Urmia

Richard Nelson Frye suggested Urartian origin for the name,Richard Nelson Frye, The history of ancient Iran, München (1984), 48–49 while T. Burrow connected the origin of the name Urmia to Indo-Iranian urmi- "wave" and urmya- "undulating, wavy".The Proto-Indoaryans, by T. Burrow, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No.{{nbsp}}2 (1973), pp. 123–140, published by Cambridge University Press, see 139

The name could also derive from the combination of the Assyrian Aramaic words Ur ({{lang|syr|ܐܘܪ}}; a common name for cities around Mesopotamia, meaning "city") and Mia ({{langx|syr|ܡܝܐ|lit=water}}), "City of Water" referring to the great Lake Urmia nearby.{{Cite web|title=Search Entry|url=http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/sureth/dosearch.php|access-date=2020-11-23|website=assyrianlanguages.org}} Compare Urhay, Ur of the Chaldees.

As of 1921, Urmia was also called, Urumia and Urmi.{{cite book|last=Sykes|first=Percy|title=A History of Persia|year=1921|publisher=Macmillan and Company|location=London|page=67|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7307/view/1/67/}}{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Urmia |volume= 27 | page = 800}} During the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979), the city was called Rezaiyeh (رضائیه){{efn|Also romanized as Rezaeyeh, Rezā’īyeh, and Rezâiyye}} 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.

In his seyahatname, Evliya Çelebi referred to the city as {{Lang|ota-Latn|Rûmiyye}} ({{Langx|ota-Arab|رومیه}}), also mentioning that the Mongols called the city {{Lang|ota-Latn|Urumiye}} ({{Langx|ota-Arab|اورمیه}}), Persians {{Lang|ota-Latn|Rûmiyye-i Kübrâ}} ({{Langx|ota-Arab|رومیه كبری}}), and some historians {{Lang|ota-Latn|Türkistân-ı İrân}} ({{Langx|ota-Arab|تركستان ایران}}), which he justified by the considerable amount of Turkoman awliya in the city.{{cite book|editor1-link=Robert Dankoff |editor1-last=Dankoff |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Kahraman |editor2-first=Seyit Ali |editor3-last=Dağlı |editor3-first=Yücel |title=Evliyâ Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: IV |publisher=Yapı Kredi Yayınları |pages=314–315 |url=https://archive.org/details/EvliyelebiSeyahatnmesiIV/page/n313/mode/2up |access-date=18 October 2022 |language=ota |quote=Moğol kavmi bu kal'aya Urumiye derler. Kavm-i Acem Rûmiyye-i Kübrâ derler. Ba'zı müverrihân Türkistân-ı İrân derler. Zirâ evliyâ-yı Türkmanı gâyet çokdur.}}

Due to the city's contact with many ethnic groups and cultures throughout its history, the name of the city has many linguistic variants:

• {{langx|fa|ارومیه}}, {{IPA|fa|oɾumiˈje|pron|Urmia-2.ogg}}{{efn|name=fn1}}
• {{langx|hy|Ուրմիա|Urmia}}Hakobyan T. Kh., Melik-Bakhshyan St. T., Barseghyan H. Kh. [http://www.nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=61&query=%D5%88%D6%82%D6%80%D5%B4%D5%AB%D5%A1 Dictionary of Toponyms of Adjacent Regions of Armenia , vol. 5], Yerevan University Publishing House", 2001, nayiri.com
• {{langx|az-Arab|اورمیه|Urmiya|translit-std=ALA-LC}}, or {{langx|az-Arab|اورمو|label=none|Urmu|translit-std=ALA-LC}}{{cite web |title=Urmu İranın havası çirkli olan 10 şəhəri siyahısında |url=https://www.gunaz.tv/az/new/rmu-randa-hava-irkliliyin-g-r-ilk-10-h-r |access-date=13 July 2022 |website=Gunaz.TV}}
• {{langx|ku-Arab|ئورمیە|translit=Ûrmiye|label=Kurmanji Kurdish|translit-std=ALA-LC}}{{cite news|title=Parêzgarên Ûrmiyê û Colemêrgê liser pirsên ewlekariyê civîn encam dan|language=ku|trans-title=The governors of Urmia and Hakkari met on security issues|agency=Kurdistan24|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/ku/news/302266d2-735a-40cc-a6f5-9cb323d84d09|access-date=13 March 2020}}
• {{Langx|ckb-Arab|ورمێ|translit=Wirmê|translit-std=ALA-LC}}{{cite news |title=بەندیخانەی ورمێ؛ بەندکراوێک بەگومانی تووشبوون بە بە ڤایرۆسی کرۆنا ڕەوانەی نەخۆشخانە کرا |language=ku |url=http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/ku/?p=8163 |access-date=13 March 2020}}
• {{langx|syr|ܐܘܪܡܝܐ|Urmia}}Thomas A. Carlson et al., "Urmia – ܐܘܪܡܝܐ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified 30 June 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/206.

