| Urmia Urmu اورمو Wirmê ورمێ Orumieh |
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| — city — | |||
| Urmia municipality square | |||
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| Nickname(s): Cradle of Water,Paris of Iran | |||
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Urmia
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Iran | ||
| Province | West Azerbaijan | ||
| County | Urmia | ||
| Bakhsh | Central | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Elireza Esmat parast عليرضا عصمت پرست [1] | ||
| Elevation | 1,332 m (4,370 ft) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| • Total | 577,307 | ||
| • Population Rank in Iran | 10th | ||
| Time zone | IRST (UTC+3:30) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | IRDT (UTC+4:30) | ||
| Area code(s) | 0441, 0443 | ||
| Website | www.urmia.ir | ||
Urmia (Persian: ارومیه; Azerbaijani: Urmu اورمو or Urmiyə; Kurdish: Wirmê / Urmê; Syriac: ܐܘܪܡܝܐ); also Romanized as Oroumiyeh, Orūmīyeh and Urūmiyeh ; formerly, during the majority of the Pahlavi Dynasty [1925–1979] called in Persian: رضائیه - Rezaeyeh, Rezā’īyeh, Rezâiyye, and Rizāiyeh)[2] is a city in and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 577,307, in 153,570 families.[3]
The city lies at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chay river (City River). Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran. The population is mainly Azeri Turkish, with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities.[4]
Urmia is situated on a fertile plain called Urmia Plain, on western side of Lake Urmia; and eastern side of Turkish border and marginal range of mountains.
Urmia 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 cent., 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.[5]
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The name Urmia is a compound. The first element — "ur" standing for 'city', is most likely Sumerian. It is noteworthy that Ur, per se, was a principal Sumerian city and the same term is, as a prefix, to be found in a few other toponyms (particularly those pretaining to cities) within Mesopotamia and its surrounding areas. Nonetheless, as the archaeological excavations reveal, the city is both pre-historically and historically distinct from the Sumerian proper.[6] The second element, "mia" is Aramaic Syriac meaning "water." Hence Urmia simply means 'Watertown" — a befitting name for a city situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers, would be the cradle of water.
Urmia is one of the historic ancient cities in Iran. The excavations of the ancient ruins near Urmia led to the discovery of utensils that date back to 2000 years B.C.. According to Vladimir Minorsky, there have been villages in the Urmia plain some 2000 years B.C., with their civilization under the influence of Van nation.
In the ancient times, the west bank of Urmia lake was called Gilzan, and in the ninth century B.C. an independent government ruled there which later joined the Urartu or Mana empire; in the eighth century B.C., the area was a vassal of the Asuzh government until it joined the Median Empire after its formation.
All and all, according to historical documents, the western part of the Urmia Lake has been a center of attention of the prehistoric nations, the evidence of which are the numerous ancient hills in the area, such as Gouy Tapeh, 6 kilometers 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, 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.[7]
Some historians claimed that Urmia was a birthplace of Zarathustra, the founder of Zoroastrian religion.[8] The Columbia Encyclopedia mentions that Urmia was an important town in the region during the 9th century.[9]
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 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.[10][11] Most of Urmia's Christian population was however massacred by the Ottomans during the First World War.[12] The survivors have mostly settled in the United States.[11]
Urmia's climate is semi-arid (Köppen BSk) with moderately cold winters, mild springs, hot, dry summers (though mild for Iran) and crisp autumns. Precipitation is heavily concentrated in late autumn, winter, and especially spring, while summer precipitation is very scarce.
