Turgutlu

Turgutlu
District
Central park in Turgutlu
Location of Turgutlu within Turkey.
Turgutlu Location of Turgutlu
Coordinates: 38°30′N 27°42′E / 38.500°N 27.700°E / 38.500; 27.700Coordinates: 38°30′N 27°42′E / 38.500°N 27.700°E / 38.500; 27.700
Country	Turkey
Region	Aegean
Province	Manisa
Area
• District	472.86 km2 (182.57 sq mi)
Elevation	68 m (223 ft)
Population (2012)
• Urban	122,383
• District	146,087
• District density	310/km2 (800/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	45400
Area code(s)	236
Licence plate	45
Website	www.turgutlu-bld.gov.tr

Turgutlu, also known as Kasaba (Cassaba or Casaba) is a city and district in Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to 2009 census, its district population is 140,753; 115,930 live in the city itself. The district covers an area of 473 km² (183 sq mi) at an elevation of 68 m (223 ft). The district is the most populous after the provincial center of Manisa and the second most populous district center, in Turkey's Aegean Region.

The name derives from the name of the Turkish clan of "Turgutlu" (also cited as "Turgut" or "Turgutoğlu"), recorded as having provided the main support to the Beylik of Karaman during their time of existence and mentioned in historical records as an important political entity as late as the 18th century Iran. Their settlement in Turgutlu region is thought to have taken place some time in the 15th century at the same time as the Ottoman unification of Anatolia which resulted in the demise of Karamanids. That nearby Manisa was the center where Ottoman shahzades (crown princes) received their education must have placed the clan once again in a non-negligible position in their relations this time with the Ottoman dynasty.

The city was alternatively called Kasaba (often spelled as Casaba or Cassaba in the 19th century Western sources also), which simply means "the town". People of Turgutlu still often use the term "Kasabalı" to define themselves and despite the general signification of the word (Kasaba being "the town", Kasabalı means "the townspeople"), people across Turkey usually understand when Turgutlu is being specifically referred to.

The term Casaba for melons derived from the name of the city, an echo of its 18th-19th century past when it was an important regional trade center and hub, located in the middle of a fertile alluvial plain and with access to outside markets through nearby İzmir.

There are two townships with their own municipalities within the district (Urganlı and Derbent) and 37 villages and nine village dependencies or hamlets. Turgutlu center has an annual population increase rate of 2,41 per cent and the district as a whole 1,8 per cent which places its region right after the central district of the province seat of Manisa. Turgutlu center is at a distance of only 31 km to Manisa, to which it depends administratively, and at a distance of 50 km to the international portuary center of İzmir. Its closeness to these two metropolitan centers both of which have a deep and rooted history marked Turgutlu's destiny since its foundation in the 15th century. Today, the intense industrial activities in the even nearer İzmir district of Kemalpaşa also find considerable repercussions in Turgutlu, which itself has a reputation of being one of the prominent centers of soil industry in Turkey.