{{Short description|City in East Azerbaijan province, Iran}}
{{for multi|the village in Khoda Afarin County|Zarnaq, Khoda Afarin{{!}}Zarnaq|the village in Tabriz County|Zarnaq, Tabriz{{!}}Zarnaq}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement |official_name = Zarnaq |native_name = {{langx|fa|زرنق}} |settlement_type = City |image_skyline = طبیعت_شهر_زرنق.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = |pushpin_map = Iran |mapsize = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Iran |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = East Azerbaijan |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = Heris |subdivision_type3 = District |subdivision_name3 = Central |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 = |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Habib Abdollahi |established_title =Established as a city |established_date = 1994<ref name="Zarnaq City"/> |area_total_km2 = |area_footnotes = |population_as_of = 2026 | population_footnotes = (est.) |population_total = 8,273 |population_density_km2 = auto |timezone = IRST |utc_offset = +3:30 |coordinates = {{coord|38|05|27|N|47|04|59|E|dim:1km|display=inline,title}} |coordinates_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite map |author=((OpenStreetMap contributors)) |url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=38.090833&mlon=47.083056&zoom=15#map=15/38.09083/47.08306|website=OpenStreetMap |title=Kivaj, دهستان باروق, بخش مرکزی [Baruq Rural District, Central District], Heris County, Iran|date=17 March 2025|access-date=17 March 2025|lang=fa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Google Maps |title=33RM+86M Zarnaq, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/38°05'27.0%22N+47°04'59.0%22E/@38.090833,47.083056,4454m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d38.090833!4d47.083056?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D |access-date=10 September 2025}}</ref> |elevation_m = |area_code = |website = [http://zarnaq.ir/ zarnaq.ir] |footnotes = }}
'''Zarnaq''' ({{langx|fa|زرنق}}){{efn|Also known as '''Zaraq''', '''Zarnā''', and '''Zerna'''<ref>{{GEOnet3|-3089167}}</ref>}} is a city in the Central District of Heris County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. As of 2026, the city has an estimated population of 8,273. As a village, it was the capital of Zarnaq Rural District<ref name="Tabriz County Rural Districts"> {{cite web |first=Mir-Hossein |last=Mousavi |author-link=Mir-Hossein Mousavi |orig-date={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|تاریخ تصویب}} (Approval date) 1366/05/18 (Iranian Jalali calendar) |date=9 August 1987 |script-title=fa:ایجاد و تشکیل تعداد 35 دهستان شامل روستاها، مزارع و مکانها در شهرستان تبریز تابع استان آذربایجان شرقی |trans-title=Creation and formation of 35 rural districts including villages, farms and places in Tabriz County, subordinate to East Azerbaijan province |url=https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/110348 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206204029/https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/110348 |archive-date=6 December 2023 |access-date=6 September 2025 |website={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|لام تا کام}} [Lam ta Kam] |publisher={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|وزارت کشور}} [Ministry of the Interior] |agency={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|هیات وزیران}} [Council of Ministers] |language=fa |id={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|شناسه}} [ID] 3FE0427C-2D61-499D-99EC-C64955DB873B. {{lang|fa|rtl=yes|شماره دوره}} [Course number] 66, {{lang|fa|rtl=yes|شماره جلد}} [Volume number] 13.}}</ref> until the rural district's merger with Mehranrud-e Shomali Rural District in 2000 to form Baruq Rural District (Heris County).<ref name="East Azerbaijan Province Changes 120313"> {{cite web |first=Hassan |last=Habibi |author-link=Hassan Habibi |orig-date={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|تاریخ تصویب}} (Approval date) 1379/01/31 (Iranian Jalali calendar) |date=19 April 2000 |script-title=fa:ایجاد تغییرات و اصلاحات تقسیماتی در استان آذربایجان شرقی |trans-title=Creating divisional changes and reforms in East Azerbaijan province |url=https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/120313 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250906191143/https://lamtakam.com/law/council_of_ministers/120313 |archive-date=6 September 2025 |access-date=6 September 2025 |website={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|لام تا کام}} [Lam ta Kam] |publisher={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|وزارت کشور}} [Ministry of the Interior] |agency={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|هیات وزیران}} [Council of Ministers] |language=fa |id={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|شناسه}} [ID] 37BAFFFE-2C9A-42EE-9A29-2C3CE2B031E5. {{lang|fa|rtl=yes|شماره دوره}} [Course number] 79.}}</ref>. The village of Zarnaq was converted to a city in 1994.<ref name="Zarnaq City"> {{cite web |first=Hassan |last=Habibi |author-link=Hassan Habibi |orig-date={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|تاریخ تصویب}} (Approval date) 1372/12/11 (Iranian Jalali calendar) |date=2 March 1994 |script-title=fa:تصویبنامه در خصوص تبدیل محل زرنق به شهر |trans-title=Approval regarding the conversion of Zarnaq into a city |url=https://davoudabadi.ir/page/75468137 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250910173302/https://davoudabadi.ir/page/75468137 |archive-date=10 September 2025 |access-date=10 September 2025 |website={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|مهدی داودآبادی}} [Mehdi Davudabadi] |publisher={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|وزارت کشور}} [Ministry of the Interior] |agency={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|کمیسیون سیاسی دفاعی هیأت دولت}} [Political Defense Commission of the Government Board] |language=fa |id={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|پیشنهاد شماره 34 /2464/1/3122748}} [Proposal Number 34 / 2464/1/31].}}</ref>
