West Azerbaijan

آذربايجان غربى Qərbi Azərbaycan West Azerbaijan
Location of the West Azerbaijan Province in Iran
Basic data
Country	Iran
capital city	Urmia
surface	37,437 km²
resident	3,265,219 (2016 census)
density	87 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	IR-04

Coordinates: 37 ° 41 ′  N , 45 ° 0 ′  E

West Azerbaijan ( Persian آذربايجان غربى Azarbaidschan-e Gharbi , DMG Āẕarbāyǧān-e Ġarbī ; Azerbaijani Qərbi Azərbaycan ) is a province in Iran . The capital is Urmia . West Azerbaijan is part of the Iranian landscape of Āzarbāydschān . It borders on Turkey , the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan , an exclave of the state of Azerbaijan .

3,265,219 people live in the province (2016 census). The area of ​​the province extends to 37,437 square kilometers. The population density is 87 inhabitants per square kilometer.

story

As part of the ancient Iranian region of Āzarbāydschān, the province has a very long history. There are many historical monuments and sites such as B. the stela of Bukan , Haji Firuz Tepe , Hasanlu , Dalmā Tepe , Kordlar Tepe , Musasir and Bastam in western Azerbaijan. With the Turkish-Russian-Persian border treaties of 1813 , 1828 and 1878, what is now West Azerbaijan came under international law to what was then Persia, which previously had formal sovereignty over it. This created the Turkish-Azerbaijani-Iranian external borders that are still valid today. In the 20th century, the Azerbaijan Province was divided into the present-day West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces. Today it forms one of the 31 Iranian provinces.

Prominent events that affected the region in the 20th century:

• The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941
• The establishment and destruction of the Azerbaijani People's Government and the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad ;
• The periodic fighting from 1979 to the 1990s near the borders with Iraq, between the Kurds ( nationalist and communist forces) on the one hand and the Iranian government on the other.

geography

Today's West Azerbaijan is located in the far northwest of Iran. The capital of the province is the city of Urmia with 602,403 inhabitants . From here it is almost 900 kilometers by road to the capital Tehran . The lake of the same name is located near the capital and , like Lake Van in Anatolia, is a huge steppe lake . Depending on the season, it reaches an area between 5000 and 6000 km². The outflow-free lake is ice-free all year round with a salt content of up to 29%. The landscape is very similar to that of neighboring Eastern Anatolia , with high mountains and many wide plateaus. The city of Mahabad is also located in the south of the province.

Administrative division

West Azerbaijan

Qarah Kelisa of the monastery of St. Thaddäus near Tschaldiran

The province of West Azerbaijan is divided into 14 districts:

Bukan Choy Mahabad (Aser .: Sovujboulagh) Maku Miandoab (Aser .: Qoshachay) Naghadeh (Azer .: Solduz) Piranschahr (Aser .: Khana)

Oschnaviyeh (Kurd .: Şino) Salamas Sardinia Seyahcheshmeh Shahindedsch (Azer .: Sayinqala) Takab (Azer .: Tikantapa) Urmia (Azer .: Urmu) Schowt

The biggest cities

rank	city	Inhabitants (VZ 2006)
1.	Orūmīyeh	583.255
2.	Choy	181,465
3.	Būkān	150,703
4th	Mahābād	135.780
5.	Mīāndoāb	114.153
6th	Salamas	81,342
7th	Naghadeh	73,438
8th.	Piran threat	58,177
9.	Takab	44,043
10.	Mākū	42,560
11th	Sardasht	37,699
12th	Shāhīndezh	34,660
13th	Oshnūyeh	30,632
14th	Qareh Zīā'oddīn	22,671
15th	Showt	25,381

Source: Statistical Center of Iran

Flora and fauna

Flamingos

In Lake Urmia due to the high salinity only one can fish species survive. Otherwise, the area around the lake is a paradise for ornithologists . Flamingos , pelicans and many other water birds live there . Individual brown bears and many wolves still live in the mountains of western Azerbaijan . Many types of fruit are grown in the region . Cherries thrive just like oranges , lemons or grapes .

climate

The province has a pronounced continental climate, which, due to the altitude of most places, is extremely cool for the geographical latitude. The winters are just as cold as in the Alps and the summer temperatures correspond to those of the Mediterranean Sea . Precipitation falls all year round, but of a rather low intensity. On average, daytime temperatures range between 0 ° C in January and 30 ° C in July, as well as −8 ° C in January nights and 18 ° C in July nights. Winter temperatures below −20 ° C are just as regular as summer temperatures above 40 ° C.

population

The majority of the population of West Azerbaijan are the Azerbaijanis with a share of 76.2 percent of the total population of the province, followed by the Kurds with 21.7 percent. There are also larger communities of Assyrians and Armenians . Shahsavan nomads, also known for the production of Shahsavan carpets, also live there. The Azeri and Kurmanji languages are widespread in the province and in the south many people speak the Kurdish Sorani . Older people in particular are less able to understand the national language Persian , which is no longer the case with young people. The official language in offices and authorities in West Azerbaijan is Persian.

