Agarak () is a village in the

Meghri Municipality Meghri Municipality, referred to as Meghri Community ( ''Meghri Hamaynk''), is an urban community and administrative subdivision of Syunik Province of Armenia, at the south of the country bordering Iran. Consisted of a group of settlements, its ad ...

of the

Syunik Province Syunik (, ) is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital and larg ...

in southern

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, founded in 1949. As of 2011, the population of Agarak was 4,429 and the population of Agarak as of 2022 was 3210. The village is located on the left bank of river

Araks River The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...

, 9 km southwest of

Meghri Meghri ( ; ) is a town and the centre of the Meghri Municipality of the Syunik Province in southern Armenia, near the border with Iran. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 4,580. According to the 2020 official estimate, Meghri's ...

on the

Armenia–Iran border The Armenia–Iran border (, ) is 44 km (27 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan region in the west to the tripoint with Azerbaijan proper in the east. The border was protected by guards of the Russ ...

. The border crossing at Agarak is Armenia's sole border crossing with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, with the Iranian village of

Nurduz Nurduz (, also Romanized as Nūrdūz) is a village in Nowjeh Mehr Rural District, Siah Rud District, Jolfa County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 14, in 4 families. It is situated near Iran's sole border cros ...

located across the border. The village had a railway station on the demolished and non-functioning branch of the

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

- Nakhchivan-

Horadiz Horadiz is a city and municipality in the Fuzuli District of Azerbaijan, located on the left bank of the Aras river. As of 2019, it had a population of 7,600 people. History During the Russian Empire, the village of Horadiz was part of the Jeb ...

railway.

History

Modern-day Agarak is located in the ''Arevik'' canton of the historic province of Syunik of Greater Armenia. The area was mentioned in the 12th and 13th centuries by historian

Stepanos Orbelian Stepanos Orbelian (, originally spelled ; – 1303) was a thirteenth-century Armenian historian and the metropolitan bishop of the province of Syunik. He is known for writing his well-researched ''History of the Province of Syunik''. Biogr ...

as a rural settlement. However, the region was historically known for its copper and lead mines. The current name of the village is derived from the nearby village of Agarak, literally meaning ''farm'' or ''estate'' in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

. Two churches dating back to the 17th century lie in the vicinity of Agarak. The church of Surp Amenaprkich (the Holy Saviour) is located in the nearby village of Kuris, north of Agarak, and the Aknakhach church in Agarak. The Geographical and Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire, mentions that the village of Agarak, as of 1861, was located in the Ordubad uezd of the

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central ...

. The village at that time was notable for the mine and factory located there. According to the publication, in 1860, the village produced 500 pounds of copper. Agarat - panoramio

Contemporary Agarak was founded in 1949, during the period of

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

, as a settlement to accommodate workers from the nearby copper-molybdenum combine, along with their families. The community grew with the expansion of the combine, making Agarak an important industrial centre on the southern borders of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.. During the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

, this growing importance was reflected in a state visit by

Anastas Mikoyan Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (; , ; ; – 21 October 1978) was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and Bolshevik revolutionary who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union. As a member of th ...

to Agarak in March 1962. During the first days of its foundation, the settlement was mainly characterized by two-storied residential buildings. By the end of the 1970s, the population had grown so much that three, four, and five-storied buildings were also being constructed in Agarak. Following the independence of Armenia in 1991, Agarak became an urban municipality within the newly formed Syunik Province and the first bridge connecting Armenia to Iran was established. However, as a result of the 2016 administrative reforms, Agarak was downgraded from town to village, thus becoming a rural settlement within the

. The village currently has two kindergartens, one secondary school, one art school, a cultural palace, two libraries and a football stadium.

Geography

Agarak is located in a semi-desert zone and is surrounded by rocky mountains with high cliffs and deep canyons with an average altitude of 660m. It has a

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(BWk) according to the Köppen climate classification system. The vicinity of the village is designated as a Prime Butterfly Area, having a number of rare and endangered species of butterflies. Among them are ''

Gegenes nostrodamus ''Gegenes nostrodamus'', commonly known as the dingy swift, light pygmy skipper, Mediterranean skipper or veloz de las rieras, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the Mediterranean Sea, through Anatolia to Turkest ...

'', '' Zegris eupheme'', '' Pieris krueperi'', ''

Chazara briseis ''Chazara briseis'', the hermit, is a butterfly species belonging to the Family (biology), family Nymphalidae. It can be found in North Africa, southern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Central Asia through Afghanistan, and north-wes ...

'', '' Cupido argiades'', ''

Pseudophilotes vicrama ''Pseudophilotes vicrama'', the eastern baton blue, Retrieved April 23, 2018. is a small butterfly found in Asia, east to Tian Shan and parts of China, west to the Balkans, Turkey, eastern Europe to southern Finland. It belongs to the lycaenids ...

'', and others.

Economy

It is an important centre for

non-ferrous metallurgy In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable prope ...

. In 1853, a copper-molybdenum deposit was discovered, and in 1958 a copper-molybdenum plant was opened in the village, which includes a quarry and a processing plant. The Agarak copper deposit and smeltery have been operating since 1963. The copper-molybdenum industry in Agarak has been recovered since 2001. Currently, the copper-molybdenum plant secures around 1200 jobs for the population of Agarak, which makes around 25% of the entire population of Agarak. The Agarak Copper-Molybdenum mine complex produces copper and molybdenum concentrate through bulk-selective flotation recovery of molybdenum and copper minerals. It was fully acquired by GeoProMining company in 2007. The

custom house and the border checkpoint with

are situated in the territory of Agarak. The construction of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline started in Agarak on 30 November 2004. The pipeline started operations on 20 December 2006.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

from Iran is a growing industry in Agarak. Many of the Iranian tourists stop in Meghri and Agarak to go to the restaurants, cafes, and stores. The

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

is in high demand in Agarak with frequent Persian-language signs, and many of the locals engaged in services are proficient in colloquial Persian.

Demographics

The population of Agarak since 1908 is as follows:

References

{{portal bar, Geography Populated places in Syunik Province Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1949 Armenia–Iran border crossings