Topics
Ankara, 
Türkiye
3,612,251 people lived in Ankara in 2025. It is the 129th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 2nd largest in Türkiye, where it is the capital.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Ankara governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Ankara grew
For every 10 people in Ankara in 1975, there were 27.7 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 4.0 million people in 2050.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Ankara through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Ankara in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Türkiye · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Ankara is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Türkiye in 2025, 177 in all, led by Istanbul, each drawn with an area that matches its people. Countries next door are outlines only.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Ankara covered 361 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 80 km² of it. That is 22 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 5 by 5 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2.4 times its size, and its people are 2.8 times as many.
How to read this: pale is the whole of the city's land; the stronger square inside it is what is actually built on. The three are drawn to the same scale, so a larger square really is more land, and hatching means the year is the UN's projection rather than a count.
Of every 100 people in Türkiye
Its share of Türkiye
Of every 100 people in Türkiye in 2025, 4 lived in Ankara, which is 3.6 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Türkiye, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Ankara's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 125 Chicago United States3,683,385
- 126 Brazzaville Republic of the Congo3,656,322
- 127 Melbourne Australia3,639,893
- 128 Qingdao China3,616,657
- 129 Ankara3,612,251
- 130 Kasaï-Oriental Democratic Republic of the Congo3,605,738
- 131 Karaj Iran3,598,661
- 132 Berlin Germany3,560,908
- 133 Savar Bangladesh3,557,381
In Türkiye, 2025
- 18 Istanbul15,014,763
- 129 Ankara3,612,251
- 188 Izmir2,650,237
- 216 Bursa2,281,622
- 303 Gaziantep1,613,357
- 402 Antalya1,273,822
- 448 Sincan1,149,921
- 542 Konya959,484
- 585 Kayseri882,238
How to read this: the number before each name is its place among all 12,138 cities in the world in 2025; bars are people, on one scale per list. Only cities that reach 300,000 people have a page here, so a gap in the numbers is a smaller city.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Ankara are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Ankara publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries