Iğdır Province

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Location of Iğdır Province

Districts of Iğdır

Iğdır (Armenian: Տսոլակերտ (Latin transliteration: Tsolakert); Kurdish: Îdir; Azeri: İğdır; Russian: Игдир) is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the border with Armenia, Azerbaijan (the area of Nakhichevan), and Iran. Its adjacent provinces are Kars to the northwest and Ağrı to the west and south. Area 3.593km2. Population (2000) 168.634 (up from 142.601 in 1990).

Turkey's highest mountain, the Biblical Mount Ağrı is in Iğdır, but much of the land is a wide plain far below the mountain. The climate is the warmest in this part of Turkey (and this is where Noah is said to have thrived following the flood). The Armenian border is marked by the Arpaçay River.

The provincial capital is the city of Iğdır.

1 Districts
2 Etymology
3 History
4 Places of interest
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Districts

Iğdır province is divided into 4 districts (capital district in bold):

[edit] Etymology

After its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the city (and thus later the province), known until that time as Tsolakert ^[1] was renamed Iğdır after a western Turkish clan (Iğdıroğlu) belonging to Üçok branch of Oghuz Turks. These peoples spread throughout Anatolia and there are many towns and villages named Iğdır in Turkey today.

[edit] History

The region was part of Armenia but through several conquests it eventually fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire and later the Persian Empire (Iran). After the Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828 and the Treaty of Turkmanchai it became part of the Russian Empire. After World War I, it came under the administration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as part of the Ararat province but was ceded to Turkey by the Soviet Union in the Treaty of Kars.

Today, Iğdır has the character of a region in northern Iran with its mixed population of Kurds and Azerbaijanis. ^[2] Therefore for example the spring festival nevruz which is traditional in Iran is widely celebrated in Iğdır.

[edit] Places of interest

The 13th century caravanserai of the Seljuk Turks, 25km south-west of the city of Iğdır.
Sürmeli castle. 25km west of the city of Iğdır, on the road to Tuzluca.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ Hewsen, Robert H. (2001). Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-33228-4.
^ http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2002/08/05/162199.asp

	Districts of Iğdır
Iğdır \| Aralık \| Karakoyunlu \| Tuzluca

Provinces of Turkey

	Census-defined regions of Turkey
Aegean Region \| Black Sea Region \|Central Anatolia Region \|East Anatolia Region \|Marmara Region \|Mediterranean Region \|Southeastern Anatolia Region