National meal of the Urmia City Turkish people

West Azerbaijan - National meal of the Urmia City Turkish people - Ayran Ashi

Lake Urmia National Park Photo Gallery

Lake Urmia National Park is situated in northwestern Iran between the two provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan. It is the largest lake inside Iran and the second largest salt lake in the world after the Dead Sea. Major basin rivers of this hyper saline lake are Cheqtoy Chay (Zarrineh Rood),Tatao River(Simineh Rood), Gadar, Barandouz, Shahr Chay, Nazlou and Zola.
The basin area of Lake Urmia National Park is 51876 km², 3% of the total area of the country. With fertile plains like those of Khana (Piranshahr) (Salmas), Urmia (Urmiye), Tabriz, Azarshahr, Maragheh, qoshachay(Miandoab), Savoojbulagh(Mahabad), Sulduz (Naghadeh) and Oshno (Oshnavieh), it is one of the important and active regions of the country for agriculture and animal husbandry.
Lake Urmia National Park is the largest permanent water basin in Western Asia, situated west of the Iranian Plateau. The Lake Urmia National Park is one of the richest, most attractive natural fauna habitats in Iran, second only to the Anzali lagoon. At present, the Lake Urmia wildlife consists of 27 species of mammals, 212 species of birds, 41 species of reptiles, 7 species of amphibians and 26 species of fish.
The Lake Urmia National Park is marked by 102 islands, all of which have been registered as World Biosphere Reserves by the UNESCO. Ashik (Ashk) Island is the natural habitat for an array of magnificent migratory birds including flamingos and shelducks, as well as some animal species such as the famous Iranian yellow deer. The lakeside mud has been known to have curative properties effective on joint aches and women’s ailments.

West Azerbaijan - Urmiye City and kashani street

West Azerbaijan - Urmiye City and kashani street

West Azerbaijan - Winter and Snowing in Urmia City

Urmia or (Turkish Language: اورمیه،اورمو, Urmu, Orumiyeh, Urmiye, Urmiya) is a city in Northwestern South Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan) and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province. The city lies on an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chaye river (City River). Urmia is the 10th populated city in iran and 2nd of Azerbaijanian Turks provinces after Tabriz. Urmia is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region where fruit (Specially Apple and Grape) and Tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th cent. Urmia was seized by the Oghuz Turks (11th cent.), sacked by the Seljuk Turks (1184), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks.
The name Urmia or Urmu (Urmiye) is thought to have come from Sumerian tongue, the earliest known civilization in the world located in southern Mesopotamia. Ur was a principle Sumerian city. Urmia, situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers, would be the cradle of water.The population of Urmia is predominantly Azerbaijanian Turks (over 90%), but with Kurdish,Assyrian and ...

Urmia city and at night Panorama

West Azerbaijan - Urmia city and at night panorama
Source Picture: Hamid Hobbi

West Azerbaijan - Winter in the Urmia city

West Azerbaijan - Winter in the Urmia city

West Azerbaijan - Naghadeh City Photo Gallery

Naghadeh, (farsi: نقده, Turkish Language:نقده, or سولدوز,), formerly known as Sulduz (سولدوز, also spelled Solduz or Suldoz) is a city in West Azarbaijan Province in northwestern Iran. The city is located in the Gadar River valley, 23 kilometres (14 mi) southeast of Lake Urmia at an elevation of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) above sea-level. According to the 2006 census, Naghadeh has 72,975 inhabitants.

Teppe Hasanlu 
Teppe Hasanlu or Tappeh Hassanlu (farsi: تپه حسنلو) is an archeological site of an ancient city located in northwest Iran (in the province of West Azarbaijan), a short distance south of Lake Urmia. The nature of its destruction at the end of the 9th century BCE essentially froze one layer of the city in time, providing researchers with extremely well-preserved buildings, artifacts, and skeletal remains from the victims and enemy combatants of the attack.

Hasanlu Tepe is the largest site in the Gadar River valley and dominates the small plain known as Solduz. The site consists of a 25m high central "citadel" mound, with massive fortifications and paved streets, surrounded by a low outer town, 8m above the surrounding plain. The entire site, once much larger but reduced in size by local agricultural and building activities, now measures about 600m across, with the citadel having a diameter of about 200 m.
The site was inhabited fairly continuously from the 6th millennium BCE to the 3rd century AD. It is famous for the "Gold Bowl" found by a team from the University of Pennsylvania led by Robert Dyson.
Archaeology

The site of Hasanlu was excavated in 10 seasons between 1956 and 1974 by a team from the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania and the Metropolitan Museum.
Originally, excavations in the Ushnu - Solduz Valley were intended to explore a series of stratified occupation levels in the area with the objective of reconstructing a regional cultural history from Neolithic times until Alexander the Great's conquest of iran beginning in 334BC, such that any conclusions would rely solely on material evidence from the region itself, independent of linguistic or literary evidence from adjoining regions.The unexpected discovery of the famous "Gold Bowl" at Hasanlu in 1958 led to the project shifting its focus to the Iron Age levels at this site, although several other sites in the region were also excavated in order to stay in line with the project's broader objective.

Although the Hasanlu Publications Project, initiated in 2007, has not yet published its official monograph-length final reports on the Iron Age levels from the excavations, two Excavation Reports and several Special Studies volumes have been completed publications.
History
The excavators have broken down the site’s occupation history into ten periods based on the nature of material finds in the different strata: the oldest, period X, stretches back to the Neolithic period, after which there was fairly continuous occupation until the early Iron Age (ca 1200-330 BC), followed by a hiatus before subsequent reoccupation; occupation finally ends in Iran’s medieval period (Hasanlu period I)

West Azerbaijan - Urmia City River

West Azerbaijan - Urmia City River

West Azerbaijan - Winter in the Urmia City

West Azerbaijan province - Winter in the Urmia City

Urmia City and winter

West Azerbaijan Province - Urmia City and winter
Photo Source Mehdi and Akbar

Accident: Iran Air Boeing 727 crashes near Urmia City - Photo Gallery

Accident: Iran Air Boeing 727 crashes near Urmia City (West Azerbaijan - Urmiye)

An Iran Air Boeing 727 passenger jet was damaged beyond repair in an accident about 8 km from Urmia (Orumiyeh) City Airport (OMH), Iran.
There are conflicting reports about the exact number of people on board. ISNA quotes the Roads and Transportation Secretary stating there were 94 passengers and eleven crew members on board. Fars News Agency reports 93 passengers and twelve crew members. The airplane operated on flight IR277 from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport (THR) to Urmia (Orumiyeh) Airport (OMH). It left Tehran at 18:15, after a delay of over two hours due to severe weather at the destination.
Latest media reports indicate that 77 people were killed, 26 people were injured and two missing.
According to local aviation sources in Iran, the airplane involved in the accident was EP-IRP. This has not yet been confirmed by CAO officials. 
The Deputy Minister of Roads and Transportation indicated that the accident occurred during a forced landing outside the airport.

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