File:Ourmiah, Persia - Awaiting the Shah, 1911.jpeg

File:Ourmiah, Persia - Fruit Market, 1911.jpeg

According to Vladimir Minorsky, there were villages in the Urmia Plain as early as 2000{{nbsp}}BC, 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 20th{{nbsp}}century BC. In ancient times, the west bank of Urmia Lake was part of Gilzan, and in the 9th{{nbsp}}century BC an independent government ruled there, which later joined the Urartu or Manna empire; in the 8th{{nbsp}}century 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.{{cite book |last1=Gibb, Kramers, Lewis |first1=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen, Johannes Hendrik, Bernard |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam : New Edition Vol. 7 |date=1992 |page=1032|edition=Encyclopaedia of Islam New }}{{cite book |author=Carl Skutsch|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXYKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA149 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-19388-1|page=149}}

During the Safavid era, the neighboring Ottoman Turks, who were the archrivals of the Safavids,{{sfn|Rothman|2015|page=236}} 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 Abbas{{nbsp}}I ({{Reign}}1588–1629) Qasem Sultan Afshar was appointed governor of Mosul,{{sfn|Nasiri|Floor|2008|page=248}}{{sfn|Oberling|1984|pages=582–586}} he was forced to leave his office shortly afterwards due to the outbreak of a plague.{{sfn|Oberling|1984|pages=582–586}} He moved to the western part of Azerbaijan, and became the founder of the Afshar community of Urmia.{{sfn|Oberling|1984|pages=582–586}} The city was the capital of the Urmia Khanate from 1747 to 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 19th{{nbsp}}century, Urmia was also chosen as the site of the first Christian missionaries from the United States in Iran in 1835 led by Justin Perkins (1805–1869) with Asahel Grant (1807–1844); and followed by Fidelia Fiske (1816–1864), Joseph Gallup Cochran (1817–1871), and Joseph Plumb Cochran (1855–1905).{{Cite book|last=Speer|first=Robert Elliott|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkgDAAAAYAAJ|title=The Hakim Sahib, the Foreign Doctor: A Biography of Joseph Plumb Cochran, M. D., of Persia|date=1911|publisher=Revell|isbn=978-0-7950-1105-4|pages=11–12|language=en}} Another mission was soon underway in nearby Tabriz as well. During World War I, the population was estimated by Dr.{{nbsp}}Caujole to be 30,000 people, a quarter of which (7,500) 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15225a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Urmiah|website=www.newadvent.org}}{{cite journal|last=Naby|first=Eden|title=Theater, Language and Inter-Ethnic Exchange: Assyrian Performance before World War I Eden Naby1|journal=Iranian Studies |date=September 2007|volume=40|issue=4|pages=501–510|url=http://www.aina.org/articles/tlaieeapbww1.pdf|access-date=30 September 2011|doi=10.1080/00210860701476510|s2cid=161752252}}

During late 1914 Ottoman forces under the command of Enver Pasha stepped up clandestine activity in the region with the aim of committing the Ottoman Empire to war.{{cite journal |last1=Gaunt |first1=David |title=The Complexity of the Assyrian Genocide |journal=Genocide Studies International |date=2015 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |doi=10.3138/gsi.9.1.05|s2cid=129899863 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/690 }} During World War I, the city changed hands several times between the Russians and the Ottoman troops and their Kurdish allies in the following two years.{{cite book|last1=Tejirian|first1=Eleanor H.|last2=Simon|first2=Reeva S.|title=Conflict, conquest, and conversion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHwMD0-X7aYC&pg=PT351|access-date=7 April 2013|date=1 September 2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-51109-4|pages=350–351}} In 1914, before the declaration of war against Russia, Ottoman forces crossed the border into Persia and destroyed Christian villages. Large-scale attacks in late September and October 1914 targeted many Assyrian villages, and the attackers neared Urmia.{{sfn|Gaunt|2006|p=129}} Due to Ottoman attacks, thousands of Christians living along the border fled to Urmia.{{sfn|Hellot-Bellier|2018|pp=117, 125}}

