Tabriz, city in northwestern Iran, capital of East Azerbaijan Province, on the Aji Cha'i River, near Lake Urmia. At an elevation of about 1400 m (about 4500 ft), it is a manufacturing, commercial, and transportation center. Principal products include carpets, textiles, processed food, footwear, and soap. Tabriz is the site of the lovely 15th-century Blue Mosque, a 14th-century citadel, and the University of Tabriz (1949).
The present-day city has been built and rebuilt on the site of the ancient settlement of Tauris, which prospered as a trade center and was the capital of Armenia in the 3rd century AD. Tabriz has over the centuries been severely damaged by earthquakes (especially in 858, 1041, and 1721) and by invasions of outside forces such as the Seljuk Turks, Mongols, Ottoman Turks, and Russians. The city was occupied by Russian troops from 1827 to 1828, and in 1946 it was the center of a leftist revolutionary movement. Population (1996) 1,191,043.
