seljuk and Ottoman history ===
[[File:Ottoman_Houses_Ankara.jpg|thumb|Ottoman houses in Hamamönü district]]

After the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071, the [[Seljuk Turks]] 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.<ref name="TIB"/> In 1101, when the [[Crusade of 1101|Crusade]] 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]] (r. 1081–1118).<ref name="TIB"/> 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.<ref name="TIB"/>

After the [[Battle of Köse Dağ]] in 1243, in which the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] 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 ''[[Ahis|Ahiler]]'' chose Angora as their independent city-state in 1290. [[Orhan]], the second [[Bey]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]], captured the city in 1356. [[Timur]] defeated [[Bayezid I]] at the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402 and took the city, but in 1403 Angora was again under Ottoman control.

The [[Levant Company]] maintained a factory in the town from 1639 to 1768.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=40–41}} In the 19th century, its population was estimated at 20,000 to 60,000.{{sfn|Baynes|1878|p=45}} It was sacked by [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egyptian]]s under [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] in 1832.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=40–41}}

From 1867 to 1922, the city served as the capital of the [[Angora Vilayet]], which included most of ancient Galatia.

Prior to [[World War I]], the town had a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[consul (representative)|consulate]] and a population of around 28,000, roughly {{frac|1|3}} of whom were Christian.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=40–41}}

=== Turkish republican capital ===
[[File:Atatürk TBMM'den çıkarken.jpg|thumb|President [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] (center) and Prime Minister [[İsmet İnönü]] (left) leaving the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly of Türkiye]] during the 7th anniversary celebrations of the Turkish Republic in 1930]]

Following the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] defeat in [[World War I]], the Ottoman capital [[Ottoman Constantinople|Constantinople]] (modern Istanbul) and much of [[Anatolia]] was occupied by the Allies, who planned to share these lands between [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenia]], [[French Third Republic|France]], [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] 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]], established the headquarters of his [[Turkish National Movement|resistance movement]] in Angora in 1920. After the [[Turkish War of Independence]] was won and the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] was superseded by the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)]], the Turkish nationalists replaced the Ottoman Empire with the [[Republic of Turkey]] on 29 October 1923. A few days earlier, Angora had officially replaced Constantinople as the new Turkish capital city, on 13 October 1923,<ref name="britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ankara|title=Ankara &#124; Location, History, Economy, & Facts|website=Britannica|access-date=9 January 2021|archive-date=1 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013721/https://www.britannica.com/place/Ankara|url-status=live}}</ref> and Republican officials declared that the city's name is Ankara.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/mar28/istanbul-not-constantinople/ |title=Istanbul, not Constantinople |last=Society |date=4 March 2014 |website=National Geographic Society|access-date=28 March 2019 |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103152146/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/mar28/istanbul-not-constantinople/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Banks Street (Atatürk Boulevard) the Building of Ziraat Bankası (Agricultural Bank), 1930s (16851406391).jpg|thumb|left|A view of the old general directorate building of [[Ziraat Bankası|Ziraat Bank]]. It was designed by Istanbul-born [[Levantines (Latin Christians)|Italian Levantine]] architect Giulio Mongeri and built between 1926 and 1929.]]

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 Meydanı|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".<ref>Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer</ref> 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<!--Re: "Turkish postal service law of 1930" people cannot find the text of the act so they are not sure if it really exists--> 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.<ref>Deriu, Davide. "A challenge to the West: British views of republican Ankara" (Chapter 12). In: Gharipour, Mohammad and Nilay Özlü (editors). ''The City in the Muslim World: Depictions by Western Travel Writers''. [[Routledge]], 5 March 2015. {{ISBN|1317548221}}, 9781317548225. Start: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Aw3wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA279 279] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726052419/https://books.google.com/books?id=Aw3wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA279 |date=26 July 2020 }}. CITED: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Aw3wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 299] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604232048/https://books.google.com/books?id=Aw3wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |date=4 June 2020 }}.</ref>

[[File:Library Main Hall Columns.jpg|thumb|The [[Presidential Library (Turkey)|Presidential Library]] in Ankara is the largest library in Turkey, with a collection of over 4 million printed books<ref name="Presidential Library"/> and over 120&nbsp;million electronic editions<ref name="Presidential Library"/> published in 134 languages.<ref name="Presidential Library">{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/turkey-s-largest-library-to-be-disabled-friendly/1738322|title=Turkey's largest library to be disabled-friendly|author=Sibel Morrow|publisher=Anadolu Agency|website=aa.com.tr|date=19 February 2020}}</ref>]]

Ankara continued to grow rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century and eventually outranked [[İzmir]] as Turkey's second-largest city, after [[Istanbul]]. Ankara's urban population reached 4,587,558 in 2014, while the population of [[Ankara Province]] reached 5,150,072 in 2015.<ref name="citypopulation1">{{cite web|title=Turkey: Major cities and provinces|url=http://citypopulation.de/Turkey-C20.html|access-date=8 February 2015|website=City Population |archive-date=24 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224193933/http://www.citypopulation.de/Turkey-C20.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Presidential Complex (Turkey)|Presidential Palace of Türkiye]] is situated in Ankara. This building serves as the main residence of the president.