URMIA, a town in the province of Azerbaijan in Persia, on a plain at an elevation of 4,400 ft., in 34' N., and 45° 4' E., 78 m. from Tabriz. The population before the war was roughly estimated at 45,000, being mainly Turkish, with Armenian and Nestorian minorities. The town has a wall beyond which extend many houses in gardens and orchards. It is clean with broader and less oriental-looking streets than in most Persian towns. Special features are the Citadel with its arsenal and barracks ; and the bazadrs, a maze of domed and brick-vaulted corridors. The plain of Urmia is fertile. By means of irrigation, cultivation especially of fruits and tobacco (tutun), reached a high standard.
Then came the World War. There was a wholesale exodus of Christians—said to have reached 59,00o souls—in July 1918, in the Turkish advance after the Russian debacle ; and, in the same year, there were massacres by the Turks and Kurds of two-thirds of those who remained. In 1919, the remnant of 600 Christians was transferred to Tabriz. Some survivors have been repatriated
by the Persian Government, and by loans for the repair of build ings and the purchase of seed, oxen and implements, some agricul ture has been restored. Relief was given by the British in 'Iraq.