This article is about the region in Iran; for other uses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation).

Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan, also Iranian Azarbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijan, or Persian Azarbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان ایران; Āzārbāijān-e Irān; Azerbaijani: آذربایجان , Kurdish: Azirbaycan/Adirbaycan), is a region in northwestern Iran and south of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The region is sometimes called South Azerbaijan or Southern Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani language: گوني آذربایجان, Güney Azərbaycan); ^[1][2] however, some sources view these terms as being incorrect and politically motivated.^[3].^[4] For more information see the article History of the name Azerbaijan.

The name Azerbaijan itself is thought to be derived from Atropates,^[5] the Satrap (governor) of Media in the Achaemenid empire, who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azarbaijan called Atropatene.^[6] Atropates name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire."^[7] The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata.^[8]. َAccording to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the name of the province was pronounced as: In Middle Persian the name of the province was called Āturpātākān, older new-Persian Ād̲h̲arbād̲h̲agān آذربادگان/آذرآبادگان, Ād̲h̲arbāyagān, at present Āzarbāyd̲j̲ān, Greek ᾿Ατροπατήνη, Byzantine Greek ᾿Αδραβιγάνων, Armenian Atrapatakan,Syriac Ad̲h̲orbāyg̲h̲ān.^[9]

Iranian Azarbaijan is generally considered the North Western portion of Iran compromising the provinces of Zanjan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan and Ardabil. It has borders with the Republic of Azerbaijan,^[10] Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq and a population of about 10 million^{[citation needed]} (estimates vary). Azeris make up the majority of the population in the Iranian region of Azarbaijan. Azarbaijan is famous for its great natural beauty. There are 17 rivers and two lakes in the region. Cotton, nuts, textiles, tea, machinery and electrical equipments are main industries. The northern, alpine region, which includes Lake Urmia, is mountainous, with deep valleys and fertile lowlands.

Grains, fruits, cotton, rice, nuts, and tobacco are the staple crops of the region.

Industries include machine tools, vehicle factories, oil refinery, petrochemical complex, food processing, cement, textiles, electric equipment, and sugar milling. Oil and gas pipelines run through the region. Wool, carpets, and metal ware are also produced.

Azerbaijan, the main Turkic-speaking area and one of the richest and one of the most densely populated regions of Iran, presents a picture of ethnic distinctiveness and homogeneity that is perhaps misleading. Not only are there various linguistic, religious, and tribal minority groups, and Azerbaijanis themselves have settled widely outside the region.^[11]

The majority of the people of Azarbaijan are Azaris people. According to Encyclopedia Britannica:The Azerbaijani are of mixed ethnic origin, the oldest element deriving from the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly from the Medians of northern Persia. This population was Persianized during the period of the Sasanian dynasty of Iran (3rd–7th century AD), but, after the region's conquest by the Seljuq Turks in the 11th century, the inhabitants were Turkicized, and further Turkicization of the population occurred in the ensuing centuries.^[12]

According to Professor Richard Frye: "The Iranian tribes moving from the north onto the plateau which bears their name undoubtedly borrowed many concepts and practices from the long-settled peoples of the western part of the plateau: Elamites, Kassites, Manneans, Urarteans, and others. The process whereby the Iranian tribes settled must have resembled the movement of Turkish-speaking tribes who would invade the plateau much later. But once settled, this conglomeration of tribes was transformed into a new social and political entity, an empire, first of the Medes in the north and then of the Persians in the south of the plateau." (Richard Frye in "Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective", Robert L. Canfield (ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 39)

The Azeris are followers of Shi'a Islam. There is also a sizeable number of Kurds to the west of the Urmia lake. There are also Armenians, Assyrians, Talyshs, Jews, Georgians, and Persians.

A recent study of the genetic landscape of Iran was completed by a team of Cambridge geneticists led by Dr. Maziar Ashrafian Bonab (himself an Iranian Azerbaijani).^[13] Bonab remarked that his group had done extensive DNA testing on different language groups, including Indo-European and non Indo-European speakers, in Iran.^[14] The study found that the Azerbaijanis of Iran do not have a similar FSt and other genetic markers found in Anatolian and European Turks. However, the genetic Fst and other genetic traits like MRca and mtDNA of Iranian Azeris were identical to Persians of Iran.