Many Christians fled during the Russian withdrawal from Azerbaijan at the beginning of January 1915,{{sfn|Hellot-Bellier |2018|p=120}} and 20,000 to 25,000 refugees were left stranded in Urmia.{{sfn|Gaunt|2006|p=110}} Nearly 18,000 Christians sought shelter in the city's Presbyterian and Lazarist missions. Although there was reluctance to attack the missionary compounds, many died of disease.{{sfn|Hellot-Bellier |2018|p=122}} Between February and May (when the Ottoman forces pulled out), there was a campaign of mass execution, looting, kidnapping, and extortion against Christians in Urmia.{{sfn|Gaunt|2006|p=110}} More than 100 men were arrested at the Lazarist compound, and dozens (including Mar Dinkha, bishop of Tergawer) were executed on 23 and 24 February.{{sfn|Hellot-Bellier |2018|p=126}}

The Russian army advanced later in 1915.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} After Russia's withdrawal as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution,{{sfn|Gaunt|2015|p=94}}{{sfn|Hellot|2003|p=138}} about 5,000 Assyrian{{sfn|Koohi-Kamali|2003|p=76}} and Armenian militia policed the area, but they frequently abused their power and killed Muslims without provocation.{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=78}}

File:Armenian and Assyrian refugees in the avenue leading out of the Kurdish Gate, Urmia, 1918.png

From February to July 1918, the region was engulfed by ethnic violence.{{sfn|Hellot|2003|pp=138–139}}{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=80}} On 22 February, local Muslims and the Persian governor began an uprising against the Christian militias in Urmia. The better-organized Christians, led by Agha Petros, brutally crushed the uprising; hundreds (possibly thousands) were killed.{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=78}} On 16 March, Mar Shimun and many of his bodyguards were killed by the Kurdish chieftain Simko Shikak, probably at the instigation of Persian officials fearing Assyrian separatism, after they met to discuss an alliance. Assyrians went on a killing and looting spree; unable to find Simko, they murdered Persian officials and inhabitants.{{sfn|Koohi-Kamali|2003|pp=76–77}}{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=79}} The Kurds responded by massacring Christians, regardless of denomination or ethnicity.{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=80}} Christians were massacred in Salmas in June and in Urmia in early July,{{sfn|Hellot|2003|pp=138–139}} and many Assyrian women were abducted.{{sfn|Naby|2017|p=167}}

Christian militias in Azerbaijan were no match for the Ottoman army when it invaded in July 1918.{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=78}} Tens of thousands of Ottoman and Persian Assyrians fled south to Hamadan, where the British Dunsterforce was garrisoned, on 18 July to escape Ottoman forces approaching Urmia under Ali İhsan Sâbis.{{sfn|Hellot-Bellier|2020|loc=17}}{{sfn|Kévorkian|2011|p=744}} The Ottoman invasion was followed by killings of Christians, including Chaldean archbishop Toma Audo, and the sacking of Urmia.{{sfn|Koohi-Kamali|2003|p=77}}{{sfn|Gaunt|2020|p=80}}

On March 22, 2025, large-scale demonstrations were held in the city. Slogans against Kurdistan were chanted during the demonstrations. Anadolu Agency reported that there was ethnic tension between Turks and Kurds in the city and that Turks were protesting the Nowruz celebrations held by Kurds living in the city a few days ago. Some protesters stated that the Iranian government was trying to change the demographics by bringing Kurds to the city. It was reported that those who participated in the demonstration chanted Turkish slogans such as "Urumiyah is Turkish and will remain Turkish" and "Urumiyah's Turkish identity is not negotiable". 2 days after the protest, 22 people were arrested.{{cite web | title= اعتراض شهروندان ارومیه‌ای در ایران به برخی ادعاهای تحریک‌آمیز |trans-title= Residents of Urmia in Iran protest provocative claims |url = https://trt.global/farsi/article/c9671abe0085 | publisher= TRT| access-date= 23 March 2025 | date = 22 March 2025}}{{cite web | title= تجمع گسترده مردم ارومیه؛ "ارومیه تُرک است و تُرک خواهد ماند" |trans-title= Large crowd in Urmia; "Urumiya is Turkish and will remain Turkish" |url = https://www.aa.com.tr/fa/ایران/تجمع-گسترده-مردم-ارومیه-ارومیه-تُرک-است-و-تُرک-خواهد-ماند/3517205 | publisher= Anadolu Agency| access-date= 24 March 2025 | date = 22 March 2025}}{{cite web | title = دستگیری 22 نفر از شرکت‌کنندگان در تجمع اخیر مردم ارومیه |trans-title= 22 participants arrested in latest Urmia rally|url = https://www.aa.com.tr/fa/ایران/دستگیری-22-نفر-از-شرکت-کنندگان-در-تجمع-اخیر-مردم-ارومیه/3518829 | publisher = Anadolu Agency| access-date= 24 March 2025 | date = 24 March 2025}}

File:Old church of Urmia.jpg in Urmia, Iran.]]

