Banaz is a town and district of
UÅŸak Province
Uşak ( tr, Uşak ili ) is a province in western Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Manisa to the west, Denizli to the south, Afyon to the east, and Kütahya to the north. The provincial capital is Uşak, and its licence location code is 64. The ...
in the inner
Aegean region of
Turkey. The mayor is Zafer Arpacı (
AKP). Banaz district area neighbors those of two other districts of the same province, namely
Sivaslı and
UÅŸak central district from its south to its west, ranges three districts of
Kütahya Province,
Gediz,
Altıntaş
Altıntaş is a town and a district of Kütahya Province in the 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 large stone deposits, es ...
and
Dumlupınar, along its north, and adjoins three districts of
Afyonkarahisar Province, 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 ...]
and
Hocalar to its east.
The town is situated on the main road from
Ä°zmir to
Ankara, at a distance of to the province seat of
UÅŸak. 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.
Sugarbeet 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 c ...
, 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
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{{Districts of Turkey, provname=UÅŸak, image=Usak
Populated places in UÅŸak Province
Districts of UÅŸak Province
Towns in Turkeymasterofphone