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Arak, Iran

Arak
اراک, Arāk
city
Clockwise from top: Bakhtyari Bridge, Valiasr Square, Senjan, City Park, and the old bazaar.
Clockwise from top: Bakhtyari Bridge, Valiasr Square, Senjan, City Park, and the old bazaar.
Official seal of Arak
Seal
Arak is located in Iran
Arak
Arak
Coordinates: 34°05′30″N 49°41′21″E / 34.09167°N 49.68917°E / 34.09167; 49.68917Coordinates: 34°05′30″N 49°41′21″E / 34.09167°N 49.68917°E / 34.09167; 49.68917
Country  Iran
Province Markazi
County Arak
District Central
Government
 • Mayor Mohammad Ebrahim Abbasi
Elevation 1,718 m (5,636 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 526,182
Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30)
 • Summer (DST) IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Area code(s) 086
Website www.arak.ir

Arak (Persian: اراک‎‎, Arāk; IPA: [æˈɾɒːk]), also known as Soltan Abad (سلطان آباد, Soltān Ābād), is the capital of Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 526,182, in 160,761 families.

A major industrial city, Arak hosts several industrial factories inside and within few kilometers outside of the city, including the factory of Machine Sazi Arak and the Iranian Aluminium Company. These factories produce nearly half of the needs of the country in steel, petrochemical, and locomotive industries.

As an industrial city in a developing country, Arak is subject to the issue of air pollution.

The term Arāk remains from a name given to the region since the medieval period. It derives from Arabic , meaning "edge", itself derived possibly from Akkadian Uruk (Hebrew: אֶרֶךְ‎‎, Erech).

During the Seljuk era, a region comprising the whole territory of Media (northwestern Iran) and the lower part of Mesopotamia was referred to as Iraq; with the Median part called ʿErāq-e ʿAǰam ("Iraq of the Ajam"), and the Mesopotamian part called ʿErāq-e ʿArab ("Iraq of the Arab").

The term Soltān Ābād is a Persian compound word.

Soltān, deriving from Arabic ("power", "authority"), is a Near Eastern noble title given to a powerful governor. Modern Persian , meaning "settlement" or "abode", derives from Middle Persian ("populous"). However, according to linguist Sasha Lubotsky, the Persian term ābād might derive from Proto-Iranian *āpāta ("protected"), rooting from Proto-Indo-European ("to protect").


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