The city has been home to various ethnic groups during its history. The population of Urmia in the early Islamic period was Christian."URMIYA", Encyclopaedia of Islam (edition 2) In late 19th century, George Curzon reported a population of 30 to 40 thousand people, chiefly Afshars, Nestorians, Jews, and Armenians,{{cite book |title=The Quarterly Review Volume 176 |date=1893 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |page=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdXUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |access-date=17 September 2022}} while other sources also referred to an additional Persian community.{{cite book |title=Report of the Fifty-ninth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in September 1889 |date=1890 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQlLAAAAYAAJ&pg=176 |access-date=17 September 2022}} At the beginning of the 20th{{nbsp}}century, the city had a significant Christian minority (Assyrians and Armenians).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RT0bAgAAQBAJ&q=urmia|title=Iran|isbn=9781841624020|last1=Baker|first1=Patricia L.|last2=Smith|first2=Hilary|last3=Oleynik|first3=Maria|year=2014|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides }} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/assyrians-in-iran|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Foundation|website=iranicaonline.org}} A large number of the Assyrians and Armenians were killed in 1914 during the Armenian and Assyrian genocides,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3monyE4CVQC&q=assyrian+genocide+urmia&pg=PA271|title=The Armenian Genocide|isbn=9781412835923|last1=Hovannisian|first1=Richard G.|date=31 December 2011|publisher=Transaction Publishers }} which resulted in a change in the city's demographics. In the fourteenth edition of Encyclopædia Britannica from 1929, the town's population was roughly estimated to be 45 thousand before the war, mainly being Turkish with Armenian and Nestorian minorities.{{cite book |last1=Hooper |first1=Franklin Henry |last2=Garvin |first2=James Louis |last3=Cox |first3=Warren E. |title=The Encyclopedia Britannica |date=1929 |publisher=Encyclopedia britannica Company, Limited |page=899 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AolGAQAAIAAJ |access-date=17 September 2022}} 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.{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/1846175 |title=Evidence in Stone and Wood: The Assyrian/Syriac History and Heritage of the Urmia Region in Iran |journal=Parole de l'Orient |volume=35 |pages=1–15 |year=2010|last1=Al-Jeloo |first1=Nicholas }}

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 ageing community in Israel.

According to the Federal Research Division of Library of Congress, ethnic Azeris form around 40% of the population of Urmia region.{{Cite book|title=Iran: A Country Study|last=Curtis|first=Glenn E.|publisher=Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8444-1187-3|location=Washington D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/irancountrystudy00curt_2/page/97 97]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/irancountrystudy00curt_2/page/97}} The majority of the city's residents are Azerbaijanis, with a large minority of Kurds, and a smaller number of Assyrians, and Armenians, as well as Persian-speakers who moved to the city mostly for employment.{{cite journal |last1=Sadeghi |first1=Karim |last2=Richards |first2=Jack C |title=The idea of English in Iran: an example from Urmia |journal=Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development |date=18 May 2016 |volume=37 |issue=4 |page=420 |doi=10.1080/01434632.2015.1080714 |s2cid=147225654 |issn=0143-4632}}

The majority of the population can speak the official language of Iran, Persian, in addition to their own native tongue.دكتر م پناهايان، مجموعه اي در چهار جلد به نام " فرهنگ جغرافياي ملي تركان ايران زمين " سال 1351 Dr. M. Panahian, a four-volume collection entitled "National Geographical Culture of the Turks of Iran" in 1351سيري در تاريخ زبان ولهجه هاي تركي , دكتر جواد هئيت- چاپ سوم , سال1380,ص 307 A Journey in the History of Turkish Language and Dialects, Dr. Javad Hayat – Third Edition, 2001, p. 307

File:Church of Saint Mary - Urmia - Iran - کلیسای ننه مریم، ارومیه - ایران.jpg: an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia.]]

File:Mar Toma church urmia.jpg near Urmia.]]

