Urmia Lake is located in the northwest of Iran. According to Iran’s country divisions, Urmia Lake is shared by two provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, which means that part of the lake is in one province and the rest is in another. At its largest scale it is the biggest lake in Iran, biggest saltwater lake in the Middle East and ranks 6th in the biggest saltwater lakes in the world. Urmia Lake’s water is very salty, and the majority of its water supply comes from Zarrineh-rood, Simineh-rood, Talkheh-rood, Gadar, Barandooz, Shahrchai, Nazloo and Zola rivers. In 2015 Urmia Lake’s area was estimated to be around 6000 km2.
Despite the fact that the lake has shrunk to 10% of its original size, it is still one of the most favourite spots in Iran that most tourists are eager to see and discover during their travel to Iran.
Currently the lake is called Urmia which is named after the capital of West Azerbaijan province, Urmia. But in older and also ancient times it had been called with a few different names and there were a lot of discussions around the meaning of its name by various Iranian and non-Iranian people. For instance, Pourdavoud has written that Urmia is divided into “Ur” which means “Calm” and “Mia” meaning “Water”, who shares opinion on the second half with Pahlavi interpretation. In Hebrew “Ur” means “Light” and according to Vladimir Minorsky and based on a Syriac text, the name has originated from a place called Urmit near the lake.
In Arabic they call it by “Ormieh” or “Ormy” and local people call it “Urmi”. Some Turkish authors has written it “Orumieh” or “Ruimeh” but more recent Turkish authors write and pronounce it “Urmieh”.
In ancient Persian texts this lake was called “Chichest”, which is an Avestan name and means “Luminous”, and really goes with one of the main characteristics of the lake, which is the luminance caused by the salt in the water. In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh it’s been referred to as “Khanjest”.
Kaboodan is other ancient name the lake was called by.
Strabone who lived around the 1st century, called it “Kapoota”. The lake had been called by this name for 200 years and originated from a word in ancient Persian “Kapoot” (Kabood: Azure, Dark blue).
Some of the other names:
In 1930’s and during great Reza shah’s reign, the name of the lake changed to Rezaiyeh, to pay tribute to the king. After the Islamic Revolution of Iran, it was changed back to Urmia.
One of the earliest manifestations of Urmia Lake goes back to 9th century BC during Assyrian era. Two names were used to call the lake, Parsavah (Parsuwas) meaning Persians, and Mitanni. It’s currently unclear, whether these names referred to a specific location, tribe or have any relations with people’s or kings’ names.
According to archaeological excavations in the area, there are signs of settlement that dates back to 7000 BC. Another excavation on Teppe Hasanlu (Hasanlou mound) archaeological site has revealed there were settlement as old as 6th millennium BC!
10 km south to the Araxes River, there is another archaeological site, Kul Tepe Jolfa, in Jolfa county, which dates back to 5th century BC, in Chalcolithic period.
Urmia Lake was the centre of Mannaeans kingdom. Their probable living place, represented by the ruin mound of Hasanlou, was on southern side of the lake.
In 1604 a battle took place near the lake, called The Battle of Urmia, during Ottoman and Safavid war.
The area around the lake has been the home to Iranians, Assyrians and Armenians, in the last 500 years.
Lake Urmia along with its 102 islands, was registered as one of Iran’s National Parks in 1973, and has been protected as a national park ever since.
Lake Urmia national Park is one of Iran’s natural habitats for different species. This national park with an area of 462,600 acres is one of 9 biosphere reserves in Iran.
Based on a biodiversity list presented in 2014 and 2016, Lake Urmia national park is home to 62 different types of bacteria and archaebacteria, 42 species microscopic fungi, 20 species of phytoplankton, 311 different types of plants, 5 species of mollusca, 226 types of birds, 27 species of amphibians and reptiles and 24 species of mammals. 47 fossils have also been discovered and recorded in the area.
Lake Urmia is internationally registered and protected as UNESCO Biosphere reserve and Ramsar site. Most of the lake has been identified and acknowledged as a national park.
Every year Lake Urmia national park is the host to different types of birds, such as flamingos, pelicans, spoonbills, ibises, storks, shelducks, avocets, stilts and gulls, who have chosen the 102 rocky islands of this national park as their stop over.
The salinity of the waters has increased due to drought in recent years, which has resulted in a significant decline in the number of migratory birds using this area as their stopover.
Given that Urmia Lake has high salinity, no fish species can live there, but the waters of Urmia lake are one of the important habitats of Artemia, a food source for flamingos.
