Urmia


Urmia or Orumiyeh is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an altitude of above sea level, and is located along the Shahar Chay river on the Urmia Plain. Lake Urmia, one of the world's largest salt lakes, lies to the east of the city, and the mountainous Turkish border area lies to the west.
Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran. At the 2012 census, its population was 667,499, with 197,749 households. The city's inhabitants are predominantly Azerbaijanis who speak the Azerbaijani language. There are also minorities of Kurds, Persians, Assyrians, and Armenians. The city is the trading center for a fertile agricultural region where fruits and tobacco are grown. Even though, the majority of the residents of Urmia are Muslims, but 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, Christians, Jews, Bahá'ís and Sufis. Around 1900, Christians made up more than 40% of the city's population; however, most of the Christians fled in 1918 because of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides by the Ottoman Empire which invaded Qajar Iran during the Persian Campaign.

Name

suggested Urartian origin for the name, while T. Burrow connected the origin of the name Urmia to Indo-Iranian urmi- "wave" and urmya- "undulating, wavy".
As of 1921, Urmia was also called, Urumia and Urmi. During the Pahlavi Dynasty, the city was called Rezaiyeh after Reza Shah, the dynasty's founder, whose name ultimately derives from the Islamic concept of rida via the Eighth Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, Ali al-Ridha.

History

According to Vladimir Minorsky, there were villages in the Urmia Plain as early as 2000BC, with their civilization under the influence of the Kingdom of Van. Excavations of the ancient ruins near Urmia led to the discovery of utensils that date to the 20thcentury BC. In ancient times, the west bank of Urmia Lake was called Gilzan, and in the 9thcentury BC an independent government ruled there, which later joined the Urartu or Manna empire; in the 8thcentury BC, the area was a vassal of the Asuzh government until it joined the Median Empire.
Assyrians  who did survive the invasion of Baghdad by Timur fled through northern Iraq up into the Hakkari Mountains to the west of Lake Urmia and the area remained as their homeland until the 19th century.
During the Safavid era, the neighboring Ottoman Turks, who were the archrivals of the Safavids, made several incursions into the city and captured it on more than one occasion, but the Safavids successfully regained control over the area. When in 1622, during the reign of Safavid king AbbasI Qasem Sultan Afshar was appointed governor of Mosul, he was forced to leave his office shortly afterwards due to the outbreak of a plague. He moved to the western part of Azerbaijan, and became the founder of the Afshar community of Urmia. 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 a substantial Christian minority at the end of the 19thcentury, Urmia was also chosen as the site of the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835. Another mission was soon underway in nearby Tabriz as well. During World War I the population was estimated by Dr.Caujole to be 30,000, a quarter of which were Assyrians and 1,000 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 the Ottoman Empire found refuge in Urmia. During the war, the city changed hands several times between the Russians and the Ottoman troops and their Kurdish allies in 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 to capture the whole city following a brief battle. The region descended into chaos again after the assassination of the Assyrian patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin at the hands of Simko Shikak one month later. Turkish troops and Simko managed to take and plunder the city in June/July 1918. Thousands of Assyrians were massacred as part of the Assyrian Genocide; others found refuge under British protection in Iraq.

Population

Demographics

According to the 2016 census, population of Urmia city is 736,224, with an annual growth rate of 2.0% and an average of 3.27 people per household.

Ethnic composition

The city has been home to various ethnic groups during its history. The population of Urmia in the early Islamic period was Christian. At the beginning of the 20thcentury, the city had a significant Christian minority with the Christian population of the town consisting of 40–50% of the total population. According to Macuch, and Ishaya, the city was the spiritual capital of the Assyrians, who were influenced by four Christian missions that had been established in the city in the period from 1830 to the end of World War I. A large number of the Assyrians and Armenians were killed in 1914 during the Armenian and Assyrian genocides, which resulted in a change in the city's demographics. During the era of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iranian Assyrians were invited to return to the region, and several thousand did return. There are around 5,000 Assyrians remaining in the city, or around 1% of the population.
Until the Iran crisis of 1946 and the Establishment of the State of Israel in 1947, several thousand Jews also lived Urmia, and their language is still spoken by an ageing community in Israel.
According to some sources, the population is mostly made up of Azerbaijanis who live alongside minorities of Kurds, Assyrians and Armenians. However, according to the Federal Research Division of Library of Congress, ethnic Azeris form around 40% of the population of Urmia region.
The majority of the population can speak the official language of Iran, Persian, in addition to their own native tongue.

Christianity

The city is the archiepiscopal see of the Eastern Catholic Metropolitan Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Urmyā, which has a suffragan in Salmas. There are also Protestants, Church of the East adherents and Armenian Orthodox. There are four churches in the central part of the city, two being Assyrian Church of the East, one Armenian, and one Chaldean.

