Malekan County ( fa, شهرستان ملکان) is located in

East Azerbaijan East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, ...

province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The capital of the county is

Malekan Malekan (Romanized as Malekān; formerly, Malik Kandi (ترکی آذربایجانی: مَلِك كَندی), also Romanized as Malek Kandī and Malikkand) is a city in the Central District of Malekan County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran ...

. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 100,366, in 24,823 households. Retrieved 3 November 2022 The following census in 2011 counted 106,118 people, in 29,686 households. At the 2016 census, the county's population was 111,319, in 33,598 households. The county is one of the most productive regions for grapes in Iran.

Etymology

The word ''Malekan'' is derived from Malek Kandi, "the village of the king." However, there are various theories pertaining to the origin of the name "Malekan Kandi." The first theory is that because the grounds are owned by "GAJAR" government, the city has been named after the founder and the king of the government. The second theory holds that because there have been several kings that have come and gone in the past, it has been named this way. The third and the last theory is that the name Malek Kandi is derived from the name of a king named Maleknia.

Administrative divisions

References

Counties of East Azerbaijan Province {{EastAzerbaijan-geo-stub