West Azerbaijan province (Persian:استان آذربایجان غربی)^[a] is one of the 31provinces ofIran, whose capital and largest city isUrmia.^[10]

West Azerbaijan Province Persian:استان آذربایجان غربی
Province
Location of West Azerbaijan province within Iran
Coordinates:37°52′N44°53′E / 37.867°N 44.883°E /37.867; 44.883[1]
Country	Iran
Region	Region 3
Capital	Urmia
Counties	20
Government
• Governor-general	Reza Rahmani
Area
• Total	37,437 km2 (14,455 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[2]
• Total	3,265,219
• Density	87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+03:30 (IRST)
Area code	44
Main language(s)	Persian (official) local languages: Armenian[3] Assyrian Neo-Aramaic[4] Azerbaijani[5] Kurdish[5] Lishán Didán[6]
HDI (2017)	0.758[7] high ·26th

It is in thenorthwest of the country, bordered byTurkey (Ağrı,Hakkâri,Iğdır andVan Provinces),Iraq (Erbil andSulaymaniyah Governorates) andAzerbaijan'sNakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as the Iranian provinces ofEast Azerbaijan,Zanjan, andKurdistan. West Azerbaijan province is part ofRegion3.^[11] It is separated fromArmenia by Turkey's short border with theAzerbaijan Republic. The province covers an area of 39,487 km², or 43,660 km² includingLake Urmia.

The major known ancient civilization in the region was that ofMannaeans, a buffer state betweenUrartian andAssyrian sphere of influence. Mannaeans in turn spoke a language related to Urartian. After the fall of Assyria, the region was known asMantiene (or Matiene) in Greek sources. Matiene bordered onAtropatene situated east of Lake Urmia.

The region is known asVaspurakan andNor Shirakan inArmenian history and made up an important part ofhistorical Armenia, functioning as one of the cradles ofArmenian civilisation.^[12] On 26 May 451 AD, a very important battle was fought that would prove pivotal in Armenian history. On theAvarayr Plain, at what is modern-dayChurs in West Azerbaijan province, the Armenian army underVardan Mamikonian clashed with theSasanian one. Although the Persians were victorious on the battlefield itself, the battle proved to be a major strategic victory for Armenians, as Avarayr paved the way to theNvarsak Treaty (484 AD), which affirmed Armenia's right to practice Christianity freely.^[13][14]

In the late 4th century AD theSasanians incorporated the area into the neighbouringAdhurpadagan satrapy to the east.^[15] The name Adhurpadagan, later Arabicized to Azerbaijan, derives fromAtropates,^[16][17] anIraniansatrap ofMedia under theAchaemenid empire, who later was reinstated as the satrap of Media underAlexander of Macedonia.^[18]

In the 7th century this area was under Islamic rule. AfterBabak Khorramdin revolted, the grip of the Abbasid caliphate weakened, allowing some native dynasties to rise. By the first half of the 11th century, theByzantine emperors were actively trying to round off their eastern territories, in an attempt to absorb the unstable Armenian dynasties. In 1021-1022 emperorBasil II led his army as far asKhoy within 175 km ofDvin, and obtained the surrender of royalty from theArtsruni dynasty ofVan.^[19] The Seljuk Turkic tribes, who the local Hadhabani Kurds initially resisted, eventually conquered the region in the 11th and early 12th centuries. During Timurid rule in the 14th century,Khoy gained an important role in all over the region. After Hadhabanis, three other Kurdish principalities, Mukriyans in the southern part, Bradosti in the middle, and Donboli in the northern part ruled the region for centuries, who temporarily sided with either the Ottomans or Safavids. Thebattle of DimDim between theSafavids and local Bradosti Kurds took place in this region. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizierHatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, theCastle of Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were killed andShah Abbas I ordered a general massacre in Bradost and Mukriyan (reported by Eskandar Beg, Safavid historian in the bookAlam Aray-e Abbasi) and resettled theAfshar tribe in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes toKhorasan region, where many of their descendants still reside of as of today.

The Safavid control was firmly restored byShah Abbas but during the Afghan invasion (1722–1728) more than a century later, the Ottomans captured the northwestern regions of Iran, untilNadir Shah expelled them and reasserted Iranian suzerainty over the region and far beyond. The Russian (Tsarist) army occupied the region in 1909, and again in 1912–1914 and 1915–1918 period. The Ottomans occupied the region in 1914–1915 and 1918–1919 periods. The Soviet forces occupied the region in 1941, resulting in the establishment of a short-lived, Soviet-supportedpuppet state called theRepublic of Mahabad, from November 1945 to November 1946.

The districts of Maku, Khoy, Salmas, and Arasbaran, and the region of Urmia, according to 19th-century administrative division became a part of the northwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan.^[20] In 1937 the province was renamed toShomal-e gharb (Northwestern Province). Shortly after it the province of Azerbaijan was divided into a western and eastern part which were renamed toChaharom (Fourth Province) andsevom (Third Province), respectively. In 1961 Fourth province was renamedWest Azerbaijan by the Iranian authorities.

