Urmia

Urmia is the capital of West Azerbaijan province, in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. It is known by its nicknames as the "Cradle of Water" and "Paris of Iran".

Talk
Azerbaijani or Azeri, a Turkic dialect, is the primary language spoken by most Urmian people, although many people, especially the younger generation, can communicate in Farsi and English up to some level.

By car
By the bridge over the Urmia lake you can reach Tabriz within 1½ hours.

By bus
There are daily buses from Van in Turkey and Arbil in Iraq and also to Tehran, Tabriz and major Western Iranian cities.

See
Urmia has many parks and touristic coastal villages on the shore of Urmia Lake. The oldest park in Urmia, called Park-e Saat, was established in the first Pahlavi's era. Urmia's largest park is Ellar Bagi Park (Azerbaijani "Garden of the Peoples") along the Shahar Chayi, or the City River.