Banaz is a town and district of
Uşak Province in the inner
Aegean region of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The mayor is Zafer Arpacı (
AKP). Banaz district area neighbors those of two other districts of the same province, namely
Sivaslı
Sivaslı, formerly known as Sebaste ( gr, Σεβαστείας, Sebasten) is a town and district of Uşak . Province in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. Sebaste ancient city area is away from Sivaslı town center today.
The ancient city of ...
and
Uşak
Uşak (; el, Ουσάκειον, Ousakeion) is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 500,000 (2016 census) and is the capital of Uşak Province.
Uşak city is situated at a distance of from İ ...
central district from its south to its west, ranges three districts of
Kütahya Province
Kütahya Province ( tr, ) is a province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is 11,875 km in size, and the population is 571,554 (2014). In 1990, Kütahya had a population of 578,000.
The neighboring provinces are Bursa to the northwest, ...
,
Gediz,
Altıntaş
Altıntaş is a town and a district of Kütahya Province in the Aegean Region, Turkey, Aegean region of Turkey.
History
Altıntaş was previously known as "Kurtköy". The district's name means "goldstone" in Turkish and was given due to the lar ...
and
Dumlupınar, along its north, and adjoins three districts of
Afyonkarahisar Province
Afyonkarahisar Province ( tr, ), also called more simply Afyon Province, is a province in western Turkey.
Adjacent provinces are Kütahya to the northwest, Uşak to the west, Denizli to the southwest, Burdur to the south, Isparta to the sout ...
, namely
Sandıklı
Sandıklı is a town of Afyonkarahisar Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Sandıklı District.[Sinanpaşa
Sinanpaşa (or Sincanlı) is a town and district of Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey on a plain surrounded by pine-covered mountains, 33 km from the city of Afyon on the road to Uşak and İzmir. It covers an area of 845 km², and the popu ...]
and
Hocalar
Hocalar is a town of Afyonkarahisar Province in the Aegean Region, Turkey, Aegean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Hocalar District. to its east.
The town is situated on the main road from
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...
to
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
, at a distance of to the province seat of
Uşak
Uşak (; el, Ουσάκειον, Ousakeion) is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 500,000 (2016 census) and is the capital of Uşak Province.
Uşak city is situated at a distance of from İ ...
. The town has a population of 15,504 (2007 census).
The district extends on a large and fertile plain (65 km²) that carries the same name as the town and the district (Banaz Plain - ''Banaz Ovası''), and it is an area of intense and varied agricultural production, as well as of dense forestation.
The stream that crosses and feeds the plain carries the name Banaz as well (''Banaz Çayı'') and it later joins
Büyük Menderes River
The Büyük Menderes River (historically the Maeander or Meander, from Ancient Greek: Μαίανδρος, ''Maíandros''; tr, Büyük Menderes Irmağı), is a river in southwestern Turkey. It rises in west central Turkey near Dinar before flo ...
.
Sugarbeet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wit ...
and
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
are the principal agricultural products that are grown in Banaz.
Another notable feature of the district is the presence of several hot
thermal springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
, some of which, such as those at localities called Evrendede, Çatalçam and Hamamboğazı have been arranged to serve as health centers with accommodation and as recreational areas.
The district has two depending townships with their own municipality (Büyükoturak and Kızılcahöyük) and 45 villages. One of these villages, lying at a distance of 4 km from the district center carries the same name of "Banaz" and is where the ancient site of the locality, called ''Panasion'' and from which the name Banaz derives, was actually located.
References
*
{{Districts of Turkey, provname=Uşak, image=Usak
Populated places in Uşak Province
Districts of Uşak Province
Towns in Turkeymasterofphone