khalkhal, Iran

{{for multi|the administrative division of Ardabil province|Khalkhal County|other places with the same name|Khalkhal (disambiguation){{!}}Khalkhal}}

{{Infobox settlement

|official_name =Khalkhal

|native_name = {{langx|fa|خلخال}}

|other_name = {{langx|az|هیرو}}{{*}}Hirow

|settlement_type = City

|image_skyline =Herowabad (Khalkhal).jpg

|image_caption =City view

|pushpin_map =Iran

|mapsize =

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = Iran

|subdivision_type1 =Province

|subdivision_name1 =Ardabil

|subdivision_type2 =County

|subdivision_name2 =Khalkhal

|subdivision_type3 =District

|subdivision_name3 =Central

|leader_title =

|leader_name =

|established_title =

|established_date =

|area_total_km2 =

|area_footnotes =

| population_footnotes =

|population_as_of = 2016

|population_total =39304

|population_density_km2 =auto

|timezone = IRST

|utc_offset = +3:30

|coordinates = {{coord|37|36|53|N|48|31|53|E|dim:3km|display=inline,title}}

|coordinates_footnotes = {{Cite map|author=((OpenStreetMap contributors))|url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=37.614722&mlon=48.531389&zoom=14#map=14/37.61472/48.53139|website=OpenStreetMap|title=Khalkhal, Khalkhal County|date=20 August 2024|access-date=20 August 2024|lang=fa}}

|elevation_m =

|area_code =

|website = {{URL|www.khalkhalim.com}}

|footnotes ={{GEOnet2|32FA8809F39E3774E0440003BA962ED3}}

}}

Khalkhal ({{langx|fa|خلخال}}){{efn|Also romanized as Khalkhāl; formerly and locally known as Herowabad (هروآباد) and Hirow ({{langx|az|هیرو}}){{GEOnet3|-3070479}}}} is a city in the Central District of Khalkhal County, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.{{cite report|title=Approval of the organization and chain of citizenship of the elements and units of the national divisions of East Azerbaijan province, centered in the city of Tabriz|language=fa|website=qavanin.ir|via=Laws and Regulations Portal of the Islamic Republic of Iran|url=https://qavanin.ir/Law/TreeText/98949|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023220800/https://qavanin.ir/Law/TreeText/98949|publisher=Ministry of the Interior, Defense Political Commission of the Government Council|last=Habibi|first=Hassan|archive-date=23 October 2021|orig-date=Approved 21 June 1369|id=Resolution 93808/T907|date=c. 2021|access-date=21 February 2024}}

Demographics

=Language=

The majority of population speaks Azeri.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

=Population=

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 38,521 in 9,619 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385 (2006): Ardabil 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/24.xls|access-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920094514/http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/24.xls|format=Excel|archive-date=20 September 2011}} The following census in 2011 counted 41,165 people in 11,213 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1390 (2011): Ardabil 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/Ardabil.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115211527/https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/Ardabil.xls |archive-date=15 January 2023|access-date=19 December 2022|format=Excel}} The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 39,304 people in 11,501 households.{{cite report|title=Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1395 (2016): Ardabil 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_24.xlsx|access-date=19 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322123220/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_24.xlsx|format=Excel|archive-date=22 March 2019}}

Etymology and history

According to Vladimir Minorsky, the name Khalkhāl may indicate a connection with the ancient Kharkhar kingdom, which existed somewhere in the eastern Zagros Mountains in Neo-Assyrian times.{{cite journal |author1=Minorsky, Vladimir |author1-link=Vladimir Minorsky |title=Mongol Place-Names in Mukri Kurdistan |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1957 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=58-81 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/609632 |access-date=12 October 2022}}{{rp|62}}

The 14th-century author Hamdallah Mustawfi listed Khalkhal in his Nuzhat al-Qulub as forming part of the tuman of Ardabil.{{cite book |author1=Hamdallah Mustawfi |author1-link=Hamdallah Mustawfi |editor1-last=Le Strange |editor1-first=Guy |editor1-link=Guy Le Strange |title=The Geographical Part of the Nuzhat-al-Qulub |date=1919 |page=84 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283218/page/n103 |access-date=10 October 2022}} He described it as "formerly a fair-sized town" that had declined to a mere village by his time. He wrote that Khalkhal had succeeded the earlier city of Firuzabad as the capital of its province after Firuzabad itself had declined. Mustawfi wrote that the Khalkhal province comprised about 100 villages and had four districts: Khāmidah-Bīl, Sajasrūd, Anjīlābād, and Mīsjīn. It was assessed for a tax value of 30,000 dinars. Water from a spring on a nearby mountain powered two watermills, which provided enough irrigation for the surrounding fields. Mustawfi said its pastures were "excellent" and hunting grounds were "numerous and well-stocked with game" and wrote that the district was known for producing yogurt (māst) that was "so thick it has to be cut with a knife, as though it were cheese".

Notes

References

Category:Cities in Ardabil province

Category:Populated places in Khalkhal County