Bijar

Bijar

Bījār (Persian: بيجار, Kurdish: بیجاڕ) is a city is a city in and capital of Bijar County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 46,156, in 12,312 families. With an elevation of 1883.4 meters, Bijar is called the Roof of Iran.

The following villages are located near Bijar (with 2006 populations in parentheses): Yasukand (3,268), Tup Agaj (2,172), Pir Taj (1,451), Cheshmeh Mantesh (1,012), Khandan Quli (1,003), Zeynal (915), Seydan (893), Khorkhoreh (872), Baba Rashani (481).

The majority of the inhabitants of Bijar are Kurdish. Bijar is known internationally for its elegant and ancient carpet and rug designs. The term bijar could be a variation of bajar (i.e. city in Kurdish) and the complete name of the city is Bijar-e Garrus (city of Garrus). Among other suggested etymology for bijar are bid-zar (land of willow tree) which is linguistically unlikely.