West Azerbaijan province
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West Azerbaijan Province استان آذربایجان غربی |
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|---|---|
| Province | |
 Location of West Azerbaijan within Iran |
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| Coordinates: 37°33′10″N 45°04′33″E / 37.5528°N 45.0759°ECoordinates: 37°33′10″N 45°04′33″E / 37.5528°N 45.0759°E | |
| Country |
 Iran
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| Region | Region 3 |
| Capital | Urmia |
| Counties | 17 |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Ghorbanali Saadat |
| • MPs of Parliament | West Azerbaijan Province parliamentary districts |
| • MPs of Assembly of Experts | Dirbaz, Ali Akbar Ghoreyshi & Mojtahed Shabestari |
| • Representative of the Supreme Leader | Mehdi Ghoreyshi |
| Area | |
| • Total | 37,437 km2 (14,455 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 3,080,576 |
| • Density | 82/km2 (210/sq mi) |
| Time zone | IRST (UTC+03:30) |
| • Summer (DST) | IRST (UTC+04:30) |
| Main language(s) |
Persian (official) local languages: Azerbaijani Kurdish Armenian Assyrian |
West Azerbaijan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the northwest of the country, bordering Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as the provinces of East Azerbaijan, Zanjan and Kurdistan. The province is part of Region 3. It is separated from Armenia by Turkey's short border with the Azerbaijan Republic. The province of West Azerbaijan covers an area of 39,487 km², or 43,660 km² including Lake Urmia. In 2012 the province had a population of about 3 million (estimate). The capital city and largest city of the province is Urmia.
Permanent settlements were established in the province as early as the 6th millennium BC as excavation at sites such as Teppe Hasanlu establish. In Hasanlu, a famous Golden Vase was found in 1958. The province is the location of Tepe Hajji Firuz, site of some of the world's earliest evidence of wine production.Gooy Teppe is another significant site, where a metal plaque dating from 800 BC was found that depicts a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Ruins such as these and the UNESCO world heritage site at the Sassanid compound of Takht-i-Suleiman illustrate the strategic importance and tumultuous history of the province through the millennia. Overall, the province enjoys a wealth of historical attractions, with 169 sites registered by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran.
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Wikipedia