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Very familiar to most people as the capital of Turkey, Ankara is actually only the country's second-biggest city, being considerably smaller than Istanbul. However, Ankara is actually a very large and presentable Turkish city, constantly expanding and offering a rather sophisticated and modern character. Many wide streets are now lined with coffee shops and eateries, particularly around the energetic Kizilay area.

Various tourist hotspots present themselves around the city of Ankara and in particular, along the Ataturk Bulvari, which serves as a prominent artery. The Ulus Meydani, known simply as 'Ulus', is another important tourism hub in the city and this central square is close to a number of leading museums, while also offering a choice of accommodation and inexpensive restaurants. Nearby, the Ankara Tourist Information Office is easy to find and stands directly opposite the Maltepe Akaray Train Station, on the Gazi Mustafa Kemal Bulvari.

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 was officially renamed 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 centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre 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.

The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a steep and 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. Ankara is 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 our date. There are, however, many finely preserved remains of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine architecture, the most remarkable being the Temple of Augustus and Rome (20 BC) which is also known as the Monumentum Ancyranum.