Çankaya is a municipality and district of Ankara Province, Turkey.Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 8 June 2023. 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. As of 2025 it was the most socioecomomically developed district in the country, it likely has the highest HDI too.
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 continental and semi-arid. The spring months are the wettest, whereas the summer months are the driest in Çankaya. The winter months receive snow, though it also occurs in November, March and April. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is BSk. The average annual temperature in Çankaya is 11.5 °C. In a year, the average precipitation is 384 mm.
Culture
The early buildings of the republic were in grand Ottoman style, but today Çankaya also contains a number of 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. The district also houses many important government buildings.
Composition There are 124 neighbourhoods in Çankaya District:Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
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 and general elections. The party has majority when it comes to general elections. CHP holds a supermajority in Çankaya District Council, with 44 out of 47 members of the district council also being a member of the party.
In 2026, the Ministry of Interior deposed the mayor Hüseyin Can Güner so Haldun Güler was elected the acting mayor of Çankaya with 37 votes.
Places of interest Anıtkabir the mausoleum of Atatürk, Turkey's founder 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