- published: 25 Apr 2014
- views: 31586
Iğdır (pronounced [ˈɯɰdɯɾ]; Armenian: Իգդիր, Igdir, also Ցոլակերտ, Tsolakert, after the ancient city nearby; Azerbaijani: İğdır, Idir; Kurdish: Îdir, Idir) is the capital of Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey, and borders Armenia, Azerbaijan (Nakhchivan) and Iran. The border with Armenia is formed by the Aras River. Turkey's highest mountain, Ağrı Dağı, (the Biblical Mount Ararat) is in Iğdır province, but much of the land is a wide plain far below the mountain.
The area's name came from "Iğdır Bey", the oldest son of Cengiz Alp who was one of six sons of Oghuz Han belonging to internal Oghuz three arrows branch considered to be the 21st of the 24 Oghuz branches. They spread throughout Anatolia and there are towns and villages named Iğdır in Malatya and other parts of Turkey today.
Historians believe that Igdir went by the Armenian name of Tsolakert during the Middle Ages. When the Spanish traveler Ruy González de Clavijo passed through the region in the early 1400s, he noted that there was a fortress at Igdir ruled by a woman, the widow of a brigand whom Timurlane had put to death. In 1555, the town became a part of Safavid Empire and remained under Persian rule (with brief military occupations by the Ottomans between 1578–1605, 1635–36 and 1722–46) until it fell into the hands of the Russians after the Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828.
Iğdır Province (Turkish: Iğdır ili) is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the border with Armenia, Azerbaijan (the area of Nakhchivan), and Iran. Its adjacent provinces are Kars to the northwest and Ağrı to the west and south. It occupies an area of 3,587 km² and population of 184,418 (2010 est.), it was 168,634 in 2000 (up from 142,601 in 1990).
Turkey's highest mountain, 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, cotton can be grown in Iğdır. Iğdır is where Noah is said to have thrived following the flood.[citation needed] The border with Armenia follows the Aras River.
The provincial capital is the city of Iğdır.
Iğdır province is divided into 4 districts (capital district in bold):
The area is named after a western Turkish clan Iğdıroğlu belonging to a branch of the Oghuz Turks.[citation needed] They spread throughout Anatolia and there are towns and villages named Iğdır in Malatya and other parts of Turkey today.[citation needed]