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.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!1e1Location 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

When 17th-century explorer Evliya Çelebi visited the region, the city's Muslim population was mostly Sunni and not yet converted to Shia Islam. Around 1900, Christians made up more than 40% of the city's population; however, most of the Christians were either killed when the Ottoman Empire invaded Qajar Iran and committed genocide against Urmia's Assyrian and Armenian population{{cite book |last1=Hellot-Bellier |first1=Florence |title=Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire |date=2019 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78533-498-6 |pages=95–96 |edition=1 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvw049wf.8 |chapter=The Resistance of Urmia Assyrians to Violence at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century|volume=26 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvw049wf.8 |jstor=j.ctvw049wf.8 }}{{sfn|Gaunt|2006}} or fled shortly after the end of the war. Approximately 15,000 Assyrians reside in northern Iran, in Urmia and various Assyrian villages in the surrounding area.{{sfnp|Hooglund|2008|pp=100–101}} The Christian history of Urmia is well preserved and is especially evident in the city's many churches and cathedrals.

{{Historical populations|percentages = pagr |1986|300,746|1991|357,399|1996|435,200|2006|583,255|2011|667,499|align=right|footnote=source:{{Cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/en/iran/cities/|title=Iran: Provinces, Major Cities & Towns - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information|website=www.citypopulation.de}}|2016|736,224}}

Urmia is the 10th-most populous city in Iran. At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 577,307 in 153,570 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006): West Azerbaijan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=amar.org.ir|url=http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/04.xls|access-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920094953/http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/04.xls|format=Excel|archive-date=20 September 2011}} The following census in 2011 counted 667,499 people in 197,749 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1390 (2011): West Azerbaijan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=irandataportal.syr.edu|via=Iran Data Portal, Syracuse University|url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/West-Azerbaijan.xls|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120205939/https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/West-Azerbaijan.xls|archive-date=20 January 2023|access-date=19 December 2022|format=Excel}} The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 736,224 people in 225,050 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016): West Azerbaijan Province|language=fa|publisher=The Statistical Center of Iran|website=amar.org.ir|url=https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_04.xlsx|access-date=19 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830042935/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_04.xlsx|format=Excel|archive-date=30 August 2022}}

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 (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

Scenic coastal 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 Islandhttp://www.bari.ir/bari/en/tours/jazebeha/kaboodan/ {{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Urmia's climate is cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk, Trewartha: BS), bordering on humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa, Trewartha: Dc), with cold winters, mild springs, hot dry summers, and cool autumns. Precipitation is heavily concentrated in late autumn, winter (mostly in the form of snow), and especially spring, while precipitation is scarce in summer. Temperatures in Urmia are much colder than most of the remainder of Iran. The drought of Urmia Lake will have a negative impact on the climate of the region.

Being on the downwind and rain shadow side of the Zagros Mountains, its winters are relatively drier and less snowy than Hakkari's (to the west) in southeastern Turkey due to the foehn effect.[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266323729_Modeling_the_exceptional_south_Foehn_event_Garmij_over_the_Alborz_Mountains_during_the_extreme_forest_fire_of_December_2005 Modeling the exceptional south Foehn event (Garmij) over the Alborz Mountains during the extreme forest fire of December 2005] February 2014, Natural Hazards, Abbas Mofidi, Iman Soltanzadeh,Yadollah Yousefi, Azar Zarrin, MohsenSoltani, Jafar Masoompour Samakosh,Ghasem Azizi, et al. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

{{Weather box

|location = Urmia (Orumiyeh) 1991-2020, extremes 1961-2020

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan record high C = 16.4

|Feb record high C = 19.8

|Mar record high C = 26.0

|Apr record high C = 30.8

|May record high C = 32.0

|Jun record high C = 37.0

|Jul record high C = 39.9

|Aug record high C = 39.2

|Sep record high C = 36.2

|Oct record high C = 30.0

|Nov record high C = 22.8

|Dec record high C = 21.4

|Jan high C = 3.6

|Feb high C = 6.6

|Mar high C = 12.0

|Apr high C = 17.7

|May high C = 22.8

|Jun high C = 28.4

|Jul high C = 31.5

|Aug high C = 31.4

|Sep high C = 27.3

|Oct high C = 20.5

|Nov high C = 12.0

|Dec high C = 5.8

|Jan mean C = −1.8

|Feb mean C = 0.7

|Mar mean C = 5.9

|Apr mean C = 11.3

|May mean C = 16.0

|Jun mean C = 21.2

|Jul mean C = 24.2

|Aug mean C = 23.6

|Sep mean C = 19.1

|Oct mean C = 12.8

|Nov mean C = 5.6

|Dec mean C = 0.3

|Jan low C = −6.4

|Feb low C = −4.6

|Mar low C = −0.2

|Apr low C = 4.4

|May low C = 8.4

|Jun low C = 12.5

|Jul low C = 15.8

|Aug low C = 15.0

|Sep low C = 10.4

|Oct low C = 5.7

|Nov low C = 0.3

|Dec low C = −4.2

|Jan record low C = −22.8

|Feb record low C = −22.0

|Mar record low C = −19.0

|Apr record low C = −12.0

|May record low C = −1.8

|Jun record low C = 3.9

|Jul record low C = 8.4

|Aug record low C = 7.8

|Sep record low C = 2.2

|Oct record low C = −5.0

|Nov record low C = −13.4

|Dec record low C = −20.0

|Jan precipitation mm = 27.4

|Feb precipitation mm = 28.6

|Mar precipitation mm = 44.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 59.4