Iranian Azarbaijan is divided into the provinces of East Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 3,325,540), West Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 2,496,320), Ardabil. (1996 pop. 1,168,011), Zanjan (1996 pop. 900,890)^[15] The chief cities include Tabriz (the capital of East Azarbaijan), Urmia (the capital of West Azerbaijan), Ardabil (the capital of Ardabil), Maragheh, Marand, Zanjan, and Khoy (Khvoy).^[16] The region is bounded in the north by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and in the West by Lake Urmia and Kurdish-inhabited areas of Iran, and in the East by the Caspian Sea and Gilan.

The oldest kingdom known in Iranian Azerbaijan is that of the Mannea who ruled a region southeast of Lake Urmia centered around modern Saqqez. The Manneans were confederation of Iranian and non-Iranian groups. According to Professor Zadok

it is unlikely that there was any ethnolinguistic unity in Mannea. Like other peoples of the Iranian plateau, the Manneans were subjected to an ever increasing Iranian (i.e., Indo-European) penetration.^[17]

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the medes were an:

Indo-European people, related to the Persians, who entered northeastern Iran probably as early as the 17th century BC and settled in the plateau land that came to be known as Media.^[18]

By the 8th century BC, Azerbaijan as well as Hamadan, Tehran and Esfahan had been settled by Medes. Azerbaijan later formed the province of Media Minor in the Persian Empire.

After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, he appointed (328 BC) as governor the Median or Persian general Atropates, who eventually established an independent dynasty. Later, the region, which came to be called Atropatene or Media Atropatene, was much disputed. In the 2nd century BC, it was liberated from Seleucid domination by Mithradates I of Arsacid dynasty, and c. AD 226 it became part of the Sassanid Empire of Ardashir I. Under the Sassanids, Azarbaijan was ruled by a Marzubān and towards the end of the period belonged to the family of Farrukh-Hormozd. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, briefly held the region in the 7th century until it became under the lordship of Sassanids again. After the Islamic Conquest of Iran; Arab invaders converted most of its people to Islam and made it part of the caliphate.

After the revolt of Babak Khoramdin, the grip of the caliphate on Azerbaijan weakened. After their fall, native dynasties sprang up in Azerbaijan. Later on Azerbaijan was occupied by the Daylamite Marzuban b. Muḥammad. The Daylamites were succeeded by the Kurdish Rawwadids [q.v.] (373-463/983-1070). After coming to confrontations with the local Kurdish populations who had already established their own dynasties and emirates in vast areas of Azarbaijan, the Seljuks dominated the region in the 11th and early 12th centuries. In 531/1136 Azerbaijan fell to the lot of the Atabakan-e-Azerbaijan and Atabakan-e-Maragheh. It was invaded by the Khwarizm Shah Jalal ad-din until the advent of the Mongol Invasion. The Mongols under Hulagu Khan established (13th century) their capital at Maragheh. After being conquered by Timur in the 14th century, Tabriz became an important provincial capital of the Timurid empire. Later, Tabriz was the capital of the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu empires.^{[citation needed]} It was out of Ardabil (ancient Artavilla) that the Safavid dynasty arose (c. 1500) to renew the state of Persia. There was fierce fighting between the Ottoman Empire and Persia for Azerbaijan. After brief Ottoman control, Shah Abbas the Great, regained control of the region in 1603. After 907/1502 Azarbaijan became the chief bulwark and military based of the Safavids. In the meantime, between 1514 and 1603, the Ottomans frequently occupied Tabriz and other parts of the province. The Safavid control was restored by Shah Abbas but during the Afghan invasion (1135-42/1722-8) the Ottomans recaptured Azarbaijan and other western provinces of Iran, until Nadir Shah expelled them. In the beginning of the reign of Karim Khan Zand the Afghan Azad Khan revolted in Azarbaijan and later the Dumbuli Kurds of khoy and other tribal chiefs lorded it over various parts of Azarbaijan. With the advent of the Qajars, Azarbaijan became the traditional residence of the heirs-apparent. At this time, the final northern frontier of Iran with Russia (along the Araxes) was established in 1828 (Turkmanchay Treaty). After 1905 the representatives of Azarbaijan were very active in the Iranian constitutional revolution.

