Çankaya District

Çankaya District
Çankaya is a municipality and district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 483 km2, and its population is 942,553 (2022). It is home to many government buildings, including the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as well as nearly all foreign embassies to Turkey. Çankaya is a cosmopolitan district and considered the cultural and financial center of Ankara.
History
Until the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Çankaya was a hillside of orchards and gardens to the south of the city, which had grown up in time, surrounding the Ankara Castle (Kale) on the opposite hill. Everything changed in the 1920s when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk came to stay in one of the garden houses. Atatürk selected Ankara as capital of the new republic and in the 1920s and 30s the city quickly grew, especially in the direction of Çankaya. In 1934 the writer Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu described the area as "a wooden bridge, a dirt road, and when you come round the hill you see a hillside, green in gentle contours. That's Çankaya." Çankaya eventually developed into one of the largest central districts of Ankara in later years.
Demographics
The population of Çankaya is close to 1 million in 2022.
Climate
The climate in Çankaya is cold and temperate. The winter months are much rainier than the summer months in Çankaya. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Dsa. The average annual temperature in Çankaya is 11.5 °C. In a year, the average rainfall is 384 mm.
Culture
The early buildings of the republic were in grand Ottoman style, but today Çankaya also contains a number of impressive modern buildings. The district is home to a great number of museums, theatres, cinemas, cultural associations, booksellers, publishers and libraries, including the National Library in a new building. Many of the streets in the district are named after poets, writers and thinkers.
Most of Ankara's best-known high schools and a great number of university buildings are in the district, including the large campuses of METU, Bilkent University and (most of) Hacettepe University. Çankaya University, a private institution owned by businessman Sıtkı Alp, was opened in a number of former school buildings in 1997.
Composition
There are 124 neighbourhoods in Çankaya District:
100.Yıl
50.Yıl
Ahlatlıbel
Akarlar
Akpınar
Alacaatlı
Anıttepe
Arka Topraklık
Aşağı Dikmen
Aşağı Imrahor
Aşağı Öveçler
Aşıkpaşa
Ata
Aydınlar
Ayrancı
Aziziye
Bademlidere
Bağcılar
Bahçelievler
Balgat
Barbaros
Bayraktar
Beytepe
Birlik
Boztepe
Büyükesat
Çamlıtepe
Çankaya
Çavuşlu
Çayyolu
Cebeci
Cevizlidere
Çiğdem
Çukurambar
Cumhuriyet
Devlet
Dilekler
Dodurga
Doğuş
Ehlibeyt
Emek
Ertuğrulgazi
Erzurum
Esatoğlu
Eti
Evciler
Fakülteler
Fidanlık
Gaziosmanpaşa
Gökkuşağı
Göktürk
Güvenevler
Güzeltepe
Harbiye
Hilal
Huzur
İleri
İlkadım
İlkbahar
İlker
İncesu
İşçi Blokları
Karahasanlı
Karapınar
Karataş
Kavaklıdere
Kazım Özalp
Keklik Pınarı
Kırkkonaklar
Kızılay
Kızılırmak
Kocatepe
Kömürcü
Konutkent
Korkutreis
Koru
Küçükesat
Kültür
Malazgirt
Maltepe
Mebusevleri
Meşrutiyet
Metin Akkuş
Metin Oktay
Mimar Sinan
Muhsin Ertuğrul
Murat
Mürsel Uluç
Mustafa Kemal
Mutlukent
Naci Çakır
Namık Kemal
Nasuh Akar
Oğuzlar
Ön Cebeci
Oran
Orta Imrahor
Osman Temiz
Öveçler
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kışlalı
Remzi Oğuz Arık
Sağlık
Sancak
Şehit Cengiz Karaca
Şehit Cevdet Özdemir
Seyranbağları
Söğütözü
Sokullu Mehmet Paşa
Tınaztepe
Tohumlar
Topraklık
Ümit
Umut
Üniversiteler
Yakupabdal
Yaşamkent
Yayla
Yeşilkent
Yıldızevler
Yücetepe
Yukarı Bahçelievler
Yukarı Dikmen
Yukarı Öveçler
Zafertepe
Politics and government
Çankaya has always played an important role in politics, government, and diplomacy, as the Grand National Assembly is located in the district as well as the former residence of the President of Turkey. Various embassies can be found in the district.
Çankaya is an overwhelmingly CHP-voting district both in local elections. The party has plurality when it comes to general elections. CHP holds a supermajority in Çankaya District Council, with 37 out of 45 members of the district council also being a member of the party.
Places of interest
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
Anıtkabir the mausoleum of Atatürk
Ankara Ethnography Museum
Atakule Tower
Çankaya Köşkü - the former residence of the President of Turkey
Pembe Köşk - the residence of Turkish President İsmet İnönü from 1925 to 1973
THF Sport Hall
References
External links
Presidency of Turkey, official website
District governor's official website
District municipality's official website
The Kavaklıdere resident's association
Populated places in Ankara Province
Districts of Ankara Province
Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey