Khoy

For the administrative subdivision, see Khoy County.

Khoy خوئ
—  city  —
Stone gate of Khoy
Khoy
Coordinates: 38°33′01″N 44°57′08″E
Country	Iran
Province	West Azerbaijan
County	Khoy
Bakhsh	Central
Elevation	1,148 m (3,769 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	178,708
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Area code(s)	0461
Website	http://www.Xoy.ir/

Khoy (Persian: خوئ‎, Azerbaijani: خوی, Armenian: Խոյ; also Romanized as Khoi, Khvoy, Khowy, Khuy, and Xoy) is a city in and the capital of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 178,708, in 45,090 families.

Khoy is located north of the province's capital and largest city Urmia, and 807 km north-west to Tehran. The region's economy is based around agriculture, particularly the production of fruit, grain, and timber. Khoy is nicknamed as the Sunflower city of Iran. As of 2006 census, the city had a population of 178,708, with an estimated 2008 population of 484,409. Azerbaijani is spoken in Khoy, while nearly all inhabitants can also converse in Persian. The main religion is Shia Islam.

Architecture

Khoy was fortified at various times in its history, most recently by the Qajar dynasty in the Nineteenth Century. It is well known for the tomb of Shams Tabrizi, renowned Iranian poet and mystic.

History

Khoy was located on the Silk Road. It has been the capital of the Emirate of Khoy (Her), born out of the Armenian Vaspurakan Kingdom between 908 and 1021. Between 1208 and 1210 it was occupied by the forces of Tamar of Georgia.Khoy again came under Iranian rule during the Seljuq period.

On 15 July 1478 (14 Rabi' II 883), in the Battle of Khoy, Sultan Khalil (Khalil Mirza) was killed and his forces dispersed by generals Bayandur and Sulayman Beg leading the confederated forces of Yaqub ibn Uzun Hasan Ak Koyunlu, who then took the Ak Koyunlu throne.

After the death of Nadir Shah Afshar in 1747, Khoy broke away from central government of Iran like several other states, including Afghanistan and some of northern Caucasian Khanates , and become the Khanate of Khoy (1747–1813) which was loyal to central government only when it was powerful (like Karim Khan) and autonomous when the central role was weak . The returning of Khoy to central government of Iran was during the beginning of Qajar period .Khoy was attacked by Russia in 1827. Until 1828 Khoy had a big number of Armenians.In 1828 some of them immigrated to the Eastern Armenia (Russian Empire). During World War I Ottoman Turks killed much of the Armenians in Khoy. Nowadays there is a small Armenian population living here.

In 1911 it was occupied by Ottoman troops, followed in World War I by Russian troops, who withdrew in 1917. In World War II it was again occupied by Soviet troops, who remained until 1946.

Famous places

• Tomb of Shams Tabrizi, Shams Tabrizi Tower
• Bastam and Bolourabad historical castles
• Khatoon [old] bridge
• Old stone gate of the city
• Old bazaar of Khoy
• Motallebkhan Mosque
• َAvrin Mountain
• Ghotour Iron Bridge
• S.t. Sourp Serkis Church
• Pouryaieh Valli Tomb

Famous people

• Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim Khoei
• Mohammad-Amin Riahi
• Abbas Zaryab Khoi
• Gholamreza Aghazadeh
• Behrouz Vossoughi

External links

• Official website of Khoyee people's assembly
• Khoy university
• Khoy government
• Khoy journal
• ShamsYar
• Nima Language Center