Urmiye Tube: National Park

Urmia-Urmu

Urmia or (Turkish Language: اورمو, Urmu, Orumiyeh, Urmiye) 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 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. Some believe the name is derived from Syriac. Ur, meaning "cradle," and mia, meaning "water". Hence, Urmia, situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers, would be the cradle of water. Some have claimed connections to other languages. There is, however, no generally accepted etymology.The very heavy migrations into the city from the countryside, refugees from the long Iran-Iraq War, and from smaller towns into the larger city of Urmia, have revolutionized the ethnic composition of the city. Today The 90% percent are now made of Azerbaijanian Turks and but with Kurdish, Assyrian and Armenian minorities.