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Ankara's 2024 population is now estimated at 5,477,087. In 1950, the population of Ankara was 280,588 . Ankara has grown by 79,989 in the last year, which represents a 1.48% annual change.These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects.
- Overview
- History
- The contemporary city
Ankara, city, capital of Turkey, situated in the northwestern part of the country. It lies about 125 miles (200 km) south of the Black Sea, near the confluence of the Hatip, İnce Su, and Çubek streams.
While the date of the city’s foundation is uncertain, archaeological evidence indicates habitation at least since the Stone Age, and a thriving Phrygian town was located in the area at the end of the 2nd millennium bce. Alexander the Great conquered Ankara in 333 bce, and in the 3rd century bce the town served as the capital of the Tectosages, a tribe of Galatia (the ancient name for the region around Ankara). In 25 bce Ankara was incorporated into the Roman Empire by the emperor Augustus.
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As a city of the Byzantine Empire, Ankara was attacked by both the Persians and the Arabs. About 1073 Ankara fell to the Seljuq Turks, but the Crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse drove them out again in 1101. The Byzantines, however, were unable to maintain their control, and Ankara became a bone of contention between the Seljuqs and their rivals among the Turkish frontier lords. After 1143, Seljuq princes fought among themselves for possession of the city. With the establishment of the Seljuq empire, Ankara declined.
In 1354 the city was captured by Orhan (Orkhan), the second sultan of the Ottoman dynasty, and it became a part of the Ottoman domains in 1360. Ankara was besieged during the Anatolian campaign of Timur (Tamerlane). In 1403 it again became subject to Ottoman rule, and in subsequent centuries it regained its importance as a commercial and urban centre because of its location on the caravan route to the East.
After World War I, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish nationalist leader, made Ankara the centre of the resistance movement against both the government of the Ottoman sultan and the invading Greek forces; he established his headquarters there in 1919. Ankara was declared the capital of Turkey in 1923.
The architecture of the present-day city reflects its varied history. Remains from the Roman era include a bath, the Column of Julian, and the Temple of Roma and Augustus. Byzantine remnants include the citadel and a cemetery. The square Alâeddin Mosque, with one minaret, is located near the walled citadel and dates from the Seljuq era. Ottoman buildings are numerous and include the Hacı Bayram Cami (1427–28), as well as the Mahmud Paşa market and the Kurşunlu Han, two 15th-century buildings that have been converted to house the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The modern city contains the huge Atatürk Mausoleum complex.
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Government is the main business in the city, but Ankara is also Turkey’s second most important industrial city after Istanbul. Factories producing wine and beer, flour, sugar, macaroni products, biscuits, milk, cement, terrazzo (mosaic paving), construction materials, and tractors are well established. Service and tourist industries are expanding rapidly.
Ankara is an important crossroads for trade and forms a major junction in the road network of Turkey. The city lies on the main east-west rail line across Anatolia. Esenboğa Airport, to the northeast, provides international services.
The city is the seat of the University of Ankara (established 1946), Hacettepe University (1967), and the Middle East Technical University (1956). The National Library is also located there, as are the state theatre and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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The metro area population of Ankara in 2022 was 5,310,000, a 1.8% increase from 2021. The metro area population of Ankara in 2021 was 5,216,000, a 1.91% increase from 2020. Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Ankara, Turkey metro area from 1950 to 2024.
As of 2022, the population of the Ankara Province was 5,782,285. When Ankara became the capital of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it was designated as a planned city for 500,000 future inhabitants. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the city grew in a planned and orderly pace.
217.9 / mi². Population of Ankara: Current, historical, and projected population, growth rate, median age, population density, urbanization, and urban population. Data tables, maps and charts.
Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and 5.8 million in Ankara Province, making it Turkey's second-largest city after Istanbul, but first by the urban area (4,130 km2).
Dec 31, 2009 · 2022-12-31. Ankara ( incl. Gölbaşi) 4,097,051. 4,474,305. 4,870,401. 5,186,002. →. Source: State Institute of Statistics, Republic of Türkiye. Explanation: Since 2013, the population figures of cities in metropolitan provinces are calculated by using the population of selected neighborhoods.
