Information AboutUrmia |
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| cities in iran | |
| iranian provincial capitals | |
| pre islamic heritage of iran | |
| west azarbaijan | |
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Urmia (, and the capital of the West Azerbaijan province, situated on the western side of Lake Urmia near the Turkish border. Its population in 2005 is estimated at 602,403 {Link without Title} . ETYMOLOGY The name ''Urmia'' is thought to have come from Syriac , the language of the city's Assyria n founders: ''Ur'', meaning "cradle," and ''mia'', meaning "water." Hence, ''Urmia'', situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers, is the cradle of water. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS Urmia consists of five parts:
Urmia University has a large accredited college of agriculture. Urmia is situated in a fertile region where Fruit ( Apple s and Grape s) and Tobacco are grown. Many families have apple plantations of various sizes. PEOPLE Urmia is an ethnically diverse city, with a population composed of Azeris , Assyrians , Kurds , and Persians . The Kurds and Azeris comprise the majority of Urmia and the main languages spoken in the city are Kurdish and Azerbaijani . Over 90% of the population are Azeri. [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-6413.html . Yuri Nabiyev, a journalist for the Russian ''Regnum News Agency'' claims otherwise: "Some 15 years ago Urmia in Iran was a half-Kurdish, half-Azeri town. Now it is almost totally Kurdish." {Link without Title} . In the past, Urmia was also the traditional home of Assyrians in Iran. However, during World War I almost the entire population fled the area due to battles between the Russia n and Ottoman armies. During the era of Reza Shah Pahlavi , Iranian Assyrians were invited to return to the region and repopulate their villages and a few thousand did return. However, since that time, most Assyrians are centered in Tehran and other major cities. {Link without Title} Iran's Minister of Energy, Parviz Fattah , is from Urmia. HISTORY The Columbia Encyclopedia mentions that Urmia was an important town in the region during the 9th Century . {Link without Title} Urmia, according to some historians, is also believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Zarathustra . Oghuz Turks entered the area in the 11th Century , in the period 1029 to 1041 . At this time, the ruler of Urmia was ''Abul-Hayja bin Rabib al-Dawla'', who was the chief of Hadhbani Kurds . He defeated the Oghuz Turks and killed 25,000 of them, when they were trying to pass through his territory {Link without Title} . The city was reportedly sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1184 . The Ottoman Turks made several incursions into the city, but the Safavid s were soon able to regain control over the area. The first monarch of Iran's Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Khan , was coronated in Urmia in 1795 . Due to Urmia's relatively large Christian population growth by the end of the 19th Century , Urmia also became the seat of the first American Christian mission in Iran in 1835 . Another mission soon became operational in nearby Tabriz as well. It is reported that by the turn of the century, Christians composed more than 50% of the city's population. Most of them, however, fled the city during or after WWI. Currently, Muslim s constitute 95% of the population. The Catholic Encyclopedia mentions Urmia as the seat of a Chaldean diocese. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Urmia University was first built by an American Presbyterian missionary in 1878 . A medical faculty was also established there headed by Joseph Cochran and a team of American medical associates. Joseph Cochran and his colleagues were buried in an old cemetery in the vicinity of Urmia. Urmia University website says this about them: There they lie in peace away from their homeland, and the testimonial epitaphs on their tombs signify their endeavor and devotion to humanity. The city today has the following major institutes of higher education:
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