|May precipitation mm = 38.8

|Jun precipitation mm = 9.0

|Jul precipitation mm = 5.1

|Aug precipitation mm = 2.6

|Sep precipitation mm = 4.4

|Oct precipitation mm = 24.3

|Nov precipitation mm = 40.5

|Dec precipitation mm = 28.5

|year precipitation mm= 312.8

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 4.8

|Feb precipitation days = 4.3

|Mar precipitation days = 6.1

|Apr precipitation days = 7.2

|May precipitation days = 6.8

|Jun precipitation days = 2.0

|Jul precipitation days = 0.7

|Aug precipitation days = 0.6

|Sep precipitation days = 1.0

|Oct precipitation days = 3.5

|Nov precipitation days = 5.3

|Dec precipitation days = 5.0

|Jan snow days = 8.5

|Feb snow days = 7.5

|Mar snow days = 3.7

|Apr snow days = 0.8

|May snow days = 0.0

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.3

|Nov snow days = 1.5

|Dec snow days = 5.5

| Jan dew point C =-6.1

| Feb dew point C =-5.1

| Mar dew point C =-2.3

| Apr dew point C =2.0

| May dew point C =6.1

| Jun dew point C =8.3

| Jul dew point C =10.8

| Aug dew point C =10.1

| Sep dew point C =6.7

| Oct dew point C =3.9

| Nov dew point C =0.0

| Dec dew point C =-3.9

|Jan sun = 142

|Feb sun = 172

|Mar sun = 203

|Apr sun = 227

|May sun = 285

|Jun sun = 353

|Jul sun = 369

|Aug sun = 353

|Sep sun = 306

|Oct sun = 237

|Nov sun = 175

|Dec sun = 136

|Jan humidity = 74

|Feb humidity = 68

|Mar humidity = 59

|Apr humidity = 57

|May humidity = 56

|Jun humidity = 47

|Jul humidity = 46

|Aug humidity = 46

|Sep humidity = 48

|Oct humidity = 58

|Nov humidity = 70

|Dec humidity = 75

|year humidity = 58.7

|source 1 = NOAA{{Cite web |url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Iran/CSV/Orumiyeh_40712.csv |title=World Meteorological Organization climate normals for 1991-2020: Orumiyeh-40712 |website=ncei.noaa.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmosoheric Administration |no-pp=y |type=Excel |format=CSV }} (snow days 1961-1990{{cite web

|url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/IR/40712.TXT

|title = Oroomieh Climate Normals 1961–1990

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = 27 December 2012}})(extremes from both)

}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}

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 (such as Saed Marouf, Abdolreza Alizadeh, and Milad Ebadipour) 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. It is also one of the venues of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League.

File:Ashiqs in Tabriz.jpg

File:Jame mosque-Urmia (2).JPG]]

Azerbaijanis hold festivals and ceremonies such as Nowruz and Eid al-Adha like other Iranian ethnic groups with small differences.{{Cite web|url=http://www.karoon.com/moosighi-asheghi-azarbaijan-sahrghi-asheq-rasul-qorbani|title=Moosighi Asheghi Azarbaijan Sahrghi (Asheqi Music From East Azerbaijan) by Asheq Rasul Qorbani|website=www.karoon.com}} 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.

• 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 َAnthropology.

File:Education in Iran 0003 Urmia.jpg

The first modern style school established in Urmia in 1834.{{cite web|title=معاون شهرسازی و معماری شهردار ارومیه خبر داد تخصیص بودجه 550 میلیارد تومانی شهرداری ارومیه|trans-title=The Deputy Mayor of Urmia for Urban Planning and Architecture announced the allocation of a budget of 550 billion Tomans for the Municipality of Urmia|url=http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13920609000540|language=fa}}

File:Talare chamran.jpg

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:

• 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

Urmia has one state-owned television channel, Urmia TV, which broadcasts in both Azerbaijani, and Persian, and internationally through satellite Intelsat{{nbsp}}902.{{cite web|title=پایگاه اطلاع رسانی صدا و سیمای مرکز آذربایجان غربی|trans-title=West Azerbaijan Central Broadcasting Information Center|url=http://urmia.irib.ir/|language=fa}}