==History== Sixty-five-hundred-year-old settlements and ancient objects have been discovered in the ancient hill of Duzde Baghir Zaranq.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://irantourismonline.com/detail.aspx?id=3164|title=تپه باستانی دوزده باغیر | عکس + آدرس + تلفن + موقعیت جغرافیایی|website=irantourismonline.com}}</ref>
This city was ruined before the migration of Turks to Azerbaijan, and around the 12th century, a population of Kipchak Turks settled in its outskirts, who are considered the ancestors of the current residents of this city.<ref>همدانی، رشیدالدین فضلالله بن ابیالخیر بن عالی، وقفنامه ربع رشیدی، ترجمهٔ به کوشش مجتبی مینوی و ایرج افشار، تهران: سلسله انتشارات انجمن آثار ملی شماره ۱۳۹</ref>
According to the oral tradition of the people, the ancestor of the old clans of the city was a Kipchak nobleman named Qarabey who moved there from Cumania. His name is still on a grassland near the city. This city consists of several clans of the Shahsevans who settled there during the Safavid era and the Kipchak Turks (Qarabey's descendants) who lived there much earlier. This is why each clan has its own accent and some words are pronounced differently among each clan, which shows the difference between the Oghuz and Kipchak Turkic. These clans did not have close relationships such as marriage with each other until the late half of the 20th century, but over time, these boundaries disappeared and now younger people may not even know the name of the clan they belong to.<ref name="auto">Musa Herisinezhad, History Of Heris, 2005</ref>
This city has long been one of the Heriz rug producers and many of its people were and still are carpet weavers or carpet traders. The tradition of Ashik music is also popular among them.<ref name="auto">Musa Herisinezhad, History Of Heris, 2005</ref>
==Demographics== ===Language and ethnicity=== The city's inhabitants are from Kipchak and Oghuz Turks and speak Azerbaijani Turkic.{{cn|date=February 2023}}
===Population=== At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 4,766 in 1,132 households.<ref name="2006 East Azerbaijan Province"> {{cite web |script-title=fa:سرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1385 : استان آذربایجان شرقی |trans-title=General Population and Housing Census 2006: East Azerbaijan Province |language=fa |website={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|مرکز آمار ایران}} [Statistical Centre of Iran] |url=http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/03.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920092432/http://www.amar.org.ir/DesktopModules/FTPManager/upload/upload2360/newjkh/newjkh/03.xls |archive-date=20 September 2011 |format=Excel |access-date=25 September 2022}}</ref> The following census in 2011 counted 5,713 people in 1,548 households.<ref name="2011 East Azerbaijan Province"> {{cite web |script-title=fa:سرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1390 : استان آذربایجان شرقی |trans-title=General Population and Housing Census 2011: East Azerbaijan Province |language=fa |website=Iran Data Portal—Syracuse University |url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/East-Azerbaijan.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116202318/https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/East-Azerbaijan.xls |archive-date=16 January 2023 |agency={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|مرکز آمار ایران}} [Statistical Centre of Iran] |format=Excel |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref> The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 5,343 people in 1,649 households.<ref name="2016 East Azerbaijan Province"> {{cite web |script-title=fa:سرشماري عمومي نفوس و مسكن 1395 : استان آذربایجان شرقی |trans-title=General Population and Housing Census 2016: East Azerbaijan Province |language=fa |website={{lang|fa|rtl=yes|مرکز آمار ایران}} [Statistical Centre of Iran] |url=https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_03.xlsx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113123618/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/abadi/CN95_HouseholdPopulationVillage_03.xlsx |archive-date=13 November 2020 |format=Excel |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>
==Notable residents== Mohammad Feyz Sarabi, former cleric and politician
Mirza Ahmed Bey, known by his pen name Nourani, 19th century nobleman, poet, physician, mystic and an ancestor of the Nourani family.<ref name="auto">Musa Herisinezhad, History Of Heris, 2005</ref>
Seyyid Qasim, a holy spiritual figure in the region, descendant of the Prophet of Islam, and mystic (not originally from Zarnaq, but he had long stays there). Also a friend of Mirza Ahmed Bey.<ref name="auto"/>
==See also== {{Portal-inline|Iran}} {{clear}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{East Azerbaijan Province|state=collapsed}}
{{Heris County|state=collapsed}}
Category:Cities in East Azerbaijan province
Category:Populated places in Heris County
Category:1994 establishments in Iran