Germi (, also Romanized as Germī and Germī; also known as Germi Ojarood) is a city in the Central District of Germi County, Ardabil province, Iran, and serves as the capital of the county. At the 2006 census, its population was 28,348 in 6,382 households. The following census in 2011 counted 28,953 people in 7,491 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 28,967 people in 8,375 households.
Germi is one of the old cities of Ardabil province and a part of the Mughan plain. The city is built on the source of the Germi Chai or Ojarud River, so that three rivers join in the middle of the city to form the Ojarud or Germi Chai.
Etymology
When it comes to the etymology of "Germi" it seems somehow cryptic and there are several hypotheses about the meaning of word "Germi" and historical stem of this city Name. Many historians believe the word "Germi" has Parthian or Alanian stems. Many others suggest ritual words stem from religions such as Mithraism. There is 2 theory that believe Germi is combination of 2 words: "Ger" and "mi" but the interpretation is different: One group believe on Sumerian stem that "Ger" means village and "Mi" means celestial; the others believe "Ger" comes from "Ager" in old Persian language that changed to "Akhgar" at new Persian language, whereas "mi" comes from "mehr" or "Mitra" which both means: "Sun", so "germi" means fireplace of sun. This interpretation is more consistent with other documents and pieces of evidence about this region and its history. First Hypothesis believes. The name Germi probably comes from the Parthian name. The other Hypothesis link this word to Maghoi.There are some other places and cities in East-Azerbaijan province, West-Azerbaijan province, Ardabil province and Azerbaijan republic that are called Germi.
History
Germi became the center of the county in 1355 with the separation of Moghan city from Meshginshahr county. Then in 1373, the two cities of Bilesvar and Parsabad were separated from it and became an independent city.
The discovered vestiges indicate that the city is very old and its antiquity dates back to the Parthian period. Germi county is a historical region of Iranian Azerbaijandespite Germi city is considered a new city based on Iranian standards, which was established almost in the year 900 of the Islamic calendar (900 AH; 1494 A.D.) when Shah Ismail allowed to 5 Shia families to migrate to this region. The first documentary about this region which is listed in historical books dates back to year 22 Hijri (about 671 ad=Gregorian calendars) when Arab soldiers inter Aran or Alan region[1]. As it is believed before Islam era Alan's people were living in this area. Words such as Alania, Allan-Shahr, Alan-Shahr, and Alan-shah had been used firstly at the first ad century for this district where was located between Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Caspian sea, and Armenia. As it comes out from historical document many Alan people migrated from this area after Islamic era then firstly substitute by Muslim people from different ethnic groups such as Persians, Arabs, Turkmens, and Tatars. After that, the area between those four borders was known as Mugan or Amukan and other pronunciation of them. The most historical place in the county is Barzand Castle that was the castle of Afshin who battled with Babak Khorramdin in an earlier century of Islamic history. People of this county are Shi'a Muslim and speak the Azeri language. The largest river of the county is Dareroud; it issues from southern and eastern foot of Sabalan and joins to Aras river on the northern border of Iran. This river is the largest internal river of the Ardabil Province.
The history of Germi city and county is intertwined with the history of Moghan region and settlements such as Barzand, Bajravan and Baz, as well as the history of Moghan and Shahsoon tribe. Unfortunately, most of the existing historical monuments of the city are not properly protected and as a result have been destroyed or smuggled out of the country. A small part of the historical monuments discovered from this city are kept in Kashan city museum and of course a small but important part of the discovered artifacts from it is kept in Copenhagen museum in Denmark. Some of these works are also kept in the National Museum of Iran.