East Azerbaijan province

East Azerbaijan State Capital

Arg-e Tabriz

Arasbaran Forests, a UNESCO reserved biosphere

The province covers an area of approximately 47,830 km², it has a population of around four million people. The province has common borders with the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Autonomous Nakhchivan in the north, West Azerbaijan in the west, Zanjan in the south, and Ardabil in the east. A fine network of roads and railways connects East Azerbaijan to other parts of Iran and neighboring countries.

The highest point in East Azerbaijan is the volcanic peak of Sahand Mountain at 3,707 m (12,162 ft) of elevation, lying south of Tabriz, whereas the lower-lying areas are around Garmadooz (Ahar). The hills and mountains of the province are divided into three ranges: the Qara Daq Mountains, the Sahand and Bozqoosh Mountains, and the Qaflan Kooh Mountains.

The climate of East Azerbaijan is affected by Mediterranean Continental as well as the cold semi-arid climate. Gentle breezes off the Caspian Sea have some influence on the climate of the low-lying areas. Temperatures run up to 8.9 °C in Tabriz, and 20 °C in Maraqeh, in the winter dropping to −10 to −15 °C at least (depending on how cold the overall year is). The ideal seasons to visit this province are the spring and summer months.

At the 1986 census, there were twelve counties in East Azerbaijan province. By the 1996 census, two additional counties had been formed: Jolfa (from part of Marand), and Malekan (from part of Bonab). Between 1996 and 2002, five new counties were formed: Ajabshir, Azarshahr, Charuymaq, Osku, and Varzaqan.[6] In 2010 Kaleybar was split, with the northern part becoming Khoda Afarin, while the southern part retained the name Kaleybar.[5]

East Azerbaijan is one of the most archaic territories in Iran. During the reign of Alexander III of Macedon in Iran (331 BCE), a warrior known as Attorpat led a revolt in this area, then a territory of the Medes, and thereafter it was called Attorpatkan. Since then this vicinity has been known as Azarabadegan, Azarbadgan and Azarbayjan.

Islamic researchers proclaim that the birth of the prophet Zoroaster was in this area, in the vicinity of Lake Orumieh (Chichesht), Konzak City. Needless to say, this province was subject to numerous political and economical upheavals, attracting the interest of foreigners. The Russians in particular have tried to exert a lasting influence in the region over the past 300 years, occupying the area on numerous occasions. The constitutionalist movement of Iran began here in the late 19th century.

Ethnic tensions in Azerbaijan can legally trace their origins back to the colonialist policies of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. In a cable sent on 6 July 1945 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the local Soviet commander in Russian (northern) held Azerbaijan was instructed as such:

Begin preparatory work to form a national autonomous Azerbaijan district with broad powers within the Iranian state and simultaneously develop separatist movements in the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, Gorgan, and Khorasan".[7]

In 1945, the Soviet Union helped set up the Azerbaijan People's Government in what is now East Azerbaijan.

A sample of Tabriz rugs

Ghorabiye cookies of Tabriz

From a cultural point of view, the most outstanding features are the language, Azerbaijani, and folklore of this region. The language of Azerbaijan is originally "a branch of the Iranian languages known as Azari" (see Ancient Azari language).[8][9][10] However, the modern Azeri language is a Turkic language very closely related to the language of Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkey.[11] Apart from this, the province also boasts numerous learned scholars, gnostics, several national poets such as Mowlana Baba Mazeed, Khajeh Abdol Raheem Aj Abadi, Sheikh Hassan Bolqari, and Abdolqader Nakhjavani, to name a few, and the contemporary poet Ostad Mohammad Hossein Shahriyar. The current leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, also originally comes from this region.

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization has registered 936 sites of historical significance in the province. Some are contemporary, and some are from the antiquity of ancient Persia. "Zahak Citadel", for example, is the name of an ancient ruin in East Azerbaijan, which according to various experts, was inhabited from the second millennium BC until the Timurid era. First excavated in the 1800s by British archeologists, Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization has been studying the structure in 6 phases.

East Azerbaijan enjoys a rich compendium of Azeri traditions. Many local dances and folk songs continue to survive among the various peoples of the province. As a longstanding province of Iran, Azerbaijan is mentioned favorably on many occasions in Persian literature by Iran's greatest authors and poets.

Museum of Azerbaijan

Bank Sepah, Tabriz

East Azerbaijan province is an industrial centre of Iran. East Azerbaijan province has over 5000 manufacturing units (6% percent of national total). The value of product from these units in 1997 was US$374 million (373 billion rials = 4.07% of the national total). Total investments were valued at US$2.7 billion (2.4513 trillion rials) in 1997.[12]

Some of the major industries in East Azerbaijan are glass industries, paper manufacturing, steel, copper and nepheline syenite, oil refinery, petrochemical processing facilities, chemical products, pharmaceutical processing, foundries, vehicle and auto-parts industries, industrial machines, agricultural machines, food industries, leather, and shoe industries.

East Azerbaijan has an excellent position in the handicraft industry of Iran, which has a large share in the exports of the province. Tabriz carpets are widely known around the world and in international markets for their vibrant designs and colors. At present there are about 66,000 carpet production units in the province, employing some 200,000 people. The annual production of these carpets is roughly 792,000 m², which comprises more than 70% of Iran's carpet exports. 35% of all Iranian carpets are produced in East Azerbaijan. East Azerbaijan province is also one of the richest regions of Iran in natural minerals, with 180 mines in 1997, of which 121 units are currently in operation, and the rest are being planned.

UNESCO has two Biosphere reserves in East Azerbaijan province. One in Lake Urmia and the other at Arasbaran.

• Qatran Tabrizi, poet
• Ahmad Kasravi, historian
• Samad Behrangi
• Sattar Khan, revolutionary leader
• Bagher Khan, revolutionary leader
• Gayk Bzhishkyan
• Kazem Sadegh-Zadeh
• Parvin E'tesami, poet
• Ali Daei, Iranian soccer player
• Karim Bagheri, soccer star
• Iraj Mirza, poet and politician
• Maqsud Ali Tabrizi
• Ivan Galamian
• Hassan Roshdieh
• Shams Tabrizi, mystic
• Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation
• Ali Salimi
• Ali Soheili, Prime Minister of Iran
• Ebrahim Hakimi, Prime Minister of Iran
• Mahmud Jam, Prime Minister of Iran
• Mohammad Hossein Shahriar
• Asadi Tusi is buried here

• Aras Free Zone
• List of East Azarbaijan cities and towns by population

Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Azerbaijan Province.

• Official website Archived 2011-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Cultural Heritage Organization of East Azerbaijan
• The Union for Handwoven Carpets of East Azerbaijan
• Recent Photos from Azerbaijan
• Arasbaran UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
• Lake Urmia UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
• East Azerbaijan Research Park net portal
• Azerbaijan entries in the Encyclopædia Iranica
• Bahram Moshiri's brief talk on Azerbaijan. Archived 2012-07-24 at the Wayback Machine