East Azerbaijan Province

East Azerbaijan is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, and its capital is the city of Tabriz, which is also the seat of its secretariat in Region 3 of the country. The province borders Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil province, West Azerbaijan province and Zanjan province, and its highest point is the volcanic peak of Sahand Mountain at 3,707 metres, south of Tabriz. Its hills and mountains fall into three ranges, the Qara Daq Mountains, the Sahand and Bozqoosh Mountains and the Qaflan Kooh Mountains, and its climate is shaped by Mediterranean continental and cold semi-arid influences. Most inhabitants are ethnic Azerbaijanis who speak a Turkic language closely related to Turkish and to the language of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The area has been known as Azarbayjan since antiquity, and in 1945 the Soviet Union helped set up the Azerbaijan People's Government there. The 2016 census counted 3,909,652 people in the province.