Urmia
City in West Azerbaijan province, Iran / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urmia (Persian: ارومیه; pronounced [oɾumiˈje] ⓘ)[lower-alpha 1] is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. In the Central District of Urmia County, it is capital of the province, the county, and the district.[5]
Urmia
ارومیه | |
---|---|
City | |
Nickname: Cradle of Water | |
Coordinates: 37°32′38″N 45°03′53″E[1] | |
Country | Iran |
Region | 3 |
Province | West Azerbaijan |
County | Urmia |
Bakhsh | Central |
Government | |
• Mayor | Hossein Mahdizadeh |
• Parliament | Vahid Jalalzadeh, Salman Zaker & Ruhollah Hazratpour |
Elevation | 1,332 m (4,370 ft) |
Population (2016 census) | |
• Urban | 736,224[2] |
• Metro | 1,000,000[citation needed] |
• Population Rank in Iran | 10th |
Time zone | UTC+3:30 (IRST) |
Area code | 044 |
Website | urmia |
The city lies at an altitude of 1,330 metres (4,360 ft) above sea level along the Shahar River on the Urmia Plain. Lake Urmia, one of the world's largest salt lakes, lies to the east of the city, and the border with Turkey lies to the west.
Urmia is the 10th-most populous city in Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 577,307 in 153,570 households.[6] The following census in 2011 counted 667,499 people in 197,749 households.[7] The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 736,224 people in 225,050 households.[2] The majority of the city's residents are Azerbaijanis, with a large minority of Kurds, and a smaller number of Assyrians, and Armenians, as well as Persian-speakers who moved to the city mostly for employment.[8]
The city is the trading center for a fertile agricultural region where fruits (especially apples and grapes) and tobacco are grown. Even though the majority of the residents of Urmia are Muslims, the Christian history of Urmia is well preserved and is especially evident in the city's many churches and cathedrals.
An important town by the 9th century, the city has had a diverse population which has at times included Muslims (Shias and Sunnis), Christians (Catholics, Protestants, Nestorians, and Orthodox), Jews, Baháʼís and Sufis. Around 1900 Christians made up more than 40% of the city's population; however, in the next decades most of the Christians were either killed by the advancing Ottoman troops or in raids by Kurdish tribes[9][10] or fled shortly after the end of the war.[11][12][13]
Urmia, Takab and Piranshahr respectively have the highest number of registered provincial sites in the list of national sites.[14]