The information on the ethnic status of the province based on the General Cultural Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2011 is as follows:

row	Ethnic group	Urban (%)	Rural (%)	Men (%)	Women (%)	without high school diploma (%)	Abitur (%)	Academic degree (%)	entire province (%)
1	Persian	1.3	-	0.3	1	-	1.5	2.8	0.8
2	Azerbaijanis	82.5	66.4	67	84.7	73	80.3	82.6	76.2
3	Kurds	15.4	31.2	30.5	13.4	26th	16.1	12.8	21.7
4th	Arabs	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Baluch	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	Lurs	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	Shomali ( gilaks , Mazanderani people , Turkmenians , Dailamen , Talysh )	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	other	0.3	2.4	1.6	1	1	2.2	-	1.1
9	without an answer or with an answer: I don't know	0.5	-	0.6	-	-	-	1.8	0.3

religion

Most of the province's residents are Shiite Muslims . There is still a small, mainly Armenian Orthodox Christian minority. The capital Urmia is also the seat of the Chaldean Church , a branch of the Eastern Catholic Church.

Attractions

Tacht-e Suleiman , the Parthian throne of Solomon

Next to Lake Urmia, about 45 km from the Turkish-Iranian border, the St. Thaddäus monastery is located in the province . In Urmia itself there are testimonies of the various religions, such as churches and mosques . In the small town of Takab there is a citadel from the Sassanid period that is well worth seeing . The small town of Bonab has many pigeon towers that resemble those on the Greek island of Tínos . The archaeological excavations of Hasanlu are also worth a visit. In the Iranian border town of Bazargan you have a magnificent view of the year-round snow-covered Ararat in neighboring Turkey.

Universities

• Urmia University of Medical Sciences
• Urmia University
• Azad Islamic University of Choi
• Azad Islamic University of Mahabad
• Azad Islamic University of Urmia
• Azad Islamic University of Piranschahr

literature

• Nasrollah Kasraian , Ziba Arshi: Our Homeland Iran. Sekké Press, Iran 1990; 10th edition ibid 1998, ISBN 964-6194-91-5 , photo no. 104-107.

Web links

Commons : West Azerbaijan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: West Azerbaijan  Travel Guide

Individual evidence

1. ↑ City Population: Iran - Cities and Provinces .
2. ↑ Iran: Major Cities - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Retrieved November 21, 2017 . 
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ ^{a b c} فهرست نویسی پیش از انتشار کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران * شماره کتابشناسه ملی: 2890690 * عنوان و نام پدیدآورنده: طرح بررسی و سنجش شاخص های فرهنگ عمومی کشور (شاخص های غیرثبتی) {گزارش}: گزارش های پیشرفت طرح ها وکلان شهرها / به سفارش شورای فرهنگ عمومی کشور; مدیر طرح و مسئول سیاست گذاری: منصور واعظی; اجرا: شرکت پژوهشگران خبره پارس * بهاء: 100000 ریال-شابک: 7-68-6627-600-978 * وضعیت نشر: تهران-موسسه انتشارات کتاب نشر 1391 * وضعیت ظاهری: 295 ص: جدول (بخش رنگی) نمودار (بخش رنگی) * یادداشت: عنوان دیگر: طرح و بررسی و سنجش شاخص های فرهنگ عمومی کشور (شاخص های غیرثبتی) سال 1389 * توصیفگر: شاخص های غیرثبتی + شاخص های فرهنگی + گزارش های پیشرفت طرح ها و کلان شهرها * توصیفگر: ایران 386289 * تهران 199066 / مشهد 292341 / اصفهان 170017 / تبریز 18481 / کرج 278252 / شیراز 251703 / اهواز 176403 / قم 270877 * شناسنامه افزوده: واعظی, منصور, 1333 to 735,068 * شناسنامه افزوده : شرکت پژوهشگران خبره پارس / شورای فرهنگ عمومی * مرکز پخش: خیابان ولیعصر, زرتشت غربی, خیابان کامبیز, بخش طباطبایی رفیعی, پلاک 18, تلفن: [phone] * لیتوگرافی, چاپ وصحافی: سازمان چاپ و انتشارات اوقاف