 thumb|right|four provinces in iranian azerbaijan.   azerbaijan or azarbaijan (; ), also iranian azerbaijanjames minahan. "miniature empires", published by greenwood publishing group, 1998. is a region in northwestern iran. it is also historically known as atropatene and aturpatakan. the region is referred by some as south azerbaijan or southern azerbaijan,brown, cameron s. 2002 (dec.). "observations from azerbaijan." middle east review of international affairs: v. 6, no. 4, (link) however some scholars and sources view these terms as being irredentist and politically motivated.michael p. croissant, "the armenia-azerbaijan conflict: causes and implications", praeger/greenwood, 1998. excerpt from pg 61: "during the soviet-era historical revisionism and myth-building intended to denounce imperialism, the notion of a "northern" and "southern" azerbaijan was created and propagated throughout ussr. it was charged that the "two azerbaijanis" once united were separated artificially by conspiracy between imperial russia and iran".ethnic conflict and international security, edited by michael e. brown, princeton university press, 1993bert g. fragner, âsoviet nationalismâ: an ideological legacy to the independent republics of central asia â in" in van schendel, willem(editor) . identity politics in central asia and the muslim world: nationalism, ethnicity and labour in the twentieth century. london , gbr: i. b. tauris & company, limited, 2001. excerpt from pg 24: "under soviet auspices and in accordance with soviet nationalism, historical azerbaijan proper was reinterpreted as 'southern azerbaijan', with demands for liberation and, eventually, for 're'-unification with northern (soviet) azerbaijan a breathtaking manipulation. no need to point to concrete soviet political activities in this direction, as in 1945â46 etc. the really interesting point is that in the independent former soviet republics this typically soviet ideological pattern has long outlasted the soviet union." ==etymology and usage== the name azerbaijan itself is derived from atropates,atroapates. encyclopÃ¦dia iranica the satrap (governor) of medea in the achaemenid empire, who ruled a region found in modern iranian azerbaijan called atropatene. atropates name is believed to be derived from the old persian roots meaning "protected by fire."encyc
Iranian_Azerbaijan