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Azarbaijan, Azerbaijan or Azerbayejan is the region in north west Iran, c.34,280 sq mi (88,785 sq km), divided into the provinces of East Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 3,325,540), West Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 2,496,320), and Ardabil. (1996 pop. 1,168,011). The chief cities include Tabriz (the capital of East Azarbaijan), Urmia (the capital of West Azarbaijan), Ardebil (the capital of Ardabil), Maragheh, and Khoy (Khvoy). The region is bounded in the North by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan also known as Aran, (from which it is separated by the Aras River) and in the West by Turkey and Iraq. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Iranian Azerbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان ایران; Ä€zarbāyjān-e Irān), also known as Southern Azerbaijan or South Azerbaijan (Azeri: گوني اذربایجان, Güney AzÉ™rbaycan) is a region in the northwest of Iran, approximately consisting of the provinces of Ardebil, East Azarbaijan,West Azarbaijan and Zanjan. ... Image File history File links Azarbaijan_Region. ... East Azarbaijan province enjoys some of Irans most favorable climatic conditions. ... West Azarbaijan (in Persian آذربایجان ØºØ±Ø¨ÛŒ Azerbāijān-e-Qarbi, in Kurdish: Azerbaycanî Rojawa, in Azerbaijani language: QÉ™rbi AzÉ™rbaycan, ) is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. ... Ardabil (in persian: اردبیل other name: Ardebil ancient name: Artavil ) a historical city in north-western Iran. ... --194. ... Map of Iran showing location of Urmia Urmia Persian: ارومیه, Kurdish: Wurmê), previously called Rezaiyeh (رضائیه), is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of the West Azarbaijan province, situated on the western side of Lake Urmia. ... Ardabil (in persian: اردبیل other name: Ardebil ancient name: Artavil ) a historical city in north-western Iran. ... Maragheh or Maraghah is a town in the East Azarbaijan Province of Iran, on the Safi River. ... Khoy (خوی in Persian), also spelt Khoi or Khvoy, is a city in West Azarbaijan, Iran. ... The placename Aran may refer to: The Aran Islands or the largest island in that group Aran, a historical region that is a part of modern Republic of Azerbaijan (Caucasia) The Isle of Arran in Scotland. ...

Azarbaijan, which includes Lake Urmia, is mountainous, with deep valleys and fertile lowlands. Grains, fruits, cotton, rice, nuts, and tobacco are grown. Wool, carpets, and metalware are produced. Industries include food processing, cement, textiles, electric equipment, and sugar milling. An oil pipeline runs through the region. The majority of the people of Azarbaijan are Turkic-speaking Azeris of Iranian stock, who are Shiite Muslims. There are also Armenians, Kurds, Jews, and Persians. Lake Urmia from space, October 1984 Satellite image of Lake Urmia, taken in November 2003 Lake Urmia (37. ... Shi‘as (the adjective in Arabic is شيعى shi‘i; English has traditionally used Shiite) which mean follower in Arabic make up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%-35% of all Muslim. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... The Persians of Iran (officially named Persia by West until 1935 while still referred to as Persia by some) are an Iranian people who speak Persian (locally named Fârsi by native speakers) and often refer to themselves as ethnic Iranians as well. ...

History

In ancient times, before the Aryan migration to Iranian Plateau, Azarbaijan was dominated by the kings of Van and Urartu (in Armenia). By the 8th century B.C. it had been settled by the Iranian Medes, and it later formed the province of Media Minor in the Persian Empire. After Alexander the Macedonian warlord conquered Persia, he appointed (328 B.C.) as governor the Persian general Atropates, who eventually established an independent dynasty. Later, the region, which came to be called Atropatene or Media Atropatene, was much disputed. In the 2d cent. B.C. it was liberated from Seleucid domination by the Mithradates I, of Arsacid dynasty and c.A.D. 226 it became part of Sassanian Ardashir I's Empire. Shapur II enlarged Azarbaijan by adding territory in the north known as Arran or Aran (today known as the Republic of Azerbaijan). Aryan is an English word derived from the Indo-Aryan Vedic Sanskrit and Iranian Avestan terms ari-, arya-, ārya-, and/or the extended form aryāna-. The Old Persian (Iranian) ariya- is a cognate as well. ... The Iranian plateau is major geologic formation in the Middle East and the southern Eurasian Plate. ... Urartu map Urartu (a. ... The Medes were an Iranian people, who lived in the western and north-western portion of present-day Iran. ... The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Persia can refer to: the Western name for Iran. ... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... The Arsacid Dynasty ruled Persia. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Shapur II was king of Persia (310 - 379). ...

Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, briefly held the region in the 7th cent., just before the Islamic Conquest of Iran; Arab invaders converted most of its people to Islam and made it part of the caliphate. The Persianized Seljuk Turks dominated the region in the 11th and 12th cent., and the Mongols under Hulagu Khan established (13th century) their capital at Maragheh. After being conquered by Timur in the 14th cent., Tabriz became an important provincial capital of the Timurid empire. It was out of Ardebil (Ancient Artavilla) that the Safavid dynasty arose (c. 1500) to renew the state of Persia. There was fierce fighting between the Ottoman Empire and Persia for Azarbaijan. After brief Ottoman control, Shah Abbas the Great, regained control of the region in 1603. The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... The Islamic conquest of Iran led to the collapse of the Sassanid Empire, the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Iran, and the birth of Islamic civilization. ... An Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah, Caliph (  listen?) is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... For the dynasty and empire founded by Seljuk, see Seljuk Turks. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... Hulagu Khan (also known as Hülegü, and Hulegu) (1217 – 8 February 1265) was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Maragheh or Maraghah is a town in the East Azarbaijan Province of Iran, on the Safi River. ... Reconstruction of Timur from exhumation of his tomb. ... --194. ... Reconstruction of Timur from exhumation of his tomb. ... Ardabil (in persian: اردبیل other name: Ardebil ancient name: Artavil ) a historical city in north-western Iran. ... The Safavids were a long-lasting Turkic-speaking Iranian dynasty that ruled from 1501 to 1736 and first established Shiite Islam as Persias official religion. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, tone, style, and voice). ... Shah Abbas I (شاه عباس اول) (January 27, 1571?-January 19, 1629?) was the most eminent ruler of the Safavid Dynasty. ...