Mahabad

Mahabad is a city in northwestern Iran with 100,000 inhabitants south of Lake Urmia in a narrow valley 1,300 metres above sea level. It lies in West Azarbaijan Province.

Mahabad is the centre of a rich agricultural region, but the city itself is little developed by Iranian standards. Mahabad is connected by road with Tabriz 300 km north, Urmia 150 km north and Irbil in Iraq. The population of Mahabad is mainly Kurdish, and has been the centre of Kurdish movements in Iran. It was also the capital of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad.