Official Name: | Sopurghan |
Native Name: | سپورغان |
Settlement Type: | village |
Pushpin Map: | Iran |
Mapsize: | 150px |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | West Azerbaijan |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Urmia |
Subdivision Type3: | Bakhsh |
Subdivision Name3: | Nazlu |
Subdivision Type4: | Rural District |
Subdivision Name4: | Tala Tappeh |
Population As Of: | 2006 |
Population Total: | 243 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone: | IRST |
Utc Offset: | +3:30 |
Timezone Dst: | IRDT |
Utc Offset Dst: | +4:30 |
Coordinates: | 37.7525°N 45.1989°W |
Sopurghan (Persian: سپورغان, also Romanized as Sopūrghān; also known as Separghān, Soporghān, and Supurgan; in Armenian: Սուփուրղան) is a village in Tala Tappeh Rural District, Nazlu District, Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 243, in 71 families.
According to Vladimir Minorsky, the name of this village is derived from the Mongolian word suburghan, meaning a stupa.[1]
The earliest mention of Sopurghan is found in a letter to Pope Pius IV in 1562. The village is mentioned again in a manuscript donated to a church in Jerusalem in 1612.
Evidence from tombstones in the village cemetery show Assyrian presence in the village as early as 668 AD. In 1840, American Protestant missionaries built a primary school in the region. In 1862, a Russian survey showed 172 families and 2 priests living in the village. In 1883, a missionary established girls' school in the village, and in 1887, and Anglican mission established a Middle School for boys below 17.[2]
Sopurghan is located 26 kilometres northeast of the city of Urmia and 2 kilometres from the edge of Lake Urmia.[3]