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Marivan is the capital city of Marivan County in the Kordestan Province of Iran. It is near the border of Iraqi Kurdistan, and enjoys a long history of Kurdish presence.
Marivan Population and Religion
The population of Marivan was 91,663 in 2006. The majority of the Kurds in the city practice Sunni Islam, while the rest of the city is made up of primarily Shiite muslims[1] As with other Kurdish cities in Iran, this puts the Sunni Kurds of Marivan at odds with the majority Shiite population of the rest of Iran.
Recently, Marivan has fallen under scrutiny for allegedly being home to a nuclear site, a fact that the government denies. In March 2015, inspectors from the UN were allowed into the area to inspect for high-explosives testing that may have been related to or used in detonating nuclear weapons.[2]
The city has also been in the news recently as protests have erupted in the Kurdistan province of Iran. Many Kurds are outraged at the way the Iranian government treats women and Kurds in general.
