Urmia
Urmia ارومیه | ||
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city | ||
| ||
Nickname(s): Paris of Iran, Cradle of Water | ||
Urmia | ||
Coordinates: 37°33′19″N 45°04′21″E / 37.55528°N 45.07250°ECoordinates: 37°33′19″N 45°04′21″E / 37.55528°N 45.07250°E | ||
Country | Iran | |
Region | 3 | |
Province | West Azerbaijan | |
County | Urmia | |
Bakhsh | Central | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Mohammad Hazratpour[1] | |
• Parliament | Ghazipour, Hazratpour & Bahadori | |
Elevation | 1,332 m (4,370 ft) | |
Population (2012[2]) | ||
• city | 680,228 & 963,738 | |
• Metro | 1,000,000 | |
• Population Rank in Iran | 10th | |
City & County | ||
Time zone | IRST (UTC+3:30) | |
• Summer (DST) | IRDT (UTC+4:30) | |
Area code(s) | 044 | |
Website | www.urmia.ir |
Urmia[nb 1][nb 2] (pronounced [oɾumiˈje]) (Azerbaijani: Urmu, Urmiyə, اورمو, اورمیه, Persian: ارومیه, Kurdish: Ûrmiye, Wirmê - ورمێ, Armenian: Ուրմիա, Aramaic: ܐܘܪܡܝܐ,) is the second largest city in the Iranian Azerbaijan and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province. Urmia is situated at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level, and is located along the Shahar Chay river (City 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.[3] The city's inhabitants are predominantly Iranian Azerbaijanis who speak the Azerbaijani language.[4][5][6][7] There are also minorities of Kurds, Assyrians, and Armenians.[8] The city is the trading center for a fertile agricultural region where fruits (especially apples and grapes) and tobacco are grown.
An important town by the 9th century, Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks (1084), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks. For centuries the city has had a diverse population which has at times included Muslims (Shias and Sunnis), Christians (Catholics, Protestants, Nestorians, and Orthodox), 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[9][10][10][11] as a result of the Persian Campaign during World War I and the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides.
Name
The name Urmia originated in the Kingdom of Urartu. Urartian fortresses and artifacts found across Azerbaijan and into the Azerbaijan province of Iran denote an Urartian etymology.[12] The city's Armenian population also complements the idea of an Urartian origin. Richard Nelson Frye also suggested an Urartian origin for the name.[13]
T. Burrow connected the origin of the name Urmia to Indo-Iranian urmi- "wave" and urmya- "undulating, wavy",[14] which is due to the local Assyrian folk etymology for the name which related "Mia" to 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.[15] This also suggests, that the Assyrians referred to the Urartian influence in Urmia as ancestors of the inhabitants of the Sumerian city state Ur, referenced Biblically as "Ur of the Chaldees". Further association of the Urmia/Urartian/Ur etymology from the Assyrian folk legend is the fact that the Urartian language is also referenced as the Chaldean language, a standardized simplification of Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, which originated from the accreditation to Urartian chief god Ḫaldi or Khaldi. Thus the root of Urmia is an Assyrian reference to the etymology of the Urartu/Ur Kingdoms and the Aramaic word "Mia" meaning water, which as T. Burrow noted, referenced the city that is situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers.
As of 1921, Urmia was also called, Urumia and Urmi.[16] During the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925–1979), the city was called Rezaiyeh[nb 3] (Persian: رضائیه) after Rezā Shāh, 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 2000 BC, with their civilization under the influence of the Kingdom of Van. The excavations of the ancient ruins near Urmia led to the discovery of utensils that date to the 20th century BC. In ancient times, the west bank of Urmia Lake was called Gilzan, and in the ninth century BC an independent government ruled there, which later joined the Urartu or Mana empire; in the 8th century BC, the area was a vassal of the Asuzh government until it joined the Median Empire after its formation.
