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Ankara (/ˈæŋkərə/; Turkish pronunciation: [ˈaŋ.ka.ɾa]; historically known by the names Ancyra and Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city, Istanbul being the largest. The city has a mean elevation of 938 meters (3,077 ft) and in 2012 had a population of 4,338,620, with its metropolitan municipality having 4,965,542.

It is the center of the Turkish Government, and an important commercial and industrial city. Located in Central Anatolia, Ankara 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 is traditionally famed for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), Angora rabbits and their prized 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 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. 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 well-preserved remains of Ottoman and Roman 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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Ulus Square (Turkish: Ulus Meydanı) is a square in Ankara, Turkey. "Ulus" is the Turkish word for "Nation" .

The square is actually a crossroad of four streets at about . The boulvard to south is Atatürk Boulevard and the street to the north which is the continuation of Atatürk Boulvard is Çankırı Street. The street to the south west is Cumhuriyet Street and the street to the east is Anafartalar Street. (Atatürk is the founder of modern Turkey, Çankırı is the name of a city to the north of Ankara, Cumhuriyet means Republic and Anfartalar was the location of a critical battle during the Gallipoli Campaign.) The only open area of the square is an area allocatted to the Statue of Victory to the east of the square.

Before the Republic Ankara was a typical Anatolian town. The only important trade center of Ankara was Taşhan (i.e., "Stone inn") which was built in 1880s. The neighbourhood around Taşhan was also called Taşhan. After Ankara was included in the railroad network in 1892, Taşhan became one of the most important quarters of Ankara and after the Young Turk Revolution the Committee of Union and Progress built its Ankara branch office building to the west of Taşhan. During the Turkish War of Independence this building was used as the parliament of Turkish nationalists. After the war a square was built to the east of the parliament building . The earlier name of the square was Hakimiyet'i Milliye ("National sovereignty") but eventually the name Ulus came into use. A statue was erected in the center of the square. The statue which was called Statue of Victory was designed by Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel was completed on 24 November 1927. In 1960s however the square was redesigned and the boulevard was shifted slightly to west, so that now the statue is to the east of the boulvard.

Lütfi Elvan (born 12 March 1962) is a Turkish mining engineer, politician and the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey and a MP for Karaman Province of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Lütfi Elvan was born to A. Nuri Elvan and his wife Samiye at Ermenek town in Karaman Province on 12 March 1962, he studied mining engineering at Istanbul Technical University graduating in 1983. Elvan received a schlorship from the state-owned mining company Etibank for further study abroad. He continued his education earning a Master's degree in the fields of mining engineering and operations research with a thesis on "Determination of Optimal Production Systems in short-term Mining Production Planning" at University of Leeds, United Kingdom in 1986. In 1995, he received another Master's degree in economics at University of Delaware, USA.

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• WikiProject Ankara

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Cauldron of Urartu civilization.

• Angora wool derived from Ankara Goats and Rabbits.
• Ankara is the capital of Turkey (although many people mistakenly think that Istanbul is the capital.)
• Alexander the Great cut the Gordion Knot near Ankara.

Turkey	Asia	Europe	İstanbul	Seljuk Empire

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