Varzaqan ( fa, ورزقان; also
Romanize
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, an ...
d as Varzeqān and Warzagan; formerly, Karzigan (Persian: كَرزيگَن), also Romanized as Kārzigān and Karzygan) is a city in the
Central District of
Varzaqan County
Varzaqan County ( fa, شهرستان ورزقان) is located in East Azerbaijan 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 ...
,
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 ...
, and serves as capital of the county. At the 2006 census, its population was 3,549 in 930 households.
The following census in 2011 counted 5,385 people in 1,392 households.
The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 5,348 people in 1,401 households.
The city is famous for the
Sungun copper mine
The Sungun copper mine ( ) is located in Varzaqan county, East Azarbaijan, Iran, 75 km north west of the provincial town of Ahar. It is the most important geologic and industrial feature in the area and is the largest open-cast copper mine ...
, 25 km from the city centre, which is estimated to have 3 percent of the known copper reserves in the world.
Historical landmark
The
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...
inscription in the village of
Saqandel is the most famous historical monument in the region.
Earthquakes
The area is subject to earthquakes, and in 2012 a number of people were killed when an
earthquake doublet
__NOTOC__
In seismology, doublet earthquakes – and more generally, multiplet earthquakes – were originally identified as multiple earthquakes with nearly identical waveforms originating from the same Epicenter, location. They are now characteri ...
(magnitude 6.4 and 6.3) struck on the afternoon of 11 August.
Economy
Farming is the predominant occupation in the rural areas. The area produces apple, pear, cherry, walnut and apricot fruit. Recently spruce trees have been planted as the start of a forestry industry. Cold water fish farming has been started.
Varzeqan is a mining centre for base metal mining, as well as gold. The Sungun copper mine is now the largest copper mine in northwestern Iran. The deposit itself is one of the largest copper deposits in the world. There are nearby gold mines at Shrfabad, Hyzjan, Tshkhsrv, Astrgan,
Andryan and Myvhrvd.
References
Varzaqan County
Cities in East Azerbaijan Province
Populated places in East Azerbaijan Province
Populated places in Varzaqan County
{{Varzaqan-geo-stub