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 World War I the population was estimated as 30,000 by Dr. Caujole, a quarter of which (7,500) were Assyrians and 1,000 were Jews.[11]
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.[17][18]
At the beginning of the First World War tens of thousands of Assyrians and Armenians from Anatolia found refuge in Urmia. The city changed hands several times between Russians and Kurds the following two years.[19] 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 however to capture the whole city following a brief battle.[19] The region descended into chaos again after the assassination of the Assyrian patriarch Shimun XXI Benyamin at the hands of Simko Shikak one month later. Turkish armies and Samko managed to finally take and plunder the city in June/July 1918.[20] Thousands of Assyrians were massacred as part of the Assyrian Genocide, others found refuge under British protection in Iraq.[20][21]
Population
Demographics
According to official census of 2012, the population of Urmia city is about 667,499 (with 197,749 households).[22]
Ethnic composition
The city has been home to various ethnic groups during its history. The population of Urmia in the early Islamic period were Christian.[23] At the beginning of the 20th century, the city's population had a significant Christian minority (Assyrians and Armenians).[9][24] By 1900 the Christianity population of the town had grown to some 40-50 percent.[25][26] According to Macuch, and Ishaya, the city was the spiritual capital of the Assyrians were influenced by four Christian missions which were established in the city from period from 1830 to the end of World War I.[27] A large number of the Assyrians and Armenians were killed in 1914 as result of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide[28] which led to a shift in the city's demographics.[27] 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 left in the city,[29] 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 (Lishán Didán) is still spoken by an aging community in Israel.
Today the population is mostly made up of Azerbaijanis[4][5][6][7] who live alongside Christians, Kurdish,[6][7] Assyrian[6][7] and Armenian[6][7] minorities.
Religions
The majority of people are followers of Shia Islam.
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, Nestorians and Armenian Orthodox. There are four churches in the central part of the city, two being Nestorian, one Armenian and one Chaldean.[30][31]
The city is also home to followers of Sunni Islam, the Bahá'í Faith,Judaism and different kinds of Yazdanism, whose adherents are Kurds.
Parks and touristic centers
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 "People`s Garden") along the Shahar Chayi, or the "City River".
Lakes and Ponds:
- Urmia Lake Natural Park
- Hasanloo Lake
- Marmisho Lake
- Shahrchay ِDam
- Urmia Lake Islands
Lagoons:
- Haft Abad
- Soole Dokel
- Dana Boğan
- Ali Pancesi
- Isti Sou
Parks:
- Park-e Saat (Clock Park)
- Park-e Jangali (Jungle Park)
- Ellar Bagi (People`s Garden)
- Park-e Shahr (City Park)
- Park-e Saheli (Riverside Park)
- Park-e Shaghayegh
- Alghadir Park
- Tokhmemorghi (Oval) Park
- Ghaem Park
and ....
Touristic Costal Villages:
- Chichest
- Bari
- Fanoos
- Sier
- Band
- Khoshako
Landscape Attractions:
- Qasimlu Valley
- Kazem Dashi Islet in Lake Urmia
- Kashtiban Village
- Imamzada Village
- Silvana Region
- Rashekan to Dash Aghol
- Nazloo
- Dalamper
- Kaboodan Island[32]
Climate
Urmia's climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen: BSk) with cold winters, mild springs, hot dry summers and warm autumns. Precipitation is heavily concentrated in late autumn, winter, and especially spring, while summer precipitation is very scarce. Temperatures in Urmia are much colder than most of the remainder of Iran because of the elevation.