In 2013 according to the, then head of Iranian Artemia Research Center, that Artemia urimania had extinct due to increased salinity, but this was contradicted by other experts.
The water consists of ions such as Li+ , K+ , +Na+ ,+Mg2 and SO4 2 , -Cl and –HCO3 are the main anions. Na+ and –Cl density in Urmia Lake are 4 times more, comparing to their density in high seas.
Given that Urmia lake’s water and mud are rich in minerals, especially Chlorine, Sulphate, Iron, iodine compounds, has sufficient amounts of salt and high heat absorption capacity, variety of organic substances, and reasonable amount of radioactivity, these characteristics have turned it into a high quality sludge (mud which has therapeutic characteristics).
Based on this fact, since long ago, people with different illnesses would come here, some doctors would also recommend some of their patients to use the water and sludge of Urmia Lake for their medical treatment. After World War II, Red Crescent established a hospital in Tehran, following that they also opened a medical center treating patients with Urmia Lake’s water and sludge.
The chlorine water of the lake has therapeutical benefits for diseases such as, lymphatic drainage, fractures that heal slowly, joint rheumatism, neurological diseases and various female specific diseases.
The sludge has shown to have positive and significant effects on diseases such as rheumatism, gout, muscular pain caused by Fibrositis, neuralgia especially sciatica, bruises, joint injuries, joint stiffness, eczema, psoriasis and infertility.
Lake Urmia is fed by 13 permanent rivers and many small springs, as well as rainfalls directly into the lake. Nearly half of the flow comes from Zarrineh River (Persian: Zarrinehrood) and Simineh River (Siminehrood). Evaporation is the only way the lake loses its water, given that there’s no outflow from the lake.
Urmia Lake has 102 islands and Shahi Island is historically the largest island. Shahi Island is the burial place of Hulagu Khan (one of Genghis khan’s grandsons). Both khans have been buried in a castle above 300 m cliff, along the island’s shore.
Lake’s water level has started to fall since 2001. A satellite image in 2015 reveals that the lake has lost 88% of its water. Various factors have been listed as main reasons for the lakes gradual water loss. Other than the 5% decrease in rainfall caused by drought in the recent years, human factors form the main and fundamental reason for the lake’s shrinkage. The main reasons are, building a highway across the lake shortening the distance between Tabriz in East Azerbaijan and Urmia in West Azerbaijan. This highway has divided the lake into two parts, and the two parts are only connected to each other via a small 1.2 km gate under the bridge. This along with ecological factors, will eventually dry up the lake and turns it into salt marsh. The second main reason is, more than 200 dams either built or under construction on the lake’s basin rivers.
Measures are being taken to reverse the process.
In July 2014 Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, approved for assigning 14 trillion Rials to Lake Urmia’s recovery plan. This plan consists of reducing farmers’ water use and environmental restoration. In 2015, UNDP and Iran’s Department of Environment issued a 225 million dollars plan for saving the lake and the surrounding wetland.
Drying of the lake will have destructive effects and it will be disastrous both ecologically and historically. Salt storms and salt rains will be a threat to more than 13 million people.
According to a most recent news, there has been a 4 million km3 increase in Urmia Lake’s water.
There’s no specific or preferable time to visit Lake Urmia National Park, and you can always enjoy the view of the lake, even when it’s thirsty during the summer and it’s redder than ever. But if you are interested to see some of the Islands, surrounding nature and are planning to continue your journey to the neighbouring villages of Urmia, which Kurdish people are their main habitants and see the fresher nature and landscapes, April, May and June are the best times to head out there.
Best option for travelling through Iran’s historical and environmental sites, is to take local tours to those areas. That way you will fully see and acknowledge their importance and gain knowledge on things that may not even be available on the internet.
Urmia Lake is located 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Tabriz. With steady and nonstop driving and in normal traffic conditions it will take 1.5 hours to go from Tabriz to Urmia Lake. From there you can either come back to Tabriz or drive another 31 kilometres to Urmia city and stay the night. There are many hotels, motels and hostels available in the city of Urmia.
For eco tours and adventure tours lovers and those who are interested in different type of tourism, visiting places such as Urmia Lake is very interesting amusement. Eco sites in Iran always offers very good activities such as mountain trekking, camping, fishing and star watching during the night.
Iran Negin Travel, as an Iran tour operator, provides a wide range of services to tourists who want to travel to Iran and have a nice time. Through our Iran tours packages, each sightseeing can be included upon the travelers request. Our Iran tours, especially Iran cultural tours, Iran Eco tours and Iran adventure tours, cover this special location in Iran.
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