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

Among others, the city's print media include:

• Orumiye
• Barish news
• Sedaye Urmia
• Amanat
• Koosha
• Araz

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."{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Two Tram-lines for Urmia are Planned.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://en.mehrnews.com/news/144337/Urmia-Erbil-direct-flights-to-be-established-in-near-future|title=Urmia-Erbil direct flights to be established in near future|work= Mehr News Agency|language=en|date=21 April 2019|access-date=26 April 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/515927|title=Direct Flights to Start Between Urmia and Erbil: Iranian Official|work=Basnews|language=en|date=21 April 2019|access-date=26 April 2019}} The city is recently connected to Iran National Railways (IRIR, {{lang|fa|رجا}}).

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:{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

Hospitals:

• 523 Artesh(Army) Hospital
• Arefian Hospital{{cite web|url=http://www.arefian.ir/|title=Arefian hospital}}
• Azerbaijan Hospital{{cite web|url=http://azarbaijanhospital.com/|title=Azerbaijan Hospital}}
• Gholipour Children's Hospital
• Imam Khomeini Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://imam.umsu.ac.ir/|title=خانه|website=imam.umsu.ac.ir}}
• Imam Reza Hospital
• Milad international medical center{{cite web|url=http://mimc.ir/|title=Milad hospital|access-date=1 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000620/http://mimc.ir/|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}
• Motahari Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://motahari.umsu.ac.ir/|title=خانه|website=motahari.umsu.ac.ir}}
• Omid Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://www.omidcharity.com/|title=Home|website=omidcharity.com}}
• Razi Psychiatry Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://razi.umsu.ac.ir/|title=خانه|website=razi.umsu.ac.ir}}
• Taleghani Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://taleghani.umsu.ac.ir/|title=خانه|website=taleghani.umsu.ac.ir}}
• Seyedoshohada Heart Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://sshohada.umsu.ac.ir/|title=مرکز آموزشی درمانی قلب حضرت سیدالشهداء (علیه السلام) | خانه}}
• Shafa Hospital{{cite web|url=http://www.shafahospitalur.com/index.html/|title=Shafa Hospital}}
• Shams Hospital{{Cite web|url=https://www.shamshospital.com/|title=Shams||private hospital|first=Reza|last=Bazzazzadeh|website=shamshospital}}
• Solati Hospital{{Cite web|url=http://www.dr-soulatihosp.com/fa/|title=بیمارستان دکتر صولتی|website=www.dr-soulatihosp.com}}

Clinics:

• Fatimiye Pro-Medical Clinic
• Kosar Women's Pro-Medical Clinic

The Turkish government has a consulate on Beheshti Avenue.

During its history Urmia was the origin for many Iranian illumination{{clarify|date=December 2017|reason=Not clear; not the right word.}} 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

File:Safiyeedin Urmavi.jpg|Safi al-Din al-Urmawi, was a renowned musician and writer on the theory of music.

File:Amo-oghli.jpg|Haydar Khan e Amo-oghli, was a leftist revolutionary during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and among the founders of the Communist Party of Iran.

File:Fatma Mukhtarova.jpg|Fatma Mukhtarova, was a Soviet opera singer.

File:Saeid Marouf IRN WC 2014.jpg|Saeid Marouf, is an Iranian volleyball player who plays as a setter for the Iranian national team which he captains.

File:Picture Mehrsa Baradaran.jpg|Mehrsa Baradaran, an American law professor at the University of California, Irvine, was born in Urmia

File:داوود آزاد- Davood Azad.jpg|Davood Azad, is an Iranian classical and folk music singer.

File:Oyan Nəzəriani.jpg|Oyan Nazariani, is an Azerbaijani Beach wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestler born in Urmia. He is the head coach of the Azerbaijani beach wrestling team.{{cite web|url=http://awf.az/x-b-rl-r/item/4813-azaerbaydzan-zhulaesh-federasiyas-n-n-idzlas-kedzhirilib|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200921141631/http://awf.az/x-b-rl-r/item/4813-azaerbaydzan-zhulaesh-federasiyas-n-n-idzlas-kedzhirilib|archivedate=21 September 2020|title=Azərbaycan Güləş Federasiyasının iclası keçirilib|date=21 September 2020|publisher=awf.az|accessdate=11 January 2022|url-status=live}}