Climate data for Urmia (Orumiyeh) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 16.4 (61.5) |
18 (64) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
30.6 (87.1) |
36 (97) |
38 (100) |
38 (100) |
35 (95) |
30 (86) |
22 (72) |
17 (63) |
38 (100) |
Average high °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) |
4.8 (40.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
22.2 (72) |
27.5 (81.5) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31 (88) |
27.1 (80.8) |
20.1 (68.2) |
12.2 (54) |
5.7 (42.3) |
17.6 (63.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −3.3 (26.1) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
4.5 (40.1) |
10.5 (50.9) |
15.5 (59.9) |
20.2 (68.4) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19 (66) |
12.5 (54.5) |
6.1 (43) |
0.4 (32.7) |
10.9 (51.61) |
Average low °C (°F) | −6.1 (21) |
−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 (41.8) |
Record low °C (°F) | −22.8 (−9) |
−22 (−8) |
−19 (−2) |
−12 (10) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
4 (39) |
10 (50) |
8 (46) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−5 (23) |
−13.4 (7.9) |
−20 (−4) |
−22.8 (−9) |
Average 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 (1.57) |
29.7 (1.169) |
341.2 (13.433) |
Average precipitation days | 9.6 | 9.4 | 11.4 | 12.7 | 12 | 5 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 90 |
Average snowy days | 8.5 | 7.5 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 5.5 | 27.8 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 76 | 74 | 65 | 60 | 58 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 49 | 60 | 70 | 74 | 61.1 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 114 | 132.9 | 169.6 | 197.9 | 268.6 | 344.3 | 364 | 341.2 | 293.1 | 222.3 | 166.4 | 118.7 | 2,733 |
Source #1: worldweather.com[33] | |||||||||||||
Source #2: NOAA (extremes, mean, snow, sun, humidity, 1961–1990) [34] |
Sport
Sport is an important part of Urmia's culture. The most popular sport in Urmia is volleyball. Urmia is considered as 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 that play in Iran men's national volleyball team (such as Saed Marouf, Abdolreza Alizadeh, Milad Ebadipour, etc.) and first class coaches in Iran. Recently Urmia has also been called "the city of volleyball lovers" by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (International Volleyball Federation, FIVB) 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.
Culture
Museums
- Natural History Museum – Displays the animals native to the vicinity of Urmia.
- Urmia Museum – Archaeological museum affiliated with the faculty of Shahid Beheshti University.
- Urmia Museum of Crafts and Classical Arts.
- Urmia Museum of َAntrophology.
Education
The first modern style school established in urmia in 1834.[35]
Higher education
Urmia 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.
Nowadays Urmia has become a considerable educational city. The city owns state and private universities and institutes listed below.
Universities in Urmia:
University | Web 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
- Allame Tabatabayee Library
- Central Library of Urmia
- Library of Ghaem
- Library of I.R. Iran Education Ministry
- Library of Imam Ali
- Library of kanoon parvaresh fekri
- Library of Khane-ye-Javan
- Library of Shahid Motahhari
- Library of Shahid Bahonar
- Library of Urmia Cultural and Artistical Center
Media
Television
Urmia has one state-owned television channel, West Azerbaijan TV. This channel's broadcasts are in both Azerbaijani and Farsis and it broadcasts internationally through satellite Intelsat 902.[36]
Radio
Urmia has one radio channel broadcasting in both Azerbaijani, and Farsi. The name of the local radio is Chichest.[36]
Press
Newsletter:
- Orumiye
Weekly:
- Sedaye Urmia
- Amanat
- Koosha
- Araz
Beside other minor Press that are being published regularly.
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 Buss. There are also some private groups which provide services called "Phone-taxi." A metro line for Urmia is under research.
Urmia is linked to Europe through Turkey's roads and Sero border crossing. Urmia Airport opened in 1964 and 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. The city is not served by Iran National Railways (IRIR, Persian: رجا ).
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:
- Imam Khomeiny Hospital
- Motahari Hospital
- Imam Riza Hospital
- Beheshti Hospital
- Taleghani Hospital
- Fatimiye Pro-Medical Clinic
- Kosar Women's Pro-Medical Clinic
- Shafa Hospital
- Solati Hospital
- Seyedoshohada Heart Pr0-Hospital
- Gholipour Children's Pro-Hospital
- Razi Psychiatry Pro-Hospital
- 504 Artesh Hospital
- Arefian Hospital
- Azerbaijan Hospital
- Milad international medical center[37]
- Omid Cancer Pro-Clinic
Consulates
The Turkish government has a consulate on Beheshti Ave., Urmia, Iran.
People
Within 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. Here 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
-
Safi al-Din al-Urmawi, was a renowned musician and writer on the theory of music.
-
Haydar Khan e Amo-oghli, was a leftist revolutionary during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and among the founders of the Communist Party of Iran.
-
Fatma Mukhtarova, was a Soviet opera singer.
-
Gholamreza Hassani, is the previous Friday prayer, First imam of Masjid-e-Jamé mosque of the city of Urmia.
