# Sarab, East Azerbaijan

Sarab (Persian: سراب) is a city in the Central District of Sarab County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Sarab is famous for its rugs.

## Demographics
### Language and ethnicity

Sarabi people are of mostly Iranic-origin Azerbaijanis speaking the Azeri language, but with a special accent, where the pronunciation of words is more like the Ardabil dialect while verb conjugation is more similar to the Tabriz dialect.

### Religion

Muslims are the dominant group in the city, but in new generations of people, atheism can be found.

### Population

The people of Sarab consist of 37% citizens, 16% nomadic people, mainly from Moghan and rest of the people live in Sarab's villages.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 42,057 in 11,045 households. The following census in 2011 counted 44,846 people in 13,353 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 45,031 people in 13,953 households.

## Geography
### Location

East of Sarab leads to Ardabil province. North lies Savalan Mountain. Westward from Sarab leads to the city of Bostanabad, and to the south are the Bozghush mountains.

### Environs

Sarab is the only city in Sarab County, with almost half of the total population of the Central District, and more than a third of the population of the entire county. The city of Sarab is surrounded by rural villages. Some of the larger villages are: Razliq, Asbforushan, Qaleh Juq, and Andarab. There are 161 others, as well as thirteen abandoned villages around it.

### Climate

Sarab has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). Winters are cold and snowy, while summers are warm to hot with little precipitation. Most of the annual precipitation falls between the months of November and May.
Climate data for Sarab (1991-2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.6 (61.9) | 23.6 (74.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 30.6 (87.1) | 35.6 (96.1) | 37.4 (99.3) | 37.4 (99.3) | 37.0 (98.6) | 30.2 (86.4) | 22.8 (73.0) | 19.8 (67.6) | 37.4 (99.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1.6 (34.9) | 4.0 (39.2) | 9.8 (49.6) | 15.6 (60.1) | 20.8 (69.4) | 26.2 (79.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.6 (85.3) | 25.8 (78.4) | 19.0 (66.2) | 10.2 (50.4) | 4.0 (39.2) | 16.3 (61.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.6 (23.7) | −2.0 (28.4) | 3.3 (37.9) | 8.7 (47.7) | 13.3 (55.9) | 17.8 (64.0) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.4 (68.7) | 16.3 (61.3) | 10.4 (50.7) | 3.1 (37.6) | −2.2 (28.0) | 8.7 (47.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −10.1 (13.8) | −7.5 (18.5) | −2.8 (27.0) | 1.8 (35.2) | 5.7 (42.3) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.0 (53.6) | 11.5 (52.7) | 7.2 (45.0) | 2.6 (36.7) | −2.5 (27.5) | −7.4 (18.7) | 1.6 (34.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −29.6 (−21.3) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −20.4 (−4.7) | −11.4 (11.5) | −10.4 (13.3) | −1.4 (29.5) | 1.6 (34.9) | 3.0 (37.4) | −1.8 (28.8) | −6.4 (20.5) | −24.4 (−11.9) | −29.6 (−21.3) | −30.0 (−22.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 15.6 (0.61) | 15.7 (0.62) | 23.5 (0.93) | 47.1 (1.85) | 40.9 (1.61) | 15.1 (0.59) | 12.3 (0.48) | 7.4 (0.29) | 8.2 (0.32) | 21.0 (0.83) | 23.1 (0.91) | 13.6 (0.54) | 243.5 (9.59) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3.9 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 50.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 75 | 71 | 62 | 59 | 58 | 52 | 52 | 50 | 52 | 58 | 69 | 74 | 61 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | −8.7 (16.3) | −7.0 (19.4) | −4.4 (24.1) | −0.2 (31.6) | 3.8 (38.8) | 6.3 (43.3) | 8.6 (47.5) | 7.6 (45.7) | 4.5 (40.1) | 1.0 (33.8) | −2.7 (27.1) | −6.7 (19.9) | 0.2 (32.3) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 145 | 162 | 193 | 210 | 276 | 340 | 358 | 347 | 303 | 244 | 174 | 138 | 2,890 |
| Source 1: NOAA NCEI ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: http://eamo.ir (records) ||||||||||||||
Climate data for Sarab :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.4 (61.5) | 23.6 (74.5) | 25.8 (78.4) | 28.0 (82.4) | 34.0 (93.2) | 37.4 (99.3) | 37.4 (99.3) | 37.0 (98.6) | 30.2 (86.4) | 22.8 (73.0) | 19.8 (67.6) | 37.4 (99.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) | 2.0 (35.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 13.5 (56.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 24.7 (76.5) | 27.9 (82.2) | 29.5 (85.1) | 26.9 (80.4) | 21.1 (70.0) | 12.8 (55.0) | 5.8 (42.4) | 16.0 (60.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) | −3.8 (25.2) | 1.1 (34.0) | 6.8 (44.2) | 11.8 (53.2) | 16.8 (62.2) | 19.7 (67.5) | 20.8 (69.4) | 17.8 (64.0) | 12.3 (54.1) | 5.8 (42.4) | −0.5 (31.1) | 8.7 (47.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.7 (14.5) | −9.1 (15.6) | −4.3 (24.3) | 0.1 (32.2) | 4.4 (39.9) | 7.6 (45.7) | 10.9 (51.6) | 11.9 (53.4) | 8.3 (46.9) | 3.6 (38.5) | −0.5 (31.1) | −5.7 (21.7) | 1.5 (34.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −29.6 (−21.3) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −20.4 (−4.7) | −11.4 (11.5) | −10.4 (13.3) | −1.4 (29.5) | 1.6 (34.9) | 3.0 (37.4) | −0.6 (30.9) | −6.4 (20.5) | −24.4 (−11.9) | −23.6 (−10.5) | −30.0 (−22.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 14.5 (0.57) | 13.6 (0.54) | 20.4 (0.80) | 37.6 (1.48) | 51.3 (2.02) | 19.7 (0.78) | 13.0 (0.51) | 9.6 (0.38) | 7.6 (0.30) | 15.1 (0.59) | 28.0 (1.10) | 13.5 (0.53) | 243.9 (9.6) |
| Average rainy days | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 83 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 75 | 73 | 65 | 57 | 58 | 53 | 53 | 50 | 51 | 53 | 65 | 71 | 60 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 129.9 | 149.8 | 161.9 | 204.3 | 250.6 | 321.7 | 351.8 | 331.4 | 316.4 | 251.4 | 180.8 | 139.8 | 2,789.8 |
| Source: http://eamo.ir ||||||||||||||

## Rugs

The rugs of Sarab, which are also classified among those known as Heriz (Herez), have light, rather bright colour schemes. The usual adjective for "of Sarab" would be "Sarab-i", this changed to "Serapi". In 1876, about the time that Sarabi rugs were coming on the market in England, the Prince of Wales made a trip to India on H.M.S. Serapis. The similarity of the names led to the form "Serapi" for the rugs. They are not to be confused with the rugs of eastern Turkestan which are generally known as "Samarkands", but occasionally "Serapi".

## Higher education

* Islamic Azad University, Sarab Branch
* Sama Technical College of Sarab
* Payame noor University of Sarab
* Allameh Amini Technical College of Sarab