Germi County () is in the northern part of Ardabil province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Germi, located from Ardabil, the capital of the province.
At the 2006 census, the county's population was 89,248 in 18,710 households. The following census in 2011 counted 84,267 people in 21,156 households. At the 2016 census, the county's population was 76,901 in 22,349 households. Angut District was separated from the county in December 2020 to form Ungut County.
Almost all of the people of this county are Shia Muslim and speak in Azeri. According to the book: "Investigating the Social Structure of Shahsavan Tribe" the first time that Turk tribes enter into the Mugan will mark the return to the era of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi successors in the fifth century. In the seventh century, the Tatar tribes overcome the Turkmens and threw them from the area.
Administrative divisions
The population history of Germi County's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses is shown in the following table. The latest census shows three districts, nine rural districts, and two cities.
Appellation and etymology
When it comes to the etymology of "Germi", it seems somewhat cryptic. The earliest book or document which has written about this area dates back to year 22 Hijri (about 671 AD Gregorian calendar) when Arab soldiers entered the Aran or Alan region. It is believed that before the Islamic era, Alans people were living in this area. Words such as Alania, Allan-shahr, Alan-shahr, and Alan-shah had been used initially during the first century AD, for this district was located between Azerbaijan, Shirvan, The Caspian sea and Armenia. Many Alan people migrated from this area after the Islamic era and were replaced by Muslim people from different ethnic groups. After that, the area between those four borders was known as Mugan or Amukan and other pronunciation of them.
Many historians believe the word "Germi" has Parthian or Alanian stems. Many others suggest that ritual words stem from religions such as Mithraism.
There are two theories that believe Germi is the combination of two words: Ger and mi, but there are different interpretations. One group believes that the Sumerian stem of "Ger" means village and "Mi" means celestial. the other group believes that "Ger" comes from "Ager" in ancient Persian, which became "Akhgar" in the modern Persian language, and "mi" comes from "mehr" or "Mitra" which both means "Sun", so "Germi" would mean fireplace of sun. This interpretation is more consistent with other documents and evidence about the region and its history.
History
The history of county is closely related to the history of the Mugan region. The history of Mugan is divided into 4 eras.
First: The ancient era
There are enormous works from the ancient period in this era but there is not a complete museum about the region. Most of the ancient monuments discovered from the region, irrespective of the historical period, are held in several museums, such as The Iranian National Museum, The Kashan museum, The Copenhagen museum, and several others.
Second: The Parthian and Sassanian Era
There are several stunning works from this era, such as daughter-castle in the north of the county, Langan Qantas, Barzand Castle.
Third: The early years of Islam to the Safavid Dynasty
This era was not a flourishing period for the Mugan region. Due to the long period of wars, there were not any sign of progress, buildings, or outstanding monuments. The historical place in this county that had a large value during this era was Barzand Castle. That was the castle of Afshin who battled with Babak Khorramdin in an earlier century of Islamic history.
Fourth: The New Age (1734 AD to the present) Ignoring the three earlier historical periods, Germi city is relatively new by Iranian standards; it was established around the year 900 of the Islamic calendar when Shah Ismael allowed five Shia families to migrate to this region. There were some other places and cities in Azerbaijan of I.R. Iran and Azerbaijan that are also called Germi.
Climate and geography
The city's area is almost 1,725 square kilometers. The altitude varies between 250 meters in the village of Khan Mohammad loo in the northwest, up to 2,200 meters in the southeast, where the Salavat Mountains are located.
The Moghan (Germi) region, due to its specific topographic conditions, has a different climate than other parts of Azerbaijan, or even its southern regions. The county has almost a Mediterranean climate.