Some events in the 19th and 20th centuries are:

• Shaikh Ubeidullah Attacks, west and south of LakeUrmia in 1880;^[21]
• Simko Insurrections, west of LakeUrmia from 1918 to 1922;^[22]
• TheSoviet occupation in 1944;
• The foundation and destruction of theAzerbaijan People's Government in 1945–1946;
• The foundation and destruction of theRepublic of Mahabad in 1946 in County of Mahabad;
• Periodic severe fighting from 1979 until the 1990s near to boundaries of Iraq-Iran between Kurdish militia belonging to Kurdish political parties and the Iranian government.^[23] During the early 1980s parts of the province were outside central government's control.

Some Muslim researchers^[24] have proclaimed that the birth of the prophetZoroaster was in this area, in the vicinity ofLake Orumieh, Chichest or Ganzak; recent scholarship, however, indicates that sites in Central Asia are more likely.^[25]

There are no official statistics on the ethnic or linguistic makeup of Western Azerbaijan. Most of the population of the province consists ofAzerbaijanis andKurds, with smaller populations ofArmenians,Assyrians, andJews. On the question of linguistic majority of the province, linguist Anonby argued in 2019 that:^[5]

As is the case for most other parts of Iran, there are no reliable or detailed data on language distribution in West Azerbaijan Province. A number of districts in the province are majority Azerbaijani-speaking, including the capital city of Orumieh (Urmia). Because of this – and perhaps also because of the province's name – it is often assumed that Azerbaijani is the main language of the province as a whole. However, our own preliminary investigations of this topic, which are based on district-by-district calculations... suggest that Kurdish may in fact be the mother tongue of a slight majority of the province's population.

The counties ofBukan,^[26]Mahabad,^[27]Oshnavieh,^[28]Piranshahr^[29] andSardasht^[30] are populated by Kurds, whileChaldoran,^[31]Maku,^[32]Miandoab,^[33]Naqadeh,^[34]Salmas^[35][36] andTakab^[37] have a mixed population of both Azerbaijanis and Kurds. Salmas moreover has a Christian minority.^[35]

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 2,831,779 people in 655,260 households.^[38] The following census in 2011 counted 3,080,576 inhabitants in 822,152 households.^[39] The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 3,265,219 in 935,956 households.^[2]

The population history and structural changes of West Azerbaijan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.

According to the 2016 census, 2,136,203 people (over 65% of the population of West Azerbaijan province) live in the following cities:^[2]

With an area of 43,660 square kilometers, includingLake Urmia, the province of West Azerbaijan is located on the northwest of Iran.

Cold northern winds affect the province during winter and cause heavy snow.^[43] According to existing meteorological data, local temperatures vary within the province. Average temperature differs from 9.4 °C inPiranshahr to 11.6 °C in Mahabad, while it is 9.8 °C inUrmia, 10.8 °C in Khoy, 9.4 °C inPiranshahr, and in Mahabad 11.6 °C. According to the same data, the highest temperature in the province reaches 34 °C in July, and the lowest temperature is –16 °C in January. The maximum change of temperature in summer is 4 °C and in winter 15 °C.^[44]

Permanent settlements were established in the province as early as the 6th millennium BC as excavation at sites such asTeppe Hasanlu establish. In Hasanlu, a famous Golden Vase was found in 1958. The province is the location ofTepe Hajji Firuz, site of some of the world's earliest evidence ofwine production.^[45][46][47]Gooy Teppe is another significant site, where a metal plaque dating from 800 BC was found that depicts a scene from theEpic of Gilgamesh.

Ruins such as these and theUNESCO world heritage site at theSasanian compound ofTakht-i-Suleiman illustrate the strategic importance and tumultuous history of the province through the millennia. Overall, the province enjoys a wealth of historical attractions, with 169 sites registered by theCultural Heritage Organization of Iran.

Urmia University was first built by an AmericanPresbyterian missionary in 1878. Amedical faculty was also established there, headed byJoseph Cochran and a team of American medical associates. Cochran and his colleagues were buried in an old cemetery in the vicinity ofUrmia. 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 province today has the following major institutions ofhigher education:

1. Urmia Universityدانشگاه ارومیه | Urmia University
2. Urmia University of Medical Sciences
3. Urmia University of Technology
4. Islamic Azad University of Urmia
5. Islamic Azad University of Salmas
6. Islamic Azad University of Khoi^{[permanent dead link]}
7. Islamic Azad University of Piranshahr
8. Islamic Azad University of Mahabad

  Media related toWest Azerbaijan Province at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website of West Azerbaijan Governor's Office
• West Azerbaijan's Government Portal
• Urmia sport news agency
• West Azerbaijan Provincial Management OrganizationArchived 2006-01-05 at theWayback Machine
• West Azerbaijan Cultural Heritage Organization
• Recent photos from Azerbaijan
• Lake Urmia UNESCO Biosphere Reserve