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Ankara Info

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the second largest city in the country after Istanbul. It is located at the heart of both Turkey and Central Anatolia. The population is around 3.5 million.

Orientation

The "downtown" area of this large city is around Kizilay Square (Kizilay Meydani) which has a fair number of transportation links to almost anywhere in the city. To the north, Kizilay Square is connected by a wide avenue to Sihhiye (with a Hittite-style sculpture of a deer) and Ulus Squares, which are second most central parts of the city, located near the train station and the old part of the town around the citadel on the hill.

Climate

As any other part of the Anatolian highland, the winters are cold and usually snowy. Temperature is regularly below the freezing point during this season, but it rarely drops below -15° C. Thanks to the low levels of relative humidity, the hot and dry summers are more comfortable than coastal regions of Turkey. Summer nights are cool, though, so be sure to bring at least a cardigan with you to wear outdoors. Spring and autumn are the wettest seasons, but with an annual rainfall amount of 415 mm (i.e., a semi-arid climate), you are unlikely to get much wet during your trip to Ankara, anyway.