Menemen

District and municipality in İzmir, Turkey

Menemen is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 573 km2, and its population is 200,904 (2022). The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River. Adjacent districts are, from east to west; Aliağa and Foça to the north and Bornova, Karşıyaka and Çiğli to the south. Menemen district has a 27 km (17 mi) long coastline in the west and neighbors Manisa Province to the east. The town of Menemen is located at a distance of 35 km (22 mi) from İzmir center. Settlement across the district is loosely scattered along the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir in the south and consists of isolated villages along prairies in the north, which results in an average urbanization rate of only 42 per cent. The economy still relies on agriculture and stock breeding in large part, although the production and export of leather, ceramic and other earthenware products, as well as potentially of plastic products, based in two separate and specialized organized industrial zones made important steps forward during the last decade. Menemen's earthenware pottery products have been famous across Turkey for centuries. These two organized industrial zones as well as activities rebounding from the adjacent İzmir metropolitan area gain an increasing importance in the district's economy. Nevertheless, Gediz River, whose lower basin crosses Menemen plain to join the sea within the district boundaries still constitutes the lifeline of the region and matters relating to the river's flow as well as its present rate of rather high pollution is a matter of constant debate.

Population

186,182

Coordinates

38.608, 27.069

Timezone

Europe/Istanbul

Elevation

20 m