Parks and touristic centres

The tourist attractions of the city of Urmia include many parks and coastal villages lying on or near the shores of Lake Urmia. The oldest park in Urmia, called Park-e Saat, was established in the first Pahlavi era. Urmia's largest park is Ellar Bagi Park along the Shahar Chayi, or the "City River".
Lakes and ponds
Lagoons
Parks
Scenic coastal villages:
Landscape attractions:
Urmia's climate is hot-summer mediterranean climate bordering continental climate with cold winters, mild springs, hot dry summers, and warm autumns. Precipitation is heavily concentrated in late autumn, winter, and especially spring, while precipitation is scarce in summer. Temperatures in Urmia are much colder than most of the remainder of Iran because of the elevation. Although dry for being a traditional continental climate, it has cold enough winters to qualify as general continental.

Sport

Sports are an important part of Urmia's culture. The most popular sport in Urmia is volleyball. Urmia is considered Iran's volleyball capital, and that is because of the ranks that Shahrdari Urmia VC got in Iranian Volleyball Super League and for the great volleyball players who play on the Iran men's national volleyball team and first-class coaches in Iran. Recently, Urmia has also been called "the city of volleyball lovers" by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball official website.
The 2010 Asian Men's Cup Volleyball Championship was held in Ghadir Arena in Urmia, 2012 WAFF Futsal Championship, and the 2012 Asian Junior Men's Volleyball Championship was also held in Urmia. It is also one of the venues of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League.

Culture

hold festivals and ceremonies such as Nowruz and Eid al-Adha like other Iranian ethnic groups with small differences. Ashik music is one of the features of the Turkish speaking people of the world. It has different versions in Iran. Meanwhile, as many experts of this art testify the Urmia Ashik, is the most original and oldest version in the world, which has preserved its origin until the present day. Ashik music has its unique styles. As a piece of the culture of Azerbaijan, Urmia Ashik music has been registered in Iran's national heritage.

Museums

The first modern style school established in Urmia in 1834.

Higher education

Urmia was an important centre for higher education approximately a century ago; indeed, the medical college of Urmia, which was built by Joseph Cochran and a team of American medical associates in 1878, is the first modern university of Iran. Unfortunately, the college was shut down even before the establishment of the first official University of Iran, University of Tehran. Today, Urmia has become an important centre of education, with several state and private universities and institutes, including those listed below.
Universities in Urmia:
UniversityWeb Site
Urmia University
Malek Ashtar University of Technology Urmia Branch
Urmia University of Medical Sciences
Urmia University of Technology
Islamic Azad University of Urmia
Payame Noor University of Urmia
Elmi Karbordi University of Urmia
University College of Saba
University College of Azarabadegan
University College of Elm O fan
University College of Kamal
Shahid Beheshti Technical School
Ghazi Tabatabaee Technical School
The Girls Technical School of Urmia
Najand Institute of Higher Education
University College Afagh

Libraries

Television

Urmia has one state-owned television channel, Urmia TV, which broadcasts in both Azerbaijani, and Persian, and internationally through satellite Intelsat902.

Radio

Urmia has one radio channel broadcasting in Kurdish, Azerbaijani and Persian. The name of the local radio is Chichest.

Press

Among others, the city's print media include:
  • Orumiye
  • Barish news
  • Sedaye Urmia
  • Amanat
  • Koosha
  • Araz

    Infrastructure

Transportation

Most of Urmia's residents travel by car through the system of roads and highways. Urmia is also served by taxis and public buses. There are also some private groups that provide services called "Phone-taxi." Two Tram-lines for Urmia are Planned.
Urmia is linked to Europe through Turkey's roads and Sero border crossing. Urmia Airport, which opened in 1964, was the first international airport in West Azerbaijan county, Iran. As of April 2015 it only has regularly scheduled domestic flights to Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, although there are plans to establish a direct flight between Urmia and Erbil, due to the large number of passengers travelling between the two cities. The city is recently connected to Iran National Railways.

Health systems

The Iranian government operates public hospitals in the Urmia metropolitan region. There are also a number of private hospitals and medical centers in the city. Hospitals include:
Hospitals:
  • 523 Artesh Hospital
  • Arefian Hospital
  • Azerbaijan Hospital
  • Gholipour Children's Hospital
  • Imam Khomeini Hospital
  • Imam Reza Hospital
  • Milad international medical center
  • Motahari Hospital
  • Omid Hospital
  • Razi Psychiatry Hospital
  • Taleghani Hospital
  • Seyedoshohada Heart Hospital
  • Shafa Hospital
  • Shams Hospital
  • Solati Hospital
Clinics:
  • Fatimiye Pro-Medical Clinic
  • Kosar Women's Pro-Medical Clinic

    Consulates

The Turkish government has a consulate on Beheshti Avenue, Urmia, Iran.

People

During its history Urmia was the origin for many Iranian illumination and modernization movements. The city was the hometown of numerous figures including politicians, revolutionaries, artists, and military leaders. Following is a partial list of some of the people who was born or lived in Urmia.
For a complete list see: :Category:People from Urmia

Twin towns and sister cities