History of Lake Urmia

By virtue of its high levels of salinity, the lake no longer sustains any fish species. Nonetheless, Lake Urmia is considered a significant natural habitats of Artemia, which serve as food source for the migratory birds such as flamingos.

The lake is a major barrier between two of the most important cities in West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces, Urmia and Tabriz. A project to build a highway across the lake was initiated in the 1970s but was abandoned after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, having finished a 15 km causeway with an unabridged gap. The project was revived in the early 2000s, and was completed in November 2008 with the opening of a 1.5 km bridge across the remaining