Chaldoran County


Chaldoran County is a county in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The capital of the county is Siah Cheshmeh or Qara Aineh is also called Chaldoran. The other prominent town in the district is Avajiq. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 44,572, in 9,006 families. The county is subdivided into two districts: the Central District and Dashtaki District. The county has two cities: Siah Cheshmeh and Avajiq. The population of Chaldoran are Azeri and Kurmancî Kurds.
Chaldoran is one of the tourist areas of West Azerbaijan Province of Iran because of its cold weather in winter and cool in summer.

History

Chaldoran is the site of the historic Battle of Chaldiran, which took place in 1514 between the armies of Ottoman Sultan Selim I and Safavid Shah Ismail I on the narrow plain outside of the town. The Ottoman army had the advantage of using firearms as well as superiority in size, and defeated the Safavid army for the first time.
After the Ottomans took this area, they resettled many of the Kurdish tribes further west.
Holy Tatavous Church or St. Thaddeus's is in Chaldoran district, 7 km north east of the town of Seyah Cheshmah.

Economy

The expansion of pastures and cultivable lands has given this region the opportunity of enjoying prosperous cattle breeding, agriculture and apiculture with highest rate of job creation in the region. According to the census of the year 2003, population of Chaldoran district is 46,700; 33.5 percent of whom live in urban areas and 66.5 percent are rural and tribal settlers. Chaldoran's Wednesday Market enjoys a particular fame for various types of cattle, agricultural, farming products and local handicrafts. The most important tourism attractions of this city are : Holy Tatavous Church, Tomb of shahid sedreddin shirazi, Tombs of Martyrs in chaldoran City and Zarzar Church in Baroum Village