Template:ImageStackRight Iğdır (Armenian: Իգդիր (Latin transcript: Tsalokert); Kurdish: Îdir; Azerbaijani: İğdır; Russian: Игдир; Persian: ایگدیر) is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the border with Armenia, Azerbaijan (the area of Nakhichevan), and Iran. Its adjacent provinces are Kars to the northwest and Ağrı to the west and south. Area 3,593 km². Population (2000) 168,634 (up from 142,601 in 1990).
Turkey's highest mountain, the Biblical Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) is in Iğdır, but much of the land is a wide plain far below the mountain. The climate is the warmest in this part of Turkey (and this is where Noah is said to have thrived following the flood). The Armenian border is marked by the Arpaçay River.
The provincial capital is the city of Iğdır.
Districts
Iğdır province is divided into 4 districts (capital district in bold):
Etymology
The area is named after a western Turkish clan (Iğdıroğlu) belonging to Üçok branch of Oghuz Turks.[citation needed] These peoples spread throughout Anatolia and there are many towns and villages named Iğdır in Turkey today.[citation needed]
History
The region was part of Armenia but through several conquests it eventually fell into the hands of the Persian Empire (Iran) in 1555. After the Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828 and the Treaty of Turkmanchai it became part of the Russian Empire. After World War I, it came under the administration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as part of the Ararat province but was ceded to Turkey by the Soviet Union in the Treaty of Kars.
Today, Iğdır has the character of a region in northern Iran with its mixed population of Kurds and Azerbaijanis. [1] Therefore for example the spring festival nevruz which is traditional in Iran is widely celebrated in Iğdır. The Armenian community which until 1920 constituted a majority is nonexistent today. [2]
Places of interest
- The caravanserai of Zor believed to have been built by an Armenian architect in the 13th or 14th century. Named after the former nearby village of Zor, it is located 35km south-west of the city of Iğdır. Ruins from an Armenian church were once located in the area as well, but today nothing remains of them. [3]
- Sürmeli castle, 25 km west of the city of Iğdır, on the road to Tuzluca.
External links
References
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