Qatur ( ) is a city in, and the capital of, Qatur District of

Khoy County Khoy County () is in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Khoy. History Khoy was named in ancient times for the salt mines that made it an important spur of the Silk Route. 3000 years ago, a city had existed on the are ...

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 ...

. It also serves as the administrative center for

Qatur Rural District Qatur Rural District () is in Qatur District of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan 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, Tu ...

Etymology

The city's name is said to originate from a disease very common in dogs and goats in Turkish language (''qotur''), and the warm water springs in this area helped to treat the disease and alleviate its symptoms. This gives rise to the idea that people living in the area may not have been Kurds originally, but rather immigrants from other parts of Turkey.

History

Following the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Qatur was handed over from the

Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to Iran.

Demographics

Language and ethnicity

Qatur is adjacent to the

Iran–Turkey border The Iran–Turkey border (; ) is in length, and runs from the tripoint with Azerbaijan in the north to the tripoint with Iraq in the south. Description The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Re ...

and is populated 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 ...

of the Shakak tribe.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, Qatur's population was 3,962 in 652 households, when it was a village in Qatur Rural District. The following census in 2011 counted 4,663 people in 1,000 households, by which time the village had been elevated to the status of a city. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 5,147 people in 1,193 households.

Climate

Due to its elevation at 1,961 m (6,433 ft) above sea level, Qatur has a cold continental mediterranean climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: Dsb). Winters are cold and snowy while summers are warm and far dryer. The average annual temperature in Qotur is 6.9 °C (44.4 °F). Precipitation here is about 414mm (16.3 in) per year.

Notes

References

Populated places in Khoy County Cities in West Azerbaijan province Kurdish settlements in West Azerbaijan province {{Khoy-geo-stub