Sanandaj (; ) is a city in the Central District of

Sanandaj County Sanandaj County () is in Kurdistan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Sanandaj. History In 2011, Hoseynabad-e Jonubi Rural District was separated from the Central District (Sanandaj County), Central District, and Hoseynabad-e Shomal ...

, in the Kurdistan province of

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 the province, the county, and the district. With a population of 414,069, it is the second largest Kurdish city and 23rd largest city overall in Iran.

History

Sanandaj's founding is fairly recent, (about 250 years ago), yet in its short existence it has grown to become one of the centers of

Kurdish culture Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by Kurdish people. The Kurdish culture is a legacy from ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds and their society. Kurds are an Iranian ethnic group who live in the northern M ...

.Geoffrey Khan, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Sanandaj, Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, p. 1. During the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

the city was attacked by Iraqi planes and saw disturbances. Since 2019, UNESCO has recognized Sanandaj as Creative City of Music. The name "Sinna" first appears in records from the 14th century CE. Before this, the main city in the region was Sisar, whose exact location is unknown. Sisar was also called "Sisar of Sadkhaniya", or "Sisar of the hundred springs", and it has been proposed that the current name of "Sinna" is a contracted form of "Sadkhaniya". The name "Sisar" disappears in the 14th century and the name "Sinna" replaces it, for example in the works of

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 ...

who refers to a mountain and a pass with this name. Then the Kurdish historian Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi mentions that in 1580 an

Ardalan Ardalan also known as Ardalanids, house of Ardalan, Ardalind dynasty, () was a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary Kurds, Kurdish Emirate in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The Ardalan state wa ...

ruler named Timur Khan had a land grant including Sinna and the earlier Ardalan capital of Hasanabad. However, the local historian Ali-Akbar Munshi Waqayi-Nigar wrote in 1892/3 that Sinna was founded later, by the ruler

Soleyman Khan Ardalan Soleyman Khan Ardalan was the Ardalan ''beglerbeg'' (governor) of Kurdistan from 1637 to 1657. He is notable for having founded the city of Sanandaj in 1636/37, which would serve as the capital of the Ardalan principality until its dissolution in t ...

, on the site of an earlier settlement; the

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (� ...

he gives for this event corresponds to 1046 AH, or 1636-7 CE. Sinna was developed significantly under the reign of Aman Allah "the Great" (from 1797-1825). 19th-century Sinna was "a lively commercial center, exporting

oak gall An oak apple or oak gall is a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the family ...

tragacanth Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern Fabaceae, legumes of the genus ''Astragalus (plant), Astragalus'', including ''Astragalus adscendens, A. adscendens'', ''Astragalus gummifer, A. gummifer ...

, furs, and carpets". Its population was mostly

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

, with a significant

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

minority and smaller numbers of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and Assyrian Christians (the latter of which are predominantly

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

Demographics

Ethnicity

The population of Sanandaj is mainly

. The city also had an

minority who gradually emigrated from the city. Until the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

(1979), the city had a small

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

-speaking

community of about 4,000 people. The city boasted a sizable Assyrian community that spoke a unique dialect of Aramaic called

Senaya Senaya or Sanandaj Christian Neo-Aramaic is a dialect of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic originally spoken by Christians in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province in Iran. Most speakers now live in California, United States and few families still live in Tehr ...

, they are mostly members of the

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

Language

The linguistic composition of the city:

Religion

Most of the people of Sanandaj follow the

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 traditionist ...

branch of

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 311,446 in 81,380 households. The following census in 2011 counted 373,987 people in 106,771 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 412,767 people in 126,240 households. The city is the second largest Kurdish city in Iran, behind

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

Geography

Location

The city is between the Qishlaq river, a tributary of the Diyala, and Mount Awidar, which separates it from the old

capital of Hasanabad. Carpet making is the biggest industry in Sanandaj.

Climate

Sanandaj has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(''Csa'') according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, bordering on a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dsa''), with cold and wet winters and very hot and dry summers. The synoptic station of Sanandaj started working in the autumn of 1959. Highest recorded temperature: 44°C on 16 July 1981 Lowest recorded temperature: -31°C on 6 February 1974

Economy

The economy of Sanandaj is based upon the production of carpets, processed hides and skins, milled rice, refined sugar, woodworking, cotton weaving, metalware and cutlery.

Notable people

Zhina Modares Gorji, is a local bookseller and podcaster who was sentenced to over twenty years in Sanandaj prison on several charges. The sentence was reduced on appeal to two years and four months for "propaganda against the state" in 2024.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Sanandaj

Sanandaj Online Community

Islamic Azad University of sanandaj
{{Provincial capitals of Iran Iranian provincial capitals Cities in Kurdistan province Populated places in Sanandaj County Assyrian communities in Iran Kurdish settlements in Kurdistan province