What you need to know

Tabriz is the most populated city in the Iranian Azerbaijan, one of the historical capitals of Iran, and the present capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Located in the Quru River valley between the long ridge of the volcanic cones of the Sahand and Eynali mountains, Tabriz’s elevation ranges between 1,350 and 1,600 metres (4,430 and 5,250 ft) above sea level. The valley opens up into a plain that gently slopes down to the eastern shores of Lake Urmia, 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers, the city is considered a summer resort. Tabriz is named World’s Carpet and Crafts City, it is also appointed as the exemplary tourism city in 2018 by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

With a population of 1.6 million, Tabriz is the biggest economic hub and the biggest metropolitan area in North West of Iran. The population consists mostly of Iranian Azerbaijanis and the most spoken language in the city is Azerbaijani language. Tabriz is a major heavy industry hub for automobile, machine tools, refineries and petrochemical, textile, and cement production industries. The city is famous for its handicrafts including hand-woven rugs and jewelry. Local confectioneries, chocolates, dried nuts, and traditional food of Tabriz are recognized all around Iran as some of the best Iranian food. Tabriz is also an academic hub and a site for some of the most prestigious cultural institutes in the northwest of Iran.

The city has a long and turbulent history with its oldest civilization sites dating back to 1,500 BC. It contains many historical monuments representing the transition of Iranian architecture in its long historical timelines. Most of the preserved historical sites in the city belong to Ilkhanid (of Mongol Empire), Safavid, and Qajar area, among them is the grand Bazaar of Tabriz which is inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2010. From the early modern era, the city was pivotal in the development, movement, and economy of three neighboring regions, namely that of the Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, and central Iran. From the 19th century, it became the most important city in the country in numerous respects. As the closest Iranian hub to Europe, many aspects of the early modern modernisation in Iran started in Tabriz. Prior to the forced ceding of Iran’s Caucasian territories to Imperial Russia following the two Russo-Persian Wars of the first half of the 19th century, Tabriz was the main city in the implementation of Iranian rule for its Caucasian territories due to its proximity. During almost the entire Qajar period (up to 1925), it functioned as the seat for the crown prince as well.

Population:  1.6 million

Language

The predominant language spoken in Tabriz is Azerbaijani Turkish  which is a Turkic language mutually intelligible with modern Turkish dialects. The language has a strong Iranian substrata since it has for many centuries been in close contact with Persian. Like other part of Iran the official language is Persian and most inhabitants are familiar with Persian language, which is the official language of Iran and the sole language of education. Nerveless the Iranian constitution respected the right to speak and limited education in other Iranian languages including Azerbaijani. For the first time, an academic program on Azerbaijani Turkish language opened in Tabriz University in 1999. Other than Azerbaijani, there is a notable minority of Armenian speakers and a smaller minority of Assyrian speakers.

Currency

Tabriz currency is Iranian Rial(IRR)

Geography

Topography

Tabriz is located in northwest of Iran in East Azerbaijan province between Eynali and Sahand mountains in a fertile area in shore of Aji River and Ghuri River. The local area is earthquake-prone and during its history, the city has been devastated and rebuilt several times.

Climate

Tabriz has a semi-arid climate with regular seasons (Köppen BSk). The annual precipitation is around 280 millimetres (11 in), a good deal of which falls as snow during the winter months and rain in spring and autumn. The city enjoys mild and fine climate in spring, dry and semi-hot in summer, humid and rainy in autumn and snowy cold in winter. The average annual temperature is 12.6 °C. Cool winds blow from east to west mostly in summer. The inhabitants’ overall evaluation of climate is pretty negative; there is a popular saying that “Təbrizin alti ayii qişdir, altisi də qəmişdir!” (in Tabriz, six months of the year are winter and the other six months are a nuisance).

Religion

After being crowned at Tabriz in 1501, Shah Isma’il Safavi determined that the Ithna Ashari branch of Shi’a sect of Islam announced the only accepted sect in Iran, as a result of this royal order the mostly Sunni population of Tabriz converted to Shia.  At present, the majority of people are followers of Shia Islam. The city has a visible Armenian minority who follow Christianity. There used to be a small Jewish community, but most of them have moved to Tehran. Tabriz is also home to a very large number of the followers of Yarsanism, a Kurdish folk religion. There is a small, embattled Baha’i community in the city where one of the founders of their faith, Ali Muhammad Bab, was executed on July 9, 1850.

Transportation

Tabriz residents mostly commute by public bus, shuttle taxis, metro, bike, and personal cars. Tabriz public bus lines connects its districts and some of its suburbs to city center of Tabriz. Tabriz also have a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line which runs through an 18 km (11 mi) from Train Station in West of Tabriz to Baseej Square in far East of the city.

Tabriz also have a public shuttle taxi service which connects city centers to major districts of the city. There is also a service calls Telephone Taxi which operate by private companies.

Part of Tabriz subway line 1 is operational since 2015 which goes from Shahgoli to Shahriyar. Several lines are planned to connect districts of Tabriz to its city center however the construction is six year behind the plan. The government of Iran had planned to finish 6 km (4 mi) of line No.1 of the network in 2006, but this was not achieved due to financial problems and currently only half of the track for the metro line has been laid.

Tabriz is linked to Europe through Turkey’s roads and Bazargan border. Tabriz is connected to Tehran by Freeway 2 (Iran).

The city is linked to Iran National Railways also to Europe by Turkey’s railways via Ghotour  bridge in West Azerbaijan province of Iran. Tabriz was the first city in Iran to be served by railways with the construction of the Tabriz-Jolfa line in 1912–1914 (later converted to broad-gauge in 1916). Tabriz Railway Station is located in the western part of the city, at the end of Khomeyni Street.

Tabriz International Airport opened in 1950 and is the only international airport in East Azerbaijan (since 1991). It has daily and weekly domestic flights to Tehran, Isfahan, Kish Island, Shiraz, and Mashhad. It also has daily and weekly flights to Istanbul, Tbilisi, and Baghdad.