Ankara Hotels

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 850 metres (2,800 ft), and as of 2007 the city had a population of 4,751,360, which includes eight districts under the city's administration. Ankara also serves as the capital of Ankara Province. As with many ancient cities, Ankara has gone by several names over the ages: The Hittites gave it the name Ankuwash before 1200 BC. The Galatians and Romans called it Ancyra. In the classical, Hellenistic, and Byzantine periods it was known as Ἄγκυρα (Ánkyra, meaning Anchor) in Greek. The local Armenians called it Enkare. The city was also known in the European languages as Angora after its conquest by the Seljuk Turks in 1073, and continued to be internationally called with this name until it officially became Ankara with the Turkish Postal Service Law of 1930. 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 center of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing center 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. Ankara is situated upon a steep and rocky hill, which rises 150 m (492 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Enguri Su, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river.