East Azerbaijan Province (Persian: استان آذربایجان شرقی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tabriz.
The province borders Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil province, West Azerbaijan province, and Zanjan province. East Azerbaijan is in Region 3 of Iran, with its secretariat located in Tabriz.
The University of Tabriz (Persian: دانشگاه تبريز, Dāneshgāh-e Tabriz) is a public university located in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, with the fundamental aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. It is one of the top five high-ranked universities in Iran and one of the ten most selective universities in the country. The University of Tabriz is the second-oldest university in Iran after the University of Tehran, and has the second largest campus area in the country which is the biggest academic institution in northwest of the country. The university is also a member of the Caucasus University Association.
Today, Funding for the University of Tabriz is provided by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Admission to the university for Iranian applicants is through national entrance examination which is administered annually by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and for international applicants through some exclusive regulations.
Iranian Azerbaijanis (Persian: آذربایجانیهای ایران; Azerbaijani: ایران آذربایجانلیلاری [iˈɾɑːn ɑːzæɾbɑjˈdʒɑnlɯlɑɾɯ]) are the largest Iranian ethnic minority. They are primarily found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region (including provinces of East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan and West Azerbaijan) and in smaller numbers, in other provinces such as Kurdistan, Qazvin, Hamadan, Gilan, Markazi and Kermanshah. Iranian Azerbaijanis also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj, and other regions of Iran. Some also have migrated to the Gulf GCC countries. Most Iranian Azerbaijanis are bilingual in Azerbaijani and Persian.