URMIA, A CITY FULL OF BELIEFS AND CULTURE

Nia S. Amira
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There was villages under the rules of Kingdom of Van in Urmia plain at the beginning of 2000 BC stated Vladimit Minorsky. The excavations of the amcient ruins near Urmia led to the dis­covery of utesils that date to the 20th century BC.

Urmia is the second largest city in the Iranian Azerbaijan and the capital of West Azerbai­jan Province. Urmia situated at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level, and is located along the Shahar Chay river on the Urmis Plain. Lake Urmia is one of the world’s largest salt lakes, lies to the east of the city and moun­tains Turkish border area lies to the west.

Urmia is the 10th most pop­ulated city in Iran. There are anround 667,499 inhabitans according to the 2012 census , And the people are predomi­nantly Iranian Azerbaijanis who speak the Azeri. There are also minorities of Kurds, Assyrians, and Armenians. The city is the trading center for a fertile agri­culture region where fruits (es­pecially apples and grapes) and tobacco are grown.

For centuries the city has had a diverse population including Muslims Shiah and Sunny, Chris­tian (Catholic, Prostentant, Nestorians, and Orthodox), Jews, Baha’is and Sufi.

During the 19th century, the region became the center of a short lived Assyrians Renes­saince with many books and newspaper being published in Syriac. The better armed Assyr­ians managed however to cap­ture the whole city following a brief battle. The region descend­ed into chaos again after the as­sassination of the Assyrian Patri­arch Shimum XXI, Benyamin at the hands of Simko Shikak one month later.

Turkish armies and Simko managed the city in June and July 1918. Thousands of Assyr­ians were massacred as part of the Assyrian Genocide, other found refuge under British pro­tection in Iraq.