Ankara wide streets, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, and high-rises. Government offices and foreign embassies are also located in the new section. Ankara has experienced a phenomenal growth since it was made Turkey's capital in 1923, when it was "a small town of no importance". In 1924, the year after the government had moved there, Ankara had about 35,000 residents. By 1927 there were 44,553 residents and by 1950 the population had grown to 286,781. Ankara continued to grow rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century and eventually outranked Izmir as Turkey's second largest city, after Istanbul. Ankara's urban population
Ankara Turkish as "Engürü". The form "Angora" is preserved in the names of breeds of many different kinds of animals, and in the names of several locations in the US (see Angora). Ankara has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csa") which closely borders a hot summer Mediterranean continental climate (Köppen "Dsa"). Under the Trewartha climate classification, Ankara has a middle latitude steppe climate ("BSk"). Due to its elevation and inland location, Ankara has cold, somewhat snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and autumn. Ankara lies in USDA Hardiness zone 7b, and its annual average precipitation