Agarak; a Beautiful City in Syunik Province Armenia

Agarak Syunik

Agarak (Armenian: Ագարակ) (Urdu and Persian: آگاراک) is a city founded in 1949, in Syunik Province, Armenia. It is considered the southern end of Armenia as it is located on the left bank of river Araks on the border with Iran, 9 km south-west to Meghri. The town is on a distance of 410 km south of the capital Yerevan and 94 km south to Syunik's centre Kapan. It was a railway station on the demolished and non-functioning branch Yerevan-Nakhichevan-Horadiz. Agarak forms an urban community (municipality). The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia (ARMSTAT) reported its population was 4,881 in 2010, up from 4,801 at the 2001 census.

History:

Agarak occupies a part of Arevik province within the historical region of Syunik of Greater Armenia. It was first mentioned in the 12-13th centuries by Stepanos Orbelian as a rural territory. Since the ancient times, the area was known for its copper and lead mines. The name of the town derived from a village situated not far from it.

A View of Agarak City

Agarak was founded in 1949 as an area of workers and in 1954 it gained a town status. The further development of the town is related to the copper-molybdenum plant built in 1958. People were brought here from the nearby villages and in a few years it became an industrial town. In 1972 the population of the town was about 3800 and in 1979 it became 4073.

The church Surb Amenaprkich (Holy Saviour) of the 17th century is not far from Agarak.

Currently, there are 2 kindergartens, 1 secondary school, an art school, a cultural palace, 2 libraries and a football stadium in the town.

Economy:

Agarak is considered to be a miners' city. It is a centre of non-ferrous metallurgy. The copper-molybdenic industry was recovered in Agarak since 2001. Currently, it secures around 1200 job opportunities, which makes more than one fifth of the whole population of the town.

The industrial enterprises of the town are the "Agarak copper-molybdenum Plant", the "Karchevan Poultry" and the "Agarak Bakery". The Meghri custom house and the neighboring market are situated in Agarak territory. 18 organizations are registered in the town. 

The Armenian section of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline started on 30 November 2004 in Agarak city.