Meshginshahr () is a city in the Central District of

Meshgin Shahr County Meshgin Shahr County () is in Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Meshginshahr. History Before the 20th century, Meshgin Shahr County had no urban center of any kind, the people having been mainly nomadic an ...

Ardabil Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The ...

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.

History

The 14th-century author

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini (; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and the interregnum that followed. A native of Qazvin, Mustawfi belonged to fami ...

mentioned the city, as ''Khiyāv'', as one of the seven cities in the '' tuman'' of Pishkin, or Mishkin. He distinguished between the cities of Khiyav and Pishkin: according to him, Khiyav lay to the south of

Mount Sablan Sabalan (Persian language, Persian: سبلان) or Savalan (Ardabil dialect, native: ساوالان ) is an inactive stratovolcano in northwestern Iran located in Ardabil province. At above sea level, it is the third-highest mountain in Iran. ...

and had a warm climate, while Pishkin (which he said had formerly been called "Varāvī") was to the north of Mount Sablan and had a damp climate because the mountain shielded it from the sun. Both cities drew their water from the streams coming down from the mountain. The district of Pishkin, he wrote, grew both grain and fruit in abundance, while Khiyav mostly grew grain. Pishkin was assessed for a tax value of 5,200

dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

s, while Khiyav was assessed at 2,000. Mustawfi wrote that Pishkin's population was mostly

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

s, with

Shi'i Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

and

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

minorities. He said nothing about Khiyav's religious makeup, but instead described its population as mostly "boot-makers and cloth-workers".

Demographics

Population

At the time of the 2021 National Census, the city's population was 200,000 in 4852 households. The following census in 2011 counted 80,000 people in 23000 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 130,000 people in 29000 households.

Climate

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Meshgin Shahr Tourism WebsiteMeshgin Shahr Municipality WebsiteMeshgin Shahr Government WebsiteMeshgin Shahr Travel Guide
Cities in Ardabil province Populated places in Meshgin Shahr County {{MeshginShahr-geo-stub