| Chaldoran County | |
| Native Name: | Persian: شهرستان چالدران |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Image Map1: | IranWestAzerbaijan-SVG.svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location of West Azerbaijan province in Iran |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | West Azerbaijan |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Siah Cheshmeh |
| Parts Type: | Districts |
| Parts Style: | para |
| P1: | Central |
| P2: | Dashtaki |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Total: | 45060 |
| Coordinates: | 39.1°N 72°W |
| Coordinates Footnotes: | [1] |
| Timezone: | IRST |
| Utc Offset: | +3:30 |
Chaldoran County (Persian: شهرستان چالدران) is in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Siah Cheshmeh (سيه چشمه),[2] also known as Qara Aineh.
See main article: Battle of Chaldiran. Chaldoran is the site of the historic Battle of Chaldiran, which took place in 1514 between the armies of Ottoman Sultan Selim I and Safavid Shah Ismail I on the narrow plain outside of the town. The Ottoman army had the advantage of using firearms as well as superiority in size, and defeated the Safavid army for the first time.
After the Ottomans took this area, they resettled many of the Kurdish tribes further west.
Holy Tatavous Church (Ghare Kelisa) or St. Thaddeus's is in Chaldoran district, 7 km north east of the town of Seyah Cheshmah.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the county's population was 143,205 in 31,291 households.[3] The following census in 2011 counted 46,398 people in 11,364 households.[4] The 2016 census measured the population of the county as 45,060 in 11,970 households.[5]
Chaldoran County's population history and administrative structure over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
| Administrative Divisions | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central District | 35,503 | 37,819 | 37,487 | |
| 4,293 | 3,597 | 2,947 | ||
| 9,735 | 10,663 | 9,661 | ||
| 7,286 | 7,773 | 7,075 | ||
| Siah Cheshmeh (city) | 14,189 | 15,786 | 17,804 | |
| Dashtaki District | 9,069 | 8,579 | 7,570 | |
| 4,543 | 3,364 | 2,932 | ||
| 2,877 | 3,699 | 2,975 | ||
| Avajiq (city) | 1,649 | 1,516 | 1,663 | |
| Total | 44,572 | 46,398 | 45,060 | |
Chaldoran is one of the tourist areas of West Azerbaijan because of its cold weather in winter and cool summer.
The expansion of pastures and cultivable lands has given this region the opportunity of enjoying prosperous cattle breeding, agriculture and apiculture with highest rate of job creation in the region. According to the census of the year 2003, population of Chaldoran district is 46,700; 33.5 percent of whom live in urban areas and 66.5 percent are rural and tribal settlers. Chaldoran's Wednesday Market (Chaharshanbeh Bazar) enjoys a particular fame for various types of cattle, agricultural, farming products and local handicrafts. The most important tourism attractions of this city are : Holy Tatavous Church (Ghareh Kelisa), Tomb of shahid sedreddin shirazi, Tombs of Martyrs in chaldoran City and Zarzar Church in Baroum Village