| Climate data for Urmia (Orumiyeh) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) |
4.8 (40.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
22.2 (72.0) |
27.5 (81.5) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.0 (87.8) |
27.1 (80.8) |
20.1 (68.2) |
12.2 (54.0) |
5.7 (42.3) |
17.6 (63.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
5.2 (41.4) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.9 (55.2) |
16.6 (61.9) |
15.9 (60.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
6.6 (43.9) |
1.4 (34.5) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
5.4 (41.7) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 30.2 (1.189) |
33.2 (1.307) |
52.3 (2.059) |
62.2 (2.449) |
45.6 (1.795) |
14.2 (0.559) |
5.5 (0.217) |
2.1 (0.083) |
4.4 (0.173) |
21.8 (0.858) |
40.0 (1.575) |
29.7 (1.169) |
341.2 (13.433) |
| Source: worldweather.org | |||||||||||||
According to official census of 2006, the population of Urmia is about 871,204.[13]
The Language of the majority of population is mainly Azerbaijani, with Kurdish, Assyrian, and Armenian minorities.[14][15][16][17][18]
The majority of people are followers of Shia Islam. Also there are Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians, followers of Sunni Islam, followers of Bahá'í Faith, Jews and followers of different kinds of Sufism, while a large part of the population is Atheist .
Urmia has many parks and touristic costal villages in the shore of Urmia Lake. The oldest park in Urmia, called Park-e Saat, was established in the first Pahlavi's era. Urmia's largest park is Ellar Bagi Park (Azerbaijani "Garden of the Peoples") along the Shahar Chayi, or the "City River".
Parks:
Touristic Costal Villages:
Sport is an important part of Urmia's culture. The most popular sport in Urmia is volleyball. Urmia is Iran's volleyball capital ,its because of ranks that Heyat Volleyball Urmia VC got in Iranian Volleyball Super League and for the great volleyball players that are in Iran men's national volleyball team and first class coaches in Iran.
2010 Asian Men's Cup Volleyball Championship was be held in Ghadir Arena in Urmia.
| kurdland | Beheshti Ave., Urmia, Iran
EthnographyThe city has been home to various ethnic groups during its long history. For this reason, the demographics of the city have undergone numerous changes. Some historical documents show that at the beginning of the 20th century, the city's population had a significant Christian minority (Assyrians and Armenians).[19] According to Macuch, and Ishaya, the city was the spiritual capital of the Assyrians from 1830 to the end of World War I by the influence of four Christian missions.[20] Most of the Assyrian and Armenian population was massacred in 1914 by Ottoman forces in what is now referred to as the Assyrian Genocide. This led to a shift in the city's demographics.[20] During the era of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iranian Assyrians were invited to return to the region and several thousand did return. CultureMuseums
EducationHigher educationUrmia was an important center for higher education approximately a century ago, indeed, medical faculty of Urmia which was built by Joseph Cochran and a team of American medical associates in 1878, is the first University of Iran. Unfortunately the faculty became shut down even before establishment of first official university of Iran, University of Tehran. Universities in Urmia:
Libraries
MediaTelevisionUrmia has one state television channel that broadcasts in both Azerbaijani and Persian languages. It broadcasts internationally through satellite Intelsat 902.[21] RadioUrmia has one radio channel broadcasting in both Azerbaijani, and Persian languages.and has a local radio that call Chichest.[21] Press
and ... InfrastructureHealth systemsThe government of Iran operates the public hospitals in the Urmia metropolitan region, some of which are aligned with medical faculties. There are also a number of private hospitals and medical centers in the city. TransportationInner City: Most Urmia residents travel by car through the system of roads and highways. Urmia is also served by taxi and bus. Urmia has taxi and public bus network. There are also some private groups, which provide services called Phone-taxi. and urmia metro lines is under the research. International:
Urmia is linked to Europe through Turkey's roads and Sero border.
The city is going to link to Iran National Railways (IRIR, Persian: رجا ).
Urmia Airport opened in 1964 and is the first international airport in West Azerbaijan county, Iran. Its international air routes are to the following cities[22]: Other west azerbaijan international airport is Khoy airport. Domestic air routes to:Tehran, Mashhad, Kish Island, Shiraz, Esfahan.[22] Notable people
See alsoReferences
External links
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