Varzaqan () is a city in the Central District of

Varzaqan County Varzaqan County () is in East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Varzaqan. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census, the county's population was 46,833 in 10,766 households ...

East Azerbaijan East Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tabriz. The province is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil province, West Azerbaijan province ...

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. It is also the administrative center for

Ozomdel-e Jonubi Rural District Ozomdel-e Jonubi Rural District () is in the Central District of Varzaqan County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders ...

History

2024 helicopter crash

On 19 May 2024, a

helicopter crash A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

occurred about north of the city, killing Iranian President

Ebrahim Raisi Ebrahim Raisolsadati (14 December 1960 – 19 May 2024), better known as Ebrahim Raisi, was an Iranian politician who served as the eighth president of Iran from 2021 until 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash, his death in a helicopter crash in 202 ...

, Foreign Minister

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (; 23 April 1964 – 19 May 2024) was an Iranian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iran), foreign minister of Iran from 2021 until 2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash, his death in a helicopter ...

, and others.

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 3,549 in 930 households. The following census in 2011 counted 5,385 people in 1,392 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 5,348 people in 1,401 households.

Geography

Earthquakes

The area is subject to earthquakes, and in 2012, a number of people were killed when an

earthquake doublet __NOTOC__ In seismology, doublet earthquakes – and more generally, multiplet earthquakes – were originally identified as multiple earthquakes with nearly identical waveforms originating from the same Epicenter, location. They are now characteri ...

(magnitude 6.4 and 6.3) struck on the afternoon of 11 August.

Economy

Agriculture

Farming and gardening is the predominant occupation in the rural areas of Varzaqan. The agricultural products from the area include apple, pear, cherry, walnut and apricot fruit. Recently spruce trees have been planted as the start of a forestry industry. Cold water fish farming has been started more recently.

Mining

The city is notable for the

Sungun copper mine The Sungun copper mine ( ) is located in Varzaqan county, East Azerbaijan, Iran, 75 km northwest of the provincial town of Ahar. It is the most important geologic and industrial feature in the area. It is the largest open-pit copper mine ...

, from the city centre, which is estimated to have 3 percent of the known copper reserves in the world. Varzaqan is a mining centre for base metal mining, as well as gold. The Sungun copper mine is now the largest copper mine in northwestern Iran. The deposit itself is one of the largest copper deposits in the world. There are nearby gold mines at Sharafabad, Hyzjan, Tshkhsrv, Astrgan, Andaryan and Myvhrvd.

Historical landmarks

The

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

inscription in the village of Saqandel is the most famous historical monument in the region.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Cities in East Azerbaijan province Populated places in Varzaqan County