The Russian (Tsarist) army occupied Iranian Azerbaijan in 1909, and again in 1912-1915 period, and the Bolshevik forces occupied Iranian Azerbaijan and other parts of Iran in 1920-1921,^[19] and the Soviet forces occupied Iranian Azarbaijan in 1941 and created a very short-lived autonomous, Soviet-supported state in May 1946, which was dissolved after reunification of Iranian Azerbaijan with Iran in November of the same year.^[20] . Azerbaijani provinces have played a major in the cultural and economic life of Iran in both the Pahlavi era as well as the Islamic revolution.

Azeris are culturally very close to the rest of the Iranians though their language is Turkic. The people of Azerbaijan have similar DNA to other Iranian peoples^[13][21] as well as their religion which is Shia Islam. This may be the most important characteristic of the Azeris setting them apart from other Turkic speakers (who are mostly Sunni Muslims). Azeris celebrate Nouruz for the turn of the new Iranian year, the arrival of spring. Azerbaijan has a distinct music in Iran. Many local dances and folk music continue to survive among the various peoples of the provinces. Although Azerbaijani language is not an official language it is widely used, mostly in an oral tradition, among the Azeris in Iran. Many poets that came from Azerbaijan wrote poetry in both Persian and Azerbaijani. Renowned poets in Azerbaijani language are Nasimi, Shah Ismail I (who was known with the pen-name Khatai), Fuzuli, and Mohammad Hossein Shahriar. Fuzuli and Nasimi were probably born outside what is now Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani was the dominant language of the ruling dynasties of the Turkic rulers of the area such as the Ak Koyunlu and later it was used in the Safavid courts for a short time, until Persian was adopted, however, Turkic was used especially among the Kizilbash warriors.^{[citation needed]} As a longstanding province of Iran (Persia), Azerbaijan is mentioned favorably on many occasions in Persian literature by Iran's greatest authors and poets. Examples:

گزیده هر چه در ایران بزرگان
زآذربایگان و ری و گرگان
All the nobles and greats of Iran,
Choose from Azarbaijan, Ray, and Gorgan.
—Vis o Ramin

از آنجا بتدبیر آزادگان
بیامد سوی آذرآبادگان
From there the wise and the free,
set off to Azarbaijan
—Nizami

بیک ماه در آذرآبادگان
ببودند شاهان و آزادگان
For a month's time, The Kings and The Free,
Would choose in Azarbaijan to be
—Ferdowsi

1. Sahand University of Technology
2. Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
3. Tabriz University of Tarbiat Moallem
4. University of Tabriz
5. Islamic Azad University of Tabriz
6. Islamic Azad University of Shabestar
7. Islamic Azad University of Maragheh
8. Islamic Azad University of Miyaneh
9. Tabriz Islamic Arts University
10. Azarbaijan University of Tarbiat Moallem, Azarshahr
11. University College of Nabi Akram
12. Urmia University of Medical Sciences
13. Urmia University
14. Islamic Azad University of Khoi
15. Islamic Azad University of Urmia
16. Ardabil University of Medical Sciences
17. Mohaghegh Ardabili University
18. Islamic Azad University of Ardabil
19. Islamic Azad University of Khalkhal
20. University of Zanjan
21. Zanjan University of Medical Sciences
22. Islamic Azad University of Zanjan
23. Islamic Azad University of Abhar
24. Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS)

• Atropatene
• Iranian theory regarding the origin of the Azerbaijanis
• History of the name Azerbaijan
• Ancient Azari language

Azerbaijani language edition of Wikipedia

• "Azerbaijan" (Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition; 2001-05)
• Azerbaijan entries in the Encyclopedia Iranica