Takab () is a city in the Central District of Takab County,

West Azerbaijan West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia. It is in the Azerbaijan (Iran), northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey (Ağrı Province, Ağrı, Hakkâri Pr ...

province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The famous historical complex Takht-e Soleyman is situated to the North-East of the city. Takht-e-Soleyman was one of Takab's oldest

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

fire temple A fire temple (; ) is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. In Zoroastrian doctrine, ''atar'' and '' aban'' (fire and water) are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies sregarded as the basis of ritual lif ...

s during the Sassanid Dynasty and had the name ''Azargoshnasp''. The Karaftu Cave is also situated in Takab near

Saqqez Saqqez (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Saqqez County), Central District of Saqqez County, Kurdistan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology The name Saqqez derives from the Scythian la ...

Etymology

Shiz is the ancient name used during

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

for Takab. Takab means one narrow water way in

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

. Tak means one or alone and Ab means water. Takab was originally known as Tikan Təpə by its native Turkic

Afshar people Afshar ( ; , ; ; ) is a tribe of Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Afshar means "obedient". According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son ...

until 1941 when Iran's

Academy of Persian Language and Literature The Academy of Persian Language and Literature (APLL) (, ''Farhangestân-e Zabân-o Adab-e Fârsi'') is the regulatory body for the Persian language, headquartered in Tehran, Iran. Formerly known as the Academy of Iran (, ''Farhangestân-e Iran'' ...

officially changed it to Takab. Afshar people are one of the Oghuz Turkic peoples. These originally nomadic Oghuz tribes moved from Central Asia and initially settled in

Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republ ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

republic, and Eastern Turkey. Later some of them were relocated by the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

to Khorasan and

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

Demographics

Language, ethnicity, and religion

The predominant language spoken in the city is Azerbaijani, while the predominant religion is

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

. Minority

Kurdish tribes Kurdish tribes are tribes of Kurds, Kurdish people, an ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in West Asia, Western Asia. The tribes are socio-political and generally also a territorial unit based on descent and kinship, real or ...

include

Shekak The Shekak or Shakkak () is a Kurds, Kurdish Kurdish tribes, tribe present in various regions, mainly in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. History The Shikaki tribe are first mentioned in a Yazidis, Yezidi Yazidism#Mishur, mişûr (manuscript) from ...

, Sharani, Moslanlu and Zafranlu, while most of the Azerbaijani population is of the Afshar tribe. The Azerbaijanis have also been described as ' Turkmans'. Nowadays out of twenty-three neighborhoods in Takab city, ten neighborhoods are completely inhabited by

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

and four neighborhoods are mostly inhabited by

, and six neighborhoods are completely inhabited by

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and three neighborhoods are mostly inhabited by

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 43,702 in 10,078 households. The following census in 2011 counted 44,040 people in 11,749 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as of 49,677 people in 14,369 households.

Climate

Economy

The majority of residents of Takab earn their income from agriculture. Takab is home to the biggest gold mine in the entire country and one of the biggest in the Middle East.http://www.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8901181434

Notable people

* Shahriar Afshar,

Iranian-American Iranian-Americans, also known as Persian-Americans, are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry, or who hold Iranian citizenship. Most Iranian-Americans arrived in the United States after 1979, as a result of the Irani ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and inventor. * Esmaeil Zolfi,

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

businessman and philanthropist.

Notes

References

{{Takab County, state=collapsed Cities in West Azerbaijan province Populated places in Takab County Kurdish settlements in West Azerbaijan province