-
Davood Azad, is an Iranian singer and of Iranian classical music and Azeri folk music.
-
Saeid Marouf, is an Iranian volleyball player who plays as a setter for the Iranian national team which he captains.
Twin towns and sister cities
See also
Notes
- ↑ Variously transliterated as Oroumieh, Oroumiyeh, Orūmīyeh and Urūmiyeh
- ↑ Urmia can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3077456" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
- ↑ Also Rezaeyeh, Rezā’īyeh, Rezâiyye
References
- ↑ http://www.urmia.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=1609
- ↑ Population according to statistical center of Iran in Persian
- ↑ "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006)". Islamic Republic of Iran. Archived from the original (Excel) on 2011-11-11.
- 1 2 "Country Study Giude-Azerbaijanis". STRATEGIC INFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENTS-USA. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- 1 2 "Iran-Azerbaijanis". Library of Congress Country Studies. December 1987. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Orumiyeh". Looklex Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Orumiye". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
- ↑ "Orumiyeh (Iran)". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- 1 2 http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Urmia.html
- 1 2 "Assyrians in the History of Urmia, Iran".
- 1 2 E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, M. Th Houtsma, page 1035, 1987
- ↑ "AZERBAIJAN xii. MONUMENTS". ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA. AMI N.F. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ↑ Richard Nelson Frye, The history of ancient Iran, München (1984), 48-49
- ↑ The Proto-Indoaryans, by T. Burrow, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 2 (1973), pp. 123-140, Published by: Cambridge University Press, see 139
- ↑ Ishaya, Arianne (2002). "History of Assyrins in Urmia". JAAS XVI (1).
- ↑ Sykes, Percy (1921). A History of Persia. London: Macmillan and Company. p. 67.
- ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Urmiah".
- ↑ Naby, Eden (September 2007). "Theater, Language and Inter-Ethnic Exchange: Assyrian Performance before World War I Eden Naby1" (PDF). Iranian Studies, 40:4. 4 40: 501–510. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- 1 2 Tejirian, Eleanor H.; Simon, Reeva S. (1 September 2012). Conflict, conquest, and conversion. Columbia University Press. pp. 350–351. ISBN 978-0-231-51109-4. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- 1 2 Atabaki, Touraj (4 September 2006). Iran and the First World War: Battleground of the Great Powers. I.B.Tauris. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-86064-964-6. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ↑ Gaunt, David; Beṯ-Şawoce, Jan (2006), Massacres, resistance, protectors: Muslim-Christian relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I, Gorgias Press LLC, pp. 106–107, ISBN 978-1-59333-301-0
- ↑ 2012 census
- ↑ "URMIYA", Encyclopaedia of Islam (edition 2)
- ↑ Iran.
- ↑ "Urmia".
- ↑ http://www..com/EBchecked/topic/433619/Orumiyeh
- 1 2 "ASSYRIANS IN IRAN".
- ↑ "The Armenian Genocide".
- ↑ "Evidence in Stone and Wood: The Assyrian/Syriac History and Heritage of the Urmia Region in Iran". academia.edu.
- ↑ Location of Nestorian Churches- https://www.google.com/maps/place/Holy+Mary+Church/@37.5441966,45.0678303,244m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x3a31bcdb0de639d3!6m1!1e1
- ↑ Location of Armenian and Chaldean churches- https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B033'04.3%22N+45%C2%B003'57.9%22E/@37.5511954,45.0653628,244m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0
- ↑ http://www.bari.ir/bari/en/tours/jazebeha/kaboodan/
- ↑ "World Weather Information Service - Orumiyeh".
- ↑ "Oroomieh Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ↑ "معاون شهرسازی و معماری شهردار ارومیه خبر داد تخصیص بودجه 550 میلیارد تومانی شهرداری ارومیه".
- 1 2 "پایگاه اطلاع رسانی صدا و سیمای مرکز آذربایجان غربی".
- ↑ "بیمارستان بینالمللی 300 تختخوابی ارومیه".
- ↑ Urmia, Erzurum sign sisterhood agreement , retrieved 24 May 2015
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urmia. |
- Official website
- The Governor of West Azarbaijan Province
- Urmia Branch of Ministry of Internal Affairs
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