Urmia | city, capital city of state/province/region

Iran / Azarbayejan-e Gharbi / Orumiyeh /
 city, capital city of state/province/region

Urmia (Azerbaijani: Urmu, Urmiyə, اورمو, اورمیه, Persian: ارومیه‎‎, Kurdish: Ûrmiye, Wirmê - ورمێ‎, Armenian: Ուրմիա) is a city in and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Urmia is situated at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level, and is located along the Shahar Chay river (City River) on the Urmia Plain. Lake Urmia lies to the east of the city, with the mountainous Turkish border to the west. At the 2012 census, its population was 667,499 with 197,749 households.[2] The city's inhabitants are predominantly Iranian Azerbaijanis who speak the Azerbaijani language.[3][4][5][6] There are also minorities of Kurds, Assyrians, and Armenians.

The name Urmia originated in the Kingdom of Urartu. Urartian fortresses and artifacts found across Azerbaijan and into the Azerbaijan province of Iran denote a Urartian etymology.

According to Vladimir Minorsky, there were villages in the Urmia plain as early as 2000 BC, with their civilization under the influence of the Kingdom of Van. The excavations of the ancient ruins near Urmia led to the discovery of utensils that date to the 20th century BC. In ancient times, the west bank of Urmia Lake was called Gilzan, and in the ninth century BC an independent government ruled there, which later joined the Urartu or Mana empire; in the 8th century BC, the area was a vassal of the Asuzh government until it joined the Median Empire after its formation.

The Ottoman Turks made several incursions into the city, but the Safavids successfully defended their control over the area. The city was the capital of the Urmia Khanate from 1747–1865. The first monarch of Iran's Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Khan, was crowned in Urmia in 1795.

Due to the presence of substantial Christian minority at the end of the 19th century, Urmia was also chosen as a site of the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835. Another mission soon became operational in nearby Tabriz as well. During World War I the population was estimated at 30,000 by Dr. Caujole, a quarter of which (7,500) were Assyrians and 1,000 were Jews.

The population of Urmia in the early islamic period were christian, there were also Kurds. In the 19th century, Urmia was a christian city. By 1900 the Christianity population of the town had grown to some 40-50 percent. Between 1830 and 1918 the town was the spiritual capital of the Assyrians in Iran. The population is mostly made of Azerbaijanis and alongside Kurds, Assyrians and Armenian minorities. The majority of the population can also speak Persian, the official language of Iran, in addition to their own native tongue.
The majority of people are followers of Shia Islam. There are also Catholic, Protestant, Nestorian, and Orthodox Christians. The city is also home to followers of Sunni Islam, followers of the Bahá'í Faith, followers of Judaism and followers of different kinds of Sufism.

The city is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region where fruit (especially apple and grape) and tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th century, Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks (1184), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks. Urmia was the seat of the first U.S. Christian mission in Iran (1835). Around AD 1900, Christians made up more than 40% of the city's population, however, most of the Christians fled in 1918 as a result of the Persian Campaign during World War I and the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides.

According to historical documents, the western part of the Urmia Lake has been a center of attention of the prehistoric nations, 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of the lake which competes with the oldest hills of Mesopotamia, Asia the Minor, and the Iranian Plateau.

The claim that the area was the birthplace of Zoroaster (also called Zarahustra) is disputed because most experts agree Zoroaster was most likely born in the eastern part of Greater Iran, or even the burial site of one or two of the Zoroastrian priests who allegedly traveled to Bethlehem for Christ’s birth indicate that the city has been one of the largest religious and scientific centers of the ancient times.

The Columbia Encyclopedia mentions that Urmia was an important town in the region during the 9th century.

The Ottoman Turks made several incursions into the city, but the Safavids were soon able to regain control over the area. The first monarch of Iran's Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Khan, was crowned in Urmia in 1795.

Due to the presence of substantial Christian minority at the end of the 19th century, Urmia was also chosen as a site of the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835. Another mission soon became operational in nearby Tabriz as well. During World War I the population was estimated as 30,000 by Dr. Caujole, a quarter of which (7,500) were Assyrians and 1,000 were Jews.

During the 19th century, the region became the center of a short lived Assyrian renaissance with many books and newspapers being published in Syriac. Urmia was also the seat of a Chaldean diocese.

At the beginning of the First World War tens of thousands of Assyrians and Armenians from Anatolia found refuge in Urmia. The city changed hands several times between Russians and Kurds the following two years. The influx of Christian refugees and their alliance with the Russians angered the Muslims who attacked the Christian quarter in February 1918, The better armed Assyrians managed however to capture the whole city following a brief battle. The region descended into chaos again after the assassination of the Assyrian patriarch Shimun XXI Benyamin at the hands of Simko Shikak one month later. Turkish armies and Samko managed to finally take and plunder the city in June/July 1918. Thousands of Assyrians were massacred, others found refuge under British protection in Iraq.

Today the population is mostly made up of Azerbaijanis who live alongside Christians, Kurdish, Assyrian and Armenian minorities.

Today the majority of the population can also speak the official language of Iran, Persian, in addition to their own native tongue.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   37°32'43"N   45°3'41"E

Comments

  • Urmia is an Iranian city with Azari ethnic majority. There are also Kurdish and Asuri Ethnicy in that city .
  • Urmia population consists of: 86% Azer Turks, 10% Kurds, 1.7% Assyrians, 1.6% Persians and 0.7% Armenians.
  •  115 km
  •  218 km
  •  289 km
  •  372 km
  •  391 km
  •  406 km
  •  430 km
  •  498 km
  •  514 km
  •  515 km