• {{flagicon|Turkey}} Erzurum, Turkey (since 2015){{Cite web|url=https://en.mehrnews.com/news/106532/Urmia-Erzurum-sign-sisterhood-agreement|title=Urmia, Erzurum sign sisterhood agreement|date=7 April 2015|website=Mehr News Agency}}

• Ark of Nuh or Noah
• Assyrian homeland
• Emirate of Bradost
• 64th Infantry Division of Urmia
• Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia
• Teppe Hasanlu
• Urmia Orthodokseta

{{Commons category-inline|Urmia}}

{{Portal-inline|Iran}}

{{clear}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Gaunt |first=David |title=Collective and State Violence in Turkey: The Construction of a National Identity from Empire to Nation-State |date=2020 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78920-451-3 |language=en |chapter= The Long Assyrian Genocide |pages=56–96}}

• {{cite book |last1=Hellot |first1=Florence |title=Chrétiens du monde arabe: un archipel en terre d'Islam |trans-title=Christians of the Arab world: an archipelago in the land of Islam |date=2003 |publisher=Autrement |isbn=978-2-7467-0390-2 |pages=127–145 |chapter=La fin d'un monde: les assyro-chaldéens et la première guerre mondiale |trans-chapter=The end of a world: the Assyro-Chaldeans and the First World War |language=fr}}
• {{cite book |last=Hellot-Bellier |first=Florence |chapter=The Increasing Violence and the Resistance of Assyrians in Urmia and Hakkari (1900–1915) |title=Sayfo 1915: An Anthology of Essays on the Genocide of Assyrians/Arameans during the First World War |date=2018 |publisher=Gorgias Press |pages=107–134 |isbn=978-1-4632-0730-4}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Hellot-Bellier |first1=Florence |title=Les relations ambiguës de la France et des Assyro-Chaldéens dans l'histoire. Les mirages de la "protection" |trans-title=The ambiguous relations of France and the Assyro-Chaldeans in history. The mirages of "protection" |journal=Les Cahiers d'EMAM |date=2020 |issue=32 |doi=10.4000/emam.2912 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/emam/2912 |language=fr |issn=1969-248X |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book |last=Hooglund |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Hooglund |editor1-first=Glenn E. |editor1-last=Curtis |editor2-first=Eric |editor2-last=Hooglund |editor2-link=Eric Hooglund |others=United States Library of Congress, Federal Research Division |title=Iran: A Country Study |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/irancountrystudy00curt_2/page/81 |chapter-format=PDF |access-date=13 October 2013 |edition=5th |series=Area Handbook Series |year=2008 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-8444-1187-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/irancountrystudy00curt_2/page/81 81–142] |chapter=The Society and Its Environment |chapter-url-access=registration }}

• {{cite book |last1=Koohi-Kamali |first1=Farideh |title=The Political Development of the Kurds in Iran: Pastoral Nationalism |date=2003 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-230-53572-5 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Kévorkian |first1=Raymond |author1-link=Raymond Kévorkian |title=The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History |title-link=The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85771-930-0 |language=en}}

• {{cite book |last=Naby |first=Eden |author-link=Eden Naby |chapter=Abduction, Rape and Genocide: Urmia’s Assyrian Girls and Women |title=The Assyrian Genocide: Cultural and Political Legacies |year=2017 |publisher=Routledge |pages=158–177 |isbn=978-1-138-28405-0}}
• {{cite book|last1=Nasiri|first1=Ali Naqi|last2=Floor|first2=Willem M.|title=Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration|date=2008|publisher=Mage Publishers|isbn=978-1933823232|page=309}}

• {{cite encyclopedia| article =AFŠĀR| last =Oberling| first =P.| url =http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afsar-one-of-the-twenty-four-original-guz-turkic-tribes-t| encyclopedia =Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6| pages =582–586| year =1984| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110429162916/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afsar-one-of-the-twenty-four-original-guz-turkic-tribes-t| archive-date =29 April 2011}}

• {{cite book|last1=Rothman|first1=E. Nathalie|title=Brokering Empire: Trans-Imperial Subjects between Venice and Istanbul|date=2015|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801463129}}

• [http://www.urmia-ag.ir/ Urmia Branch of Ministry of Internal Affairs]

{{Authority control}}

{{West Azerbaijan Province|state=collapsed}}

{{Urmia County|state=collapsed}}

{{Provincial capitals of Iran}}

{{Iranian Architecture}}

Category:Populated places in Urmia County

Category:Assyrian communities in Iran

Category:Iranian provincial capitals

Category:Cities in West Azerbaijan province

Category:Populated places along the Silk Road

Category:Places of the Sayfo

Category:Jews